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Posted: 4/26/2007 6:02 AM

#198203

	verocook

	Member

Total Posts:303
Last Post:10/21/2008
Member Since:5/15/2006

Subject: Sous Vide Cooking

Awhile back, we had a thread going about sous vide cooking, which I gather has been the rage for several years now. As usual, I'm behind the times, but I finally got around to trying this technique.

First, I assembled the ingredients (the only thing that I happened to have in my fridge at the time: chicken breasts, fingerling potatoes, parsnips and carrots, a few herbs):

Next, I put the chicken breasts in a food saver bag with thyme, a bit of butter, and S & P.

The fingerlings got rosemary, chives, EVOO and S & P, and the parsnips/carrots got butter, S & P, and a bit of orange zest:

I put the chicken in a steam oven (140 degrees for 60 minutes) and then the veggies (190 degrees for 30 minutes). While the food was steaming, I made a roux:

When the chicken was done, I removed it from the bag and added the juices from the bag to the roux, along with a bit of chicken stock, for a quick pan sauce.

The veggies after cooking:

The result was incredibly delicious. The herb flavors had deeply penetrated the food and the texture of the chicken was unlike any that I've had before. The meat was fully cooked, but extremely juicy and both tender and firm at the same time. It's rather hard to describe.

If you don't have a steam oven, there are other ways to try this at home, for example, using a water bath. Some people use a pot on the stove and others start off on the stove but then move to the oven. It is impossible to duplicate the specialized equipment used in restaurants, but you can approximate it.

Anyway, I'm definitely going to be doing some more experiments with this technique. The dinner got two thumbs up from DH and DD.

KBJ

Posted: 4/26/2007 7:03 AM

#198211

	Kathy Henry

	Member

Total Posts:3648
Last Post:11/17/2009
Member Since:6/6/2003

Thanks for posting! Your photos are beautiful. I have not tried this, but your post made me want to try it.
Kathy

Posted: 4/26/2007 7:37 AM

#198212

	auntcy1

	Member

Total Posts:2272
Last Post:11/20/2009
Member Since:4/10/2003

Those photos are beautiful. I've also never tried this but the results look amazing. Too bad there wasn't scratch and sniff!
Nancy

Those who forget the pasta are condemned to reheat it.

Posted: 4/26/2007 7:40 AM

#198213

	Darcie

	Member

Total Posts:2720
Last Post:11/16/2009
Member Since:9/3/2003

That looks good! What brand of steam oven do you have?

I am going to get a PID temp controller for an old freestanding roaster oven and set up a sous vide operation with that. I bought the roaster, with stand, for $20 at an antique store that was liquidating. I will hide the temp controller ($35) in the stand cabinet and have a probe that will come up around the back into the roaster ($10). This will be a fairly high tech/low cost setup. If I weren't obsessive about finishes I would not have much in the entire thing, but I am having the stand powder coated which will cost about $150 (yeah, I know, I could have spray painted it for $10).

I will enlist DH to make sure I do the wiring correctly and don't burn down the house. I really want to make my own deli-style roast beef with this setup.

I won't have it all in place until I get the stand back from the powder coater, which could be several more weeks since it is spring powder coating season in motorcycle-land.

Keep us posted on other experiments!

Posted: 4/26/2007 8:19 AM

#198216

	verocook

	Member

Total Posts:303
Last Post:10/21/2008
Member Since:5/15/2006

I have a Miele, it's the bomb. The company has a bunch of recipes on its website for using the steam oven (I haven't found any cookbooks or other sources for steam oven recipes for home use). I've tried a handful of the recipes and they were all good.

I'm looking forward to trying eggplant sous vide - someone on egullet posted a recipe where you marinate Asian eggplants (the little round ones) in S & P, plus a little sugar, then pop it in the cooker for an hour at 190 degrees, if I remember the directions correctly. Problem is finding that ingredient in my area. :(

Also on my list is pears with vanilla bean and that Mexican-style sugar, I forget what it is called.

The biggest downside to trying this technique at home is that you can't include any liquids inside the foodsaver bag (the liquid gets sucked out when you vacuum seal). One person solved this problem by freezing the liquid (stock, etc.) in ice cube trays and then putting a few cubes in the bag. I may try that next time.

Will you please post photos of your set up? I don't think that I've ever seen a free-standing roaster.

PS Darcie, I still find it hard to believe that you have no professional training!

Posted: 4/26/2007 10:52 AM

#198227

	tim

	Member

Total Posts:5327
Last Post:11/20/2009
Member Since:6/27/2003

KB,

Your pictures are wonderful. I am pleased that the food saver bags seem to work.

I would not have thought about a steam oven. How low can you cook?

I've been anxious to try salmon at 145 to 150 degrees. The wild stuff should be here in a few weeks.

Tim

Posted: 4/26/2007 11:32 AM

#198230

	verocook

	Member

Total Posts:303
Last Post:10/21/2008
Member Since:5/15/2006

According to the manual, I can program it as low as 105 degrees. I'm looking at those salmon recipes, too, they sure sound good. I can only imagine how some salmon with fresh dill would taste . . . it was amazing how the flavors of the herbs really penetrated the foods that were cooked this way. Please post pictures and share your results!!!

KBJ

Posted: 4/26/2007 5:46 PM

#198251

	verocook

	Member

Total Posts:303
Last Post:10/21/2008
Member Since:5/15/2006

Tim, here you go - I tried salmon tonight (140 degrees for 30 minutes, seasoned with fresh herbs, mostly dill) and asparagus (190 degrees for 25 minutes, seasoned with S & P, EVOO and roasted garlic). The salmon was farm-raised, and not the greatest to begin with and that was evident in the finished product. It was good, but not great. The asparagus on the other hand, was outstanding.

Here's the fish and asparagus going in:

And the results:

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