Sous Vide

[8mpg]

Well, I have recently discovered sous vide cooking and love it. I have built a DIY sous vide temperature controller and have used it a few times with AMAZING success... so if you guys didnt see my Xmas dinner, here are some pics.


Steak cooked med rare all the way through. Very little overcooked edges. The steaks are deep fried for a crust after sous vide.


This is how I cook my steaks now:
Kosher salt the hell out of it for 45 minutes, then rinse and pat dry. Rub in olive oil and vacuum seal it (the sealed meat is actually short ribs)


55*C for 4 hours (2" thick steaks) that end up looking like this:

Little deep fry and it ends up looking like this: (this is the fillet side of a tbone)


Anyways, tonight I started some 72 hour braised short ribs. Wont be ready until Wednesday. Here is my sous vide setup with a crock pot. The controller is what I built on the right.

[bcoop]

Like I mentioned in the other thread, I'm a huge fan of sous vide, just not with steaks. Props for stepping out of your comfort zone though, and trying something most people have never even heard of. Keep playing with it. Possibilities are endless.

[stangin4lyfe]

More info on the controller please...

[bcoop]

More info on the controller please...

Google PID controller, there are tons of reviews and DIY articles.

[stangin4lyfe]

Google PID controller, there are tons of reviews and DIY articles.

Thank you sir!

[8mpg]

More info on the controller please...

Brent is right on the money... this is where I started: http://seattlefoodgeek.com/2010/02/d...-for-about-75/

I personally used and electrical outlet so it would have more flexability. I have a 55 quart cooler with a water heater element for cooking lots of food, and use a crock pot or rice cooker for smaller batches of food. If you are only cooking for 2, a crock pot works great. Christmas dinner was great in the cooler as I cooked 8 steaks and 6 lobster tails.

[bcoop]

For anyone else following, and for the BBQ crowd, PID controllers are used for more than just sous vide. Read up on them, you may find that you must have one. Lol.


Tim, are you doing your veggies sous vide as well, or just the proteins? One thing I do want to try, with steak, is to make a red wine reduction, and put that with some mushrooms and shallots and cook sous vide. I've done it with lamb and chicken, and it was excellent. I also wonder what a quality roast would be like, sous vide. I have a feeling I would have to make some additional gravy, which isn't a big deal. Just need to try it.

[8mpg]

Brent... I have only done proteins. I did make the red wine reduction from Modern Cuisine for these short ribs. We will see how they taste.

I almost did a roast (prime rib) on Xmas but it just takes too long to cook. The ribeye steaks I cooked were actually a rib roast I cut down into steaks. At 2" thick, the recommended time is 4 hours. A 8" thick rib roast would be something like 16 hours.

[Andy@PrimeTuning]

I might have to try this. My mom taught me about sous vide when she learned it in chef training.

It really is an excellent process and works really well.

[YALE]

I'm gonna have to try this now, because:

[8mpg]

3 days later, I had braised short ribs... I tried picking them up by the bone out of the bag and the meat slid off. I overcooked it by accident by setting the waterbath to 64*C when it should have been 62*C. They came out great though. They were coated in a red wine reduction. The fat and collagen broke down and was very tender. Im very picky when it comes to fatty meats but thought it was great.



With some leftover rosemary, thyme and kosher salt new potatoes

[red95gts]

trying something most people have never even heard of.

Guilty. Off to Google I go....

[UserX]

That shit looks great to me! Which steakhouses cook their steaks this way?

[8mpg]

That shit looks great to me! Which steakhouses cook their steaks this way?

Most steakhouses dont cook this way. They often cook their steaks from the top and bottom in 1200-2000*f grills.

Thomas Keller is a world known chef that uses sous vide

[8mpg]

More of the same. Follett side of the ribeye to 56*c and some grilled shrimp. Instant mashed potatoes with montpellier butter