New cooking methods ... sous vide

[Fire Me Boy!]

So I took the plunge (pun not intended) and purchased a personal sous vide machine.

I've made a wonderful roasted garlic and herb compound butter and I'm about to put a couple of thick cut KC strips in the bath, set it for 134 degrees and in a couple hours I should have perfectly medium rare steak to throw in a screaming hot skillet to sear. Then it's eatin' time.

Will post pics.

Anyone worked with sous vide before? Any tips, tasty things to try?

[KCUnited]

Getting some probiotics warm and happy to kettle sour a beer in a few days.

[BucEyedPea]

I was gonna get a sous vide set up until I realized I'd be cooking in plastic causing me to pause. So naturally, I got to looking into the health aspects of it even though it's bad enough we have enough plastics getting into and polluting the environment. I don't give a rats ass what the FDA claims is safe since regulatory agencies suffer from regulatory capture. The science just does not support advocates of the sous vide position that it is a perfectly safe way to cook. On the contrary, the evidence is clear that ALL types of plastic, when exposed to heat, leach various chemicals into any surrounding medium, including food — including endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Once a big proponent of sous vide cooking, Chris Kresser changed his mind after the safety concerns raised in the Environmental Health Perspectives study.



Sous Vide: A Popular Way to Put Plastic Straight into Your Food
https://www.westonaprice.org/health-...straight-food/

I realize this post will lead to some hostile reactions. It's your choice to use or not. I still think it's worth posting.

[Megatron96]

Doing a prime rib roast poor man's sous vide style right now. That's an ice chest filled with 140 degree water that I check temp and stir once an hour. This is the third time I've done a roast this way with exceptional results.

I don't have kids and I only sous vide three or four times a year so I'm not terribly concerned about BPA or whatever. If I had kids I'd have to reconsider.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Various chemicals are just another layer of flavor.

[dlphg9]

https://www.cooksillustrated.com/art...lastic-is-safe

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by frozenchief

I’ve been tinkering with hanger steak recently. Buttery and rich and full of flavor when done right, which sous vide does.

I put a little anchovy paste on one side - maybe 1/4-1/2 a teaspoon. The anchovy paste adds umami and depth to the meat. Then I add a bit of ground ancho chili pepper, fresh ground pepper and some salt. Let it rest for about 30-60 minutes. I add a few drops of mesquite liquid smoke to the bag. Sous vide for 1-2 hours at 130 degrees. I sear mine in a red hot cast iron pan for about 60-75 seconds a side.

I make a bernaise sauce in which I add some of the juices from the bag. For an easy bearnaise (and hollandaise recipe), see Kenji Lopez-Alt’s book The Food Lab. Actually, just get that book and read his column in general.

I find I like hanger steak better than tri tip or even bone in ribeyes. Right now it’s my favorite cut of beef. My local butcher gets local grass fed beef with no hormones or antibiotics. That makes a difference. Full bodied red wine, sautéed spinach and a baguette and life is good.

Keep on cooking.

I tried a bagna Cauda sauce for the first time and never realized how damn good anchovies go with beef. My only regret is that it took me this long to realize it.

[Chief Pagan]

I am worried enough about plastics that I did research it and decided to go with a name brand sous vide bag instead of geniric knock offs. I also don't usually sous vide at high temperatures. Steaks I do at 130. The hotest thing I do is ribs at 145.
I don't see any reason to think chemicals from sous vide is any worse than all the other junk in your food and environment.

[Groves]

If the current science on bpa free plastics is faulty, then danger from even regular sous vide use is but a speck compared to the rest of our food chain.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BucEyedPea]

Originally Posted by Chief Pagan

I am worried enough about plastics that I did research it and decided to go with a name brand sous vide bag instead of geniric knock offs. I also don't usually sous vide at high temperatures. Steaks I do at 130. The hotest thing I do is ribs at 145.
I don't see any reason to think chemicals from sous vide is any worse than all the other junk in your food and environment.

Environmental Health Perspectives study says NO plastics are safe. If you read the link it says why despite attempt sot produce safer bags.

Unfortunately, the science does not support these sous vide advocates’ position. Instead, research shows an alarming set of concerns around plastics in general, and especially plastics used in food preparation. As I wrote previously, “BPA-free does not mean safe, nor free of, other similar or even more dangerous chemicals that act similarly or even worse than BPA and other estrogen mimickers.”1

This is confirmed in a toxicology study published in 2011 in Environmental Health Perspectives, which examined more than four hundred and fifty commercially available plastic products used to contain foodstuffs.4,5 The investigators found that almost all of the products sampled “leached chemicals having reliably detectable EA [estrogenic activity], including those advertised as BPA free. In some cases, BPA-free products released chemicals having more EA than BPA-containing products.”5 As these authors note, chemicals with estrogenic activity can cause numerous adverse health effects in “fetal and juvenile mammals,” “especially at low (picomolar to nanomolar) doses.” 5

[BucEyedPea]

Originally Posted by Groves

If the current science on bpa free plastics is faulty, then danger from even regular sous vide use is but a speck compared to the rest of our food chain.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What science is that based on?

Not per the study. No. The thing is you're cooking, using heat, with the plastic as opposed to some short storage time of a food in a fridge.

[mikeyis4dcats.]

Originally Posted by BucEyedPea

What science is that based on?

Not per the study. No. The thing is you're cooking, using heat, with the plastic as opposed to some short storage time of a food in a fridge.

that study tested at 273* F. Hardly sous vide conditions. Until they adjust methodology, I will be cautiously trusting of other testing.

[MTG#10]

Finally broke down and got one of these things...Anova Nano on sale on Rakuten for $60.

Used it yesterday for the first time with some boneless pork chops. They turned out decent, would have been better if it wouldn't have started raining and I could have finished them on the grill instead of a frying pan. Pretty sure I overcooked them because I couldn't get my pan hot enough for a quick sear.

Used it today on a tritip I had previously smoked/froze whole...it tasted just as good as fresh, I honestly could not tell a difference. I dont know how good these are at cooking yet but for reheating previously cooked Q they're phenomenal.

[Great Expectations]

Has anyone paired the Ninja Foodie with their Sous Vide steaks? Appears to be a great combo.

[Groves]

We’ve been a sous vide family for a few years, and recently picked up a Foodi (air fryer/pressure coooker) in the clearance rack at Sam’s.

We absolutely love it, but not because it pairs with a sous vide machine. We love it because speed and air frying.

Ninja now makes a Foodi indoor grill, which maybe is the item you’re referring to? That would potentially make a good searing station, but like the Foodi (air fryer/pressure cooker) it’s just not large enough for families.

All these countertop devices are nice though. Can’t wait for the inova steam oven to come out soon.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by mikeyis4dcats.

that study tested at 273* F. Hardly sous vide conditions. Until they adjust methodology, I will be cautiously trusting of other testing.

Nothing is cooked at 273 degrees in sous vide preparation. You sous vide at the final internal temp desired. Which, at the least, is about 100 degrees less than 273. The study is reeruned.

Oh, and after almost three years, I still haven't grown any boobs.