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Sous vide newbie question

Matt_whitener_193545

hello, recently purchased the anova precision cooker. Love it, but last night I was doing a pork shoulder at 175 planning on about a 14 hour cook. Started at 7pm, refilled water at 11pm, checked at 1 am and went to bed. Woke up to alarm going off at 7am...water level too low, water temp down to 111 degrees, roast temp at 135...have no idea how long the heat was off. Roast is still cooking, raised water level and resumed heat...should I continue, or pitch the roast?

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HammeredChef_DEFINITELY_does_NOT_work_at_22134

Here is what you need, the temp is WAY TO HIGH and the cooking time way to long....at hat temp unless your container is covered you will lose water very FAST. Just as a point of interest how did you arrive at the time and temp? IMHO the roast is fine and DONE already. It will be past "well done"

matthew.snyder77

Another Anova user here; what sort of vessel are you using for the water bath? I use polycarbonate food boxes and lids that are pre-cut for Polyscience circulators. (Similar to what you see on the site here) For cooks under about 2 hours, the gap between the lid and the circulator isn't critical. But for longer cooks, there will be definitely be water level loss due to evaporation. That's where clingfilm is your friend.

Also, +1 on the comment that the temp is very high. 140°F/60°C for 24 hours will get the job done with pork shoulder. (See the pork steak recipe here)

douglas_bd

Definitely cover your bath for long cooks. With higher temps it's even more important. The temp is definitely high for pork compared to what most of us would do. I'd hesitate though to say it's too high, it just depends on the result you are looking for. At that temp, you should get a pulled pork like product. The meat will be 'overcooked', but you should also break down all of the collagen and provide plenty of gelatin to lubricate the final product. I'd expect texture will probably be similar to a braise or pulled pork. 24hrs is still probably a bit long at that temp. You probably could pull it at 12 hours. If that's what you are going for, then it should be fine. Also, though the texture will be similar to a slow smoked shoulder or braise, it won't develop the same flavor in the bag as those more traditional techniques. You'll likely want to do something to add that flavor back in - maybe heavy reduction of the bag sauces with some charred veg to bring in those maillard flavors. As for the safety question, based on the info you provided, it sounds like it would be fine. I'd feel safe eating it myself, but I'd be cautious serving it to others.

artstype

even plastic wrap would help, as the loss is due to evaporation. Way too high temp, I agree.

Matt_whitener_193545

Thank you for the comments everyone. To explain: The temp and cooking time came from a recipe I found online...I am looking for a pulled pork like product...wanted to smoke the butt on my kamado, but had to leave the house and my wife wasn't comfortable watching it so I compromised and used the anova. I used some bacon in with the shoulder to add some smokiness, lots of spices and fennel essential oil and have reduced the bag sauces to incorporate into a sort of BBQ type sauce. Total cook time was about 14-15 hours...the butt was about 165 when I pulled it, then seared the pork in a cast iron and it tastes great. S

Future cooks will be slower and much lower temp, but time was of the essence and I think the meat turned out just how I wanted. I'll also use a covered food box or maybe even cooler with lid cut to fit the anova in the future...I didn't expect that much water loss.

Matt_whitener_193545

Oh yeah...other than trial and error, lol...is there any way that I can tell if it's safe to eat/share?

Marije_141071

I also have an Anova cooker and woke up to the alarm when we first made some 24hr ribs... Filled the pan with more water and ribs turned out fine (phew!).

After that we just put a cutting board on top of the pan we use as a vessel. Hardly any water loss, works great!