Blue Gartr Meal Time: Bacon optional? Bacon required.

[Tokitoki]

I wasn't being combative. I just want all the food right now.

I know you weren't, I wasn't trying to be either. I think we both understood that.

I've got a lot of shit to do. Make sausage, pork ramen, and start brewing beer. If only I actually had time to do any of that.

[dasva]

idk I season the fuck outta my burgers.

I wasn't being combative. I just want all the food right now.

I don't have a good sausage recipe though. I don't have a grinder or anything.

er the type of seasoning then? Anywho I don't have a recipe either but one of my coworkers is always making his own so I can ask him when he gets in. Though he mostly makes it with deer he's hunted

edit: haha he pulled the family secret recipe on me

[SamanosukeShiva]

Id suggest you buy this book if you want to start making sausage, it's like the cured meats bible basically. The book goes over EVERYTHING.

http://www.amazon.com/Charcuterie-Sa...s=books&sr=1-1

[dasva]

So got my anova and looking to try it out and noticed I'm sort of lacking in larger containers to use. Like anything of any size I have are curved... so would that still work. What types of things would people recommend to use. Like size(s), shape material etc? Note one of the things I'm thinking of doing is sometimes cooking like a weeks worth of chicken ahead of time so when I get home can just give it a quick sear and eat but also probably doing meal sized stuff

[Zetanio]

A bucket or this

[dasva]

Oh sweet so hard plastic works then that's good. I've got a kitchen store around the block from me so I'm sure they will have something that works and a few other things I might want

[Coren]

If it's dishwasher safe I think it's good enough for sous vide. I don't think I've cooked anything above about 145 degrees in mine yet, and that's well within temp tolerance for most food-safe plastic items in a kitchen.

[SamanosukeShiva]

I've seen a lot of people McGyver a cooler to fit Anova and got very good result. Dunno if you actually wanna go that far though.

[Zetanio]

That's the right size for a brisket.

Speaking of, I'm tossing around the idea of trying a 72 hour brisket this weekend. Starting it tomorrow AM, eating Sunday AM.

Also, make sure you get something with straight sides.

[dasva]

So decided to do a bunch of skinless boneless chicken breasts in it. Looked up online and various guides said 140-160f for 1-4 hours so I settled for 140f for 3 hours. Came out looking like chicken in a can lol. Like all pushed together shaped like the bag and super slimy with bits i guess cooked skin all over it. Had put 2 per bag which got cook welded together so guess 1 per bag now. Very unappetizing looking and also made it harder to finish on a pan since it was this big round lump now. But sear it I did and looked a little better but cut into and it's fairly rubbery. Help me out bg chefs what I do wrong

[Lyall]

1-4 hours is a hell of a range when cooking something like that. Check on it at 60m and cut into something, then repeat every 20-30?

[dasva]

Well it's sous vide so kind of hard to check it often like that. Plus isn't part of the point of it that you can go longer and it not change much?

[Lyall]

Oh, derp. That'll teach me to not read everything.

I don't have any more useful advice than the obvious "try to dial it in by cooking it less next time." Maybe run it for 90 on the next go and just heat it in the pan as necessary if it's not cooked through? The good news is that once you get the timing right, it shouldn't really ever change on you.

[Zetanio]

You cooked it for way too long.

Use this guide for times. It's MUCH more accurate.

Chicken breasts should be 149 for an hour if defrosted, 75 minutes if not.

Use a LOT of salt but don't use too much else seasoning wise.

Also make sure you are finishing the chicken in a pan or something. It will NOT looking appetizing out of the bag.

[dasva]

You cooked it for way too long.

Use this guide for times. It's MUCH more accurate.

Chicken breasts should be 149 for an hour if defrosted, 75 minutes if not.

Use a LOT of salt but don't use too much else seasoning wise.

Also make sure you are finishing the chicken in a pan or something. It will NOT looking appetizing out of the bag.

Ah yeah I used the thing on the recipe page from anova website. Why they lie to me!?!

Hmmm speaking of still frozen does that mean I just plop it in there straight of the freezer after the water comes to temp?

Define a lot. I kind of always use tons of salt anyways.

Yeah definitely finished in pan but still was kind of meh. Like weird straggly things I had to wipe off and it got mushed into the shape the bag so looked like chicken from a can lol. Guess I could try pounding it back into the flattish form before finishing?

[Zetanio]

No. Make sure they are separated. I use chopsticks for the most part. I break em in half and use em to straighten out the meat.

You can drop the chicken frozen, I make sure to fill my container with super hot water and just drop them immediately while the water heats up.

If you have skin on the chicken breast you can remove it and fry it separately in a pan then put it back on after, that will reduce the scraggly bits.

When you take the chicken out, wipe it down and remove all the excess shit that on it. I find the bottom of a butter knife works well. You will want to season AFTER that for your finishing.

All that being said, I don't eat a lot of chicken boobs, only thighs for the most part and those are much more conducive to sous vide.

[Coren]

Here's the seriouseats sous vide chicken guide: http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/07/t...en-breast.html if you want something to reference against the chefsteps one (both are solid, imo, but the seriouseats one has more detail for just chicken).

Keep in mind you HAVE to brown any meat you cook sous vide if you want it to look like you grilled or panseared it (not got it out of a can). You get zero caramelization/maillaird reaction at 140 degrees. I throw everything i cook either onto a grill on highest setting (600 degrees) or onto a searing-hot cast-iron skillet for a short time to get browned and crisped.

For what it's worth, chicken cooked at 140 for at least a half hour or so is safe, but the texture can throw people off. I cook my chicken at 145. At 150 it loses juiciness that iId rather stay in the chicken. Cook 1-2 hours, depending on if it started frozen or not.

[Zetanio]

Here's the seriouseats sous vide chicken guide: http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/07/t...en-breast.html if you want something to reference against the chefsteps one (both are solid, imo, but the seriouseats one has more detail for just chicken).

Keep in mind you HAVE to brown any meat you cook sous vide if you want it to look like you grilled or panseared it (not got it out of a can). You get zero caramelization at 140 degrees. I throw everything i cook either onto a grill on highest setting (600 degrees) or onto a searing-hot cast-iron skillet for a short time to get browned and crisped.

For what it's worth, chicken cooked at 140 for at least a half hour or so is safe, but the texture can throw people off. I cook my chicken at 145. At 150 it loses juiciness that iId rather stay in the chicken. Cook 1-2 hours, depending on if it started frozen or not.

I stay between 143-147 for thighs.

[dasva]

Thanks guys. I'll have to try again after I finish my rubber chicken. So I noticed those are some rather precise temperatures... does just a few degrees really make much of a difference? Guess I'll have to play around to develop temps for myself too

Edit: also just noticed the serious eats site had the same long 1-4 hour ranges that didn't really work...

[Zetanio]

Use the shorter times.

The temps are exact because they've been pretty heavily tested. Also, the necessary internal temps of food have been known for quite awhile.

Steaks have a gradient from med rare to tough as leather that is only about 15 degrees F. From rare to med rare is about 5 degrees. For high end steaks that's a big gap.