Go to the Article: Sous Vide: Beyond the Basics Discussion
Hi, I'm a premium user of CS and I have a family weekend coming... I would like to make a roast beef sous vide and I would like some help from you guys. My family like it rare to medium-rare but all the past years when they make it the traditional way we end up with dry ends and uncooked middle. it will be +/- 4kg piece of meat and I was wondering what temperature and time I should use to get the perfect roast. Should I pre-sear it of should I sear it after sous vide?
I cooked cauliflower today, both sous vide and straight into boiling water. The cauliflower cooked in boiling water was much whiter than the sous vide. I was surprised, thinking that the cauli enclosed in the bag would retain natural acidity and keep it whiter. Anthoxanthin pigment usually benefits from acid. Anyone have an explanation?
Round 2: Sous Vide 2, 1.5" NY Strips and 1, 1.5" Chuck-eye (middle of the steak) @ 140˚ F for 3 - 5 hours.
Better! But not AMAZING. The odd part is that the steak that cooked for 5 hours was the most tender and had the most juice run off and was flirting with a stew meat flavor. It was a different cut of meat so that could have played a role.
140˚ F -- Left: (Strip) 3hr, Middle: (Strip) 4:00hr, Right: (Chuck-eye) 5:00hr.
5 min rest in bag, pat dried and seared with EVOO then seasoned. IMO the right had the best texture.
So the science project continues.
I bought a whole NY Strip Loin (Choice) and had the butcher cut them into 1.5in steaks (about 10).
Round 1: Sous Vide 3, 1.5" NY Strips @ 144˚ F for 2 - 3 hours
All of these were GOOD, but not the AMAZING I'm trying to get. I do realize that this is not going to be the same as the Ribeye. I think I figured out that letting the steaks rest for 5-8 min before searing prevents the juices from running out so I think I got that nailed. I also don't season the meat till the VERY end (IDK if this helps)
144˚ F -- Top: 3hr, Middle: 2:30hr, Bottom: 2:00hr.
5 min rest in bag, pat dried and seared with EVOO then seasoned. IMO the middle had the best texture.
I bought prime and choice ribeye steaks from Costco yesterday and followed the same procedure and they were super dry ... Like leather!!! Arg I thought I had it down ... It was the same thickness. I did tie them tight with butchers twine and vacuum seal was MUCH tighter than last time. Could this dry out the meat? Maybe a lesser quality steak? If any one has any input I would be so sooo appreciative.
Ok so I don't know what I did this time, but I cooked 2 ribeye 1.5" steaks sous vide for 4hr @ 145˚ F. One I pre-seared with EVOO and added 1 Tb of butter and the other I just threw in the sous vide (the butcher had them pre-vacuum sealed). I did a post-sear on both of them with EVOO and let them rest for about 8 min then seasoned. The steaks were cooked to perfection; both of them! I actually liked the post-seared-only one slightly better. But the best part ... no juice ran out of the steaks and they were suuuuuuper tender. The texture was like seared sea steak but better and more satiny. The problem is I don't know what I did that made it different this time. Is it prime vs choice? The 8 min rest? Seasoning RIGHT before serving? The 145˚ F temp? All of the above? Maybe someone could help me out!
Left: pre-seared with olive oil and added pad of butter to sous vide bag.
Right: just threw the bag in the sous vide.
It was so tender I forgot to take a picture till the very end.
Hello ChefSteppers,
First, great videos. Most educational videos around!!
So ... I figured this was the best place to ask this question.
I notices in your videos when you cut into steaks I don't see any blood/myoglobin leaking out onto the plate. My wife is put off by this every time I cook sous vide and was wondering if there's a technique to reduce or even eliminate the leakage of "the red stuff" on to the plate when cutting beef (other then cooking well done)
Thanks a TON!
Hi,
Congratulations on a great concept, content and execution. This is an amazing page.
I have a question about sous vide. Obviously you are experts on sous vide cooking and now you came up with Joule, which I already preordered, and looking forward to it.
That said I also noticed that you guys have have a Rational oven. Our restaurant is looking into investing into a Rational oven. The rational oven has a sous vide function, low heat with plenty of steam.
Do you have any reason not to use the Rational oven for sous vide? Is it because it's an expensive piece of equipment and thus not for the home user or because you don't like the results? Is there any difference in sous vide with steam instead of water?
Thank you very much,
Pablo
Just joined today. Was wondering why video will not play?
@Andrew , fish is not so dangerous, you can eat it raw (sushi...etc.), The most dangerous is chicken! You can not eat it half raw or medium...must be cooked up 57°C.....
When talking about sous vide, there has been no mention about foodborne illnesses. With the danger zone being below 57°C, there should be a problem with the temperatures you provide in cooking fish. Especially since fish has a high chance of carrying bacteria and/or parasites. Above the danger zone, time will slowly kill most bacteria but inside the danger zone depending on the bacteria, growth rates double every 10-30 minutes.
I assume it would be safer for beef to be cooked at temperatures below the danger zone since the risk of parasites appearing inside the meat in minimal especially in north america where cow and pig farming are regulated to prevent spread of parasites. Also these meats are sterile and as long as the outside is properly seared there should be almost 100% kill in bacterial contamination.
Besides getting superior texture, how do you justify cooking fishes at temperatures inside the danger zone? Especially in commercial applications where the fishes may need to be kept for longer periods at the danger zone to last throughout the service period.
Just got my immersion circulator. First up, a couple of nasty rockfish filets. Never seemed to get them right. Made paupiettes with them, fresh thyme and shaved sweet white onion. I gotta tell ya, 60 minutes at 50°C and they were perfect. I am so stoked to try more things. You guys rock hardcore!!
Just learned a new trick I haven't seen in any book or heard of that I thought I would share. To stop avocados from turning brown, sous vide the unpeeled avocado at 104°F for two hours. Then cool and use as normal. My understanding is that this process destroys some of the enzymes that cause the avacado to turn brown. The taste and texture are not effected. Over to you Grant and company for the geeky answer why it works.
This definitely took my SousVide skill set to another level. Keep these videos coming!!
Is there an alternative to STP—sodium triphosphate - it seems hard to source here in the Netherlands?
Do you have any tips or advice on using an Alto-Shaam Cook and Hold as a sous-vide?
I am making sous vide steak, but am wondering if it is possible to presser the meat, vacuum seal it, and then freeze it for sous vide in a couple of days?
cryoblanching
Hi! I'm having issues cooking tough cuts: after that long cooking time the meat gets a little greenish. Taste is good and all, and mostly the problem is solved drying and searing it, but i can't help thinking if something is wrong with my sanitation procedure or with my meat dealer... Any suggest?
It took me forever to finally get through the course (my issues) but, WOW, I know i'm going to be revisiting a ton of this material in the future. Another home run from the amazing CS Team! Congrats!
I have a question what is the tips to keep the color for the purple asparagus ?
Thank you!
Great Course!!!, Thanks guys and gals
Thanks Jason! So glad you're happy with it.
Terrific update to the course!
This is a great course. I have done a lot of sous vide cooking but still learned a lot.
They are not all that usefull. But I would say high is about 10milbar. 100 would be med and 200 low.
In Thomas Keller's book "Under Pressure" he refers to using "low", "medium", and "high" pressure for packing. Does anyone know what the pressure percentage is for these settings?
Thank you for the pork shoulder recipe, it is really great. I just made it with a really good country pork shoulder and it was one of the best pork dishes I have had. Cooked it at 62C for 24 hours, chilled and sliced and served it the following day.
GREAT
Leif
Which device did you purchase?
Thanks Chefsteps. You launched my foray into sous vide. It was a simple progression- I stumbled into one of your vids while searching for a recipe. Mesmerized, I spent the next two hours watching you make things I wanted to eat. Fortune smiled on us both when I saw a sous vide kickstarter. I supported the project, waited 10 months, and burnt the thing out making your recipes. Thank you for producing this class. Honestly, I do not know of any other source providing this quality of information in such an approachable package ie. "I can probably do this" and "I can afford to risk the tuition if I can't".
This is all good information, just not certain it was really "beyond the basics". To me this was the basics, but I guess this is designed for the home cook. I don't know what was really covered over the free classes. I even the free time/temp chart I feel is more useful then the map. Anyway, I enjoy chef steps a lot so I am not that disappointed in spending the money (i got it on sale). I guess for me this was a bunch of common sense stuff, a couple case studies on the proteins but all in all a restating of the information in the free course. I am not certain if I even came across a video that was used that wasn't available for free.
Anyway, you guys do good work. Keep it up. Video quality is top notch and you explain things very well.
So disappointed in the course. Was expecting this to be a bit more elevated -- lots of the basics that anyone who has been cooking sous vide would have already mastered. Up your game, guys.
Hello from germany,
any ideas for a goose breast sous vide? Time, temperature, searing before or after sous vide?
With oil ir goose fat...
Looking forward to your suggestions!
Nice pre christmas time to everyone,
richard
I love what the team at CS is doing. I feel like the knowledge I gained from this class was well worth the money I spent on it. Considering everything else I've learned from the site, for which I paid nothing, I am more than willing to pay a few dollars to help keep these guys in business.
Regarding people's concerns about this particular class, it appears the disappointed remarks are mostly due to what people's expectations about the class were and what they actually received. Perhaps better explaining what exactly will be covered in the course and what people can expect to be able to do by the end of the class would help to set more realistic expectations and ensure a more positive response.
More importantly, I'd like to emphasize what I appreciate most about CS. Instead of just providing everyone with tons of killer recipes (which they do), I think CS provides us with something much more valuable: the tools, techniques, and inspiration to come up with OUR OWN killer recipes. Isn't that what this is all about?
It is for me, at least. I intend to continue learning as much as possible from the CS team until I can start creating recipes that are even better then what they can do. Until then, keep the classes coming, CS team! Keep them coming! Mwahahaha!!!
I've seen the knowledge, methodology and the 'spark' on your writtings and I'm hopping to see character against the Sirens
as for this class i have to put it correctly:It was good but not Chefsteps enough
Ps:No refund from dreamers
If I serve sous vide which takes a long time to make, and serve it on restauarant.
How would you do it for the best results?
What is the disadvantage if one cooks the food before and when the food is done we cool it in ice bath. So into the fridge. And when the customer orders, we warm it in sous vide again.
Is there any meat, fish or vegetables I should avoid in this process?
VERY pleased with the course. My initial forays into Sous Vide have been promising, and this is just what I need to polish my techniques. I will be trying a lot of the recipes here, and can't wait to try the paté. I recently used the Mi Cuit Salmon at a party on melba toasts with horseradish cream and dill, and they all begged for more. They were all snapped up before I thought to photograph it !!
Also, as a pressure-canning fan, I know how important food safety is, and therefore was glad to find the food safety guidelines for sous vide too. 👍
Really enjoyed this course. I always prefer to learn a couple of techniques with wide applicability than a whole bunch of recipes for the sake of it. Each of the points on the map represents a recipe, so there is no shortage of cooking to try out from this course - I don't think we need a video demonstrating each one of them. I think the faux-steak technique is genius, and I think distinguishing between fork-tender and steak-like treatments for tough cuts is really helpful in prompting me to think about what I want when I'm cooking a tough cut. One thing I am keen to get some guidance from the ChefSteps team about (and that would make useful addition to the course) is how to integrate sous vide into the broader array of techniques. That is, what advantages and disadvantages can it and other techniques have? When should we use one technique over another? And are there ways of combining sous vide with more traditional methods?
