I was introduced to this concept yesterday by one of the ministers at my church. Does anybody have any experience with it? Any opinions?
I own a chef steps sous vide. Control it from the phone app. Have made just about everything in it. Super easy to use and you never over cook meat. You can set it and leave the house without sweating it. Just made a few racks of baby back ribs in it over the weekend, 6 hours in the sous vide then an hour on the smoker. Pulled the bag out the sous vide and separated the fat from the drippings then reduced it in a pot as the ribs smoked. Add the resulting meat caramel to BBQ sauce then spread it over the ribs (falling off the bone) smoked with a box of mixed hickory and pecan chips on the dyna-glo. Delicious and easy.
It’s delicious, but I don’t think it’s worth the effort.
If I’m going to spend 5+ hours cooking some food, I want it to be smokey.
What about steaks, chicken breasts, fish, etc.?
If you approach it as: “This is a new way of cooking” I think you’ll be disappointed when you realize the effort it requires.
If you approach it as: “This is an activity/hobby that also gives me food” I think you’ll be satisfied.
The food comes out juicy and better prepared after you sear it, but for the most part I don’t want to spend hours waiting for my food to be done. I’d drop like 200 bucks on a cheap one and if you like it, great – buy a better one. If you only use it a few times, it’s still worth it.
In theory it’s great, but I would be too lazy to set this up regularly.
If you think sous vide is difficult to use then you probably have not spent much time using one. It’s similar to a crock pot, you put the food in, set the temp, and you can walk away. You don’t have to cook food forever, it depends on the type of meat, the cut of the meat, and how you want it prepared.
The first benefit to sous vide is consistency. It’s just a water pump that controls the temperature within the water of whatever container you put it in. I use a large pot. The water stays EXACTLY the same temperature during the entire course of the cook. You use a polyethylene bag to place the meat, veggies, etc. in. The second benefit is that the food doesn’t dry out because the vacuum seal that is created (you just clip the side of the bag to the container). Sous vide translates to “under vacuum,” referring to the technique of sealing food in an airtight plastic bag and then cooking it in a temperature-controlled water bath. So the contents of the bag cooks in it’s own juices or with whatever other herbs, spices, etc. that you have added.
We quartered a turkey and sous vide it for thanksgiving last year, a table of 20+. We put the sous vide turkey next to the oven cooked turkey my mother made and the sous vide turkey was gone while the oven roasted was left over.
Who disses their mom’s turkey?
Mama liked the sous vide turkey better. The oven roasted turkey was the “presentation” turkey. The quartered turkey cooks more evenly and both the white and dark meat are juicy because of varying cook temps.
I did something similar to this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB2WRiNkBx8
The smoke finish on the grill gets the maillard reaction triggered and perfects the meat.
Just messing with you. Have you all ever tried the oven bags? Makes a juicy bird.
Can do it all. Great for tougher or thicker steak cuts and making juicy chicken breasts perfectly cooked. Throw some seasoning on your fish and drop in a chopped lemon.
I find that brining the turkey works well where juicy is concerned. You have to use the Alton Brown shield method to prevent it from overcooking the breast though.
My friends and coworkers that live in cramped apartments in NY love to sous vide all sorts of stuff. I haven’t tried it, but a guy I trust to identify a good steak has one and makes steaks he claims are excellent.
My wife got a sous vide thing for Christmas a couple years ago. All she uses it for now is breakfast eggs (which are great). Not the best investment, but I think it does work well if you really plan on using it.
Greenie- I recommend you pick up this book. It is my holy bible for the cooking of the meats. It focuses on outdoor cooking but the food science he discusses will likely improve multiple aspects of your meat cooking.
https://www.amazon.com/Meathead-Science-Great-Barbecue-Grilling/dp/054401846X