Go to the Recipe: Sous Vide Kale
I've noticed you guys do a lot of veggies at 194 degrees. In Under Pressure by TK, all vegetables are cooked sous vide at 185. What is the reasoning behind your temps?
How much time difference would want to anticipate if they were to use an immersion circulator; instead of a hot tub?
- originally posted by Arin Will
When cooking vegetables sousvide we find that even though it seems 5 °C deference doesn't seem like much but but when dealing with plants it can dramatically change the time it needs to be cooked. This isn't always the case but when dealing with high temperatures like that, getting the product in and out of the bath as quick as possible helps preserve the color.
- originally posted by Nicholasgav
I'm sorry Arin I don't understand the question. What temperature is this hot tub? I believe typical hot tubs run around 40 - 45 °C. In the case of not using a circulator I recommend heating a pot of water to a boil and drop your Kale in and expediently shut off the heat. It should still take about 7 minutes to cook or slightly less. I hope this helps, sorry if I butchered your question.
This seems nifty and practical for a home meal. The kale is vibrant and cooked just so and versatile.I don't see a huge everyday advantage though as opposed to blanching at same temp. I did think a lot after looking at the flat vac packs in the vid. Easy to cut, and so green. Line a terrine?We prepare this kale often in the week blanched in distilled water, chilled and held. Then pick up in leaf lard, onion, tasso, white stock, black pepper and whatever vinegar makes sense at the time.
I believe that Arin was asking if there would be a difference between a stirred bath,e.g. polysci circ vs the sous vide supreme. Arin, I would suggest no time or temp difference.
- originally posted by Raymond
Agreed Raymond, I use both all the time for this application.
No really difference. The heat transfer rate is ever so-slightly higher, but in this particular case (in most cases actually) it won't matter.
First item I tried was the Kale. Was very good. Gave me the confidence to try a steak. The course & the recipe were perfect for this amatuer. Thanks.
So the kale looks lovely, however I would never cook my food in plastic. Plastic, as a part of its make up, has BPA (or BPS) - a chemical produced for use making of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins.This chemical is almost ubiquitous - plastic containers, thermal cash register receipts, food and drink packaging, water and infant bottles, compact discs, impact-resistant safety equipment, and medical devices, food cans, bottle tops, etc. BPA can leach into food and the extent of that increases with higher temperatures. Unless of course, your plastic is known to be BPA/BPS free!
- originally posted by Carvagio
Carvagio — Yes, the plastic packaging we use is known to be BPA free. It is also free of thalates and other suspected endocrine disrupting hormones. We have discussed this topic quite a bit at ChefSteps, and we pay close attention to the current scientific literature. More on our forum here: http://forum.chefsteps.com/dis...
Thanks Chris for the reply and the reference to the study on plastics and EA.What I got from the Discussion section of that abstract was this - "We found that exposure to one or more common-use stresses often increases the leaching of chemicals having EA. In fact, our data suggest that almost all commercially available plastic items would leach detectable amounts of chemicals having EA once such items are exposed to boiling water, sunlight (UV), and/or microwaving...Many scientists believe that it is not appropriate to bet our health and that of future generations on an assumption that known cellular effects of chemicals having EA released from most plastics will have no severe adverse health effects (Gray 2008; Talsness et al. 2009; Thompson et al. 2009)."My personal approach is to follow the precautionary principle - that is, avoid it until thoroughly proven safe. I think all my qualms would be laid to rest if in even one sous vide cooked item, the cooked food was tested for chemical plastics residue by an independent lab. In the meantime, good ol steaming will get me by.
Hi Carvagio, I respect that one has such passion for protecting themselves and their family from BPA and known hormone/endocrine disruptors. I have colleagues that lecture precisely on these topics. You'll notice the temps offered for the kale does not reach boiling. That said, I know we want to be "perfect" and my personal opinion is that we all simply need to find our own line in the sand. It's ironic to worry about a few minutes under the boiling point and yet expose one's self to a PC and monitor which has known health risks of PVC and other toxins known to give off toxic fumes when heated (which all PC's are). Other PC elements include, lead, barium hexavalent chromium, mercury, dioxin etc etc. Not to mention possibly the very home stoves we use every day are rarely tested for safety of fumes (or lack thereof), they are "grandfathered" in with the assumption of safety. I highly respect your personal approach and simply, respectfully submit, no matter which avenue chosen, there will be trade-offs. JMHO.
Carvagio — You really need to read the entire paper, not just the abstract. HDPE (high density polyethylene) was one of the plastics that they found no issues with. All sous vide packaging (and ziplock-style bags) that I'm familiar with use HDPE as the plastic in contact with the food, and that is one of the plastics that the study did not detect leaching for under thermal stress.
The problem is not the plastic. It is having to cook the greens in one layer. A greedy gourmand, I like more than a few small leaves on my plate. Without detracting from modernist cuisine, the presentation can be a little precious : l leaf here, a petal there, that sort of thing.
Why not season before cooking?
Cooking with salt ruins the green color.
It's a shame that people are more influenced by catchy internet memes than actual research and science. BPA is largely out of food packaging. If you buy from a reputable US company and avoid Chinese products, you should be ok.
If your serious about Sous Vide you need to buy and own a chamber vacuum machine, not use zip lock bags - it is expensive but so is a refrigerator and oven - I use mine at least 4-8 times a day (Vacumaster VP120) not sure how I could live without it - I use the 10" x 12" 4 mil bags - they are BPA free approved by FDA and are Nylon/Poly -
I will call and confirm Chris they are also HOPE Poly tomorrow .. I have to say Sous Vide has lot of +++ , but not for everything and always start as skeptic. I own one of all brands of water bath devices and have done 100's of dishes... Forget Salmon much better roasted or broiled, forget most red meat better broiled or roasted... The attempt to create Millard with blow torch, or gimmick devices, that work like salamanders it does not have my vote.
Sous Vide is good for grass feed meat to soften protein and ribs, and good for white fish, artichokes, endive, long list .. but that's another topic..
I dived into Kale with both feet today as a great food and ingredient - not something I eat everyday - so I bought three organic Kale bunches I cooked in pan with garlic and oil, garlic oil and vegetable broth, and did Sous Vide (high vacuum) as per this recipe .. few other things found on web that were total disasters...
This Chefsteps Sous Vide recipe wins -- my taste buds loved texture, presentation and taste --
Only exception on my Chefsteps recipe II - no need to add oil just more needless calories - I did one batch at 185F and really does need to be at 190 F maybe few minutes longer - Much better than any of the pan and oil with garlic... or even vegetable stock recipes ...
I am a scientists and understand literature and chemistry behind BPA issues - at 190F not much could happen and based on what I see in material re bags is not going to happen .. If I learn different will post here...
John Stevens - Carnot Labs
If you refrigerated this after cooking, how would you reheat it?
Has anyone ever frozen the Kale after cooking? We have a garden and grow it....would love to prolong the life of the Kale.
Can I do with a Rose Kale with same method?
sure can
Folks?
Method = cooking in plastic!
It’s a sv recipe for kale. Let’s talk about kale
Take the plastic discussion elsewhere where those who care can jump on in.
it looks like nori seaweed, and maybe you could make “sushi” with it. It depends on how leathery it is aften sous viding the kale.
Guess you killed off the joule. See you are using the Supreme for sous vide.
This is an old video from before they made the joule
