One Major Sous Vide Disadvantage (for me)

[roadfix]

TIME.

Here I was all excited after getting an immersion sous vide machine and now realized I need to allow 2 to 4 hours of time from prep to table. Well, I guess I knew this.....well, I did... I even picked up a double pack of tri tip from Costco the other day but realizing I won't be able to do this until my next day off I threw them in the freezer.

I work til 7pm most days and even if I want a simple steak it looks like I'm going to have to resort to traditional methods.

Now, is there a trick where I can sous vide a couple of steaks the night before and sear and serve the following night?

 

[CraigC]

I'm sure that in a few generations, when all fingers are fused together as supports for their "devices", where the thumbs are the only articulating appendage, they can rely on the kitchen bots to deal with it.

 

[roadfix]

When I retire I'll have the time to play with all my toys.....

 

[Josie1945]

You should get excited about Sous Vide. What you think is a disavantage is actually a advantage. You can cook several steaks in the Sou Vide at one time. I use 130 degrees, and if you use the temperature you want you want your steaks to be they will not cook past that temperature.You cool them in Ice bath in the bag. Store them In the fridge or freezer untill you ready to use. 5 minutes to set up your Sou Vide 5 minutes to set up and sear. Just refer to the charts out there for time . Tough cuts you cook longer than tender cuts.

Have Fun
Josie

TIME.

Here I was all excited after getting an immersion sous vide machine and now realized I need to allow 2 to 4 hours of time from prep to table. Well, I guess I knew this.....well, I did... I even picked up a double pack of tri tip from Costco the other day but realizing I won't be able to do this until my next day off I threw them in the freezer.

I work til 7pm most days and even if I want a simple steak it looks like I'm going to have to resort to traditional methods.

Now, is there a trick where I can sous vide a couple of steaks the night before and sear and serve the following night?

 

[roadfix]

You cool them in Ice bath in the bag. Store them In the fridge or freezer untill you ready to use. 5 minutes to set up your Sou Vide 5 minutes to set up and sear.

Are you saying that I can bring the sealed meat back up to temp (say, 130*) and ready to sear in 5 minutes?

 

[Josie1945]

Yes, Unless it is real thick. I put the bag in the sink
and run hot water over it while my skillet is getting
smoking hot. When you have time to play with the
unit you will be amazed. I would start with boneless
skinless chicken breast. I have had my Sous Vide
over 3 years and still love it.

Josie

 

[roadfix]

Awesome, thanks!

 

[Kayelle]

Josie, I'm also reading this with lots of interest. So if I understand correctly, after you've let the Sous Vide do it's thing, you can freeze a steak in it's packet then defrost it with what method before searing?

 

[Josie1945]

Kayelle, If you cooked your meat at 130 degrees. you can heat your water
Bath to 130 degrees and and it will take it back to that temperature. Or you can thaw it in the fridge. It has never been a issue for me. Just don't thaw it
at a higher temperature than you cooked it at .You are a awesome cook go
for it.
Josie

Josie, I'm also reading this with lots of interest. So if I understand correctly, after you've let the Sous Vide do it's thing, you can freeze a steak in it's packet then defrost it with what method before searing?

 

[roadfix]

So, if I sous vide a 2.5 lb tri tip roast tonight at 135* for say, 2 to 3 hours, then ice it and leave it in the fridge til tomorrow night is it safe to assume it'll take about an hour to bring it back up to 135* in the water bath?
Also, would this additional time in the second bath for that extra length of time change anything in the roast, as in becoming too tender?

 

[Andy M.]

Can you set the circulator on a timer? Put the frozen try-tip in the water and set the timer to turn on the circulator at a set time and it will be ready when you get home.

 

[roadfix]

Can you set the circulator on a timer? Put the frozen try-tip in the water and set the timer to turn on the circulator at a set time and it will be ready when you get home.

Now, that would be cool, but my unit does not do that.

 

[outRIAAge]

So, if I sous vide a 2.5 lb tri tip roast tonight at 135* for say, 2 to 3 hours, then ice it and leave it in the fridge til tomorrow night is it safe to assume it'll take about an hour to bring it back up to 135* in the water bath?
Also, would this additional time in the second bath for that extra length of time change anything in the roast, as in becoming too tender?

If you're taking it right out of the fridge to reheat, I would give it most of an hour in the bath to get back to temperature, but here's one of the neat things about sous vide: you can hold it at 135F for hours with very little degradation. Is is safe? The interior of healthy beef is purty well sterile and all the nasties are on the surface, so I take care of them by quickly pre-searing the meat (and then sear properly before serving).*

In all but the most obsessive big steak houses, you'll nowadays find one guy tending four or five sous vide baths full of steaks at various temperatures, while sending out perhaps a hundred perfectly cooked slabs per hour from his flattop.

*I actually take care of the nasties by wiping the steak dry, then dry-aging it (putting it in the fridge naked, with air circulating all around it) for at least a week, and sometimes a month. It loses quite a bit of weight while it gains flavour, and the pellicle that develops on the surface is perfect for searing. It sounds insane, and people run screaming from the idea, but walk into any high-end butcher and you'll see enormous glass fridges full of gorgeous naked meat, like this:

Butchers who care that much also tend to sell meat from bullocks (steers) that had a happy life, with their only worry being: "Will those things they cut off ever grow back?"

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Maybe the unit doesn't do that, but if the switch is manual you could plug the circulator into a lamp timer and set that to come on at the right time, thereby turning on the circulator. You could probably find a heavy duty or outdoor unit that accepts a 3-prong plug if that's what the unit has.

 

[roadfix]

........but here's one of the neat things about sous vide: you can hold it at 135F for hours with very little degradation. Is is safe? The interior of healthy beef is purty well sterile and all the nasties are on the surface, so I take care of them by quickly pre-searing the meat (and then sear properly before serving).*

Ok, I was curious about this.
I've been watching You Tube videos and there was this guy who did a 48 hr sous vide brisket at 130*, patted dry, then seared. I guess people routinely sous vide roasts for several hours without any ill effect.

So, If I can safely sous vide tri tip for 10 hours at 130* while I'm off to work I'd rather go this route. I will experiment.

 

[roadfix]

While searching, I came upon another food forum and saw this:


On 11/4/2014 at 11:57 AM, ************* said:
Interesting. I have a habit of cooking dinner entrees sous vide for about 12 hours, putting it into the water bath before leaving to work in the morning. I have cooked hundreds of pork loin roasts and tenderloins in my sous vide cooker (and at least a thousand other meals) on my home made sous vide cooker without ever realizing that someone might have the opinion that 12 hours was too long. The results have been astoundingly good, except when I'm browning it on the barbecue, to finish it, a pork product will sometimes flame up and cook hotter than I had intended with the expectable results. But most of my 12-hour pork tenderloins are slightly pink and as juicy and tender as you could wish for.

___________________________________________
Member reply:

Have you ever made a side-by-side comparison? I have, with 1 hour, 3 hours, and 6 hours pork tenderloins in 56ºC water, and the change is clearly noticeable. Was the 6 hours tenderloin still pink, tender and juicy (can't judge 12 hours as I have never tried)? Yes, but not as good as the 3 hour version. Was the 3 hours tenderloin still pink, tender and juicy? Yes, but not as good as the 1 hour version.

 

[outRIAAge]

Have you ever made a side-by-side comparison? I have, with 1 hour, 3 hours, and 6 hours pork tenderloins in 56ºC water, and the change is clearly noticeable. Was the 6 hours tenderloin still pink, tender and juicy (can't judge 12 hours as I have never tried)? Yes, but not as good as the 3 hour version. Was the 3 hours tenderloin still pink, tender and juicy? Yes, but not as good as the 1 hour version.

That's a great experiment, and a very interesting (and troubling) result. I've got used to thinking of it as suspended animation, with no noticeable changes.

Did you cook them side by side and chill each one as it hit its time-mark, and then reheat all of them for the test?

 

[roadfix]

That's a great experiment, and a very interesting (and troubling) result. I've got used to thinking of it as suspended animation, with no noticeable changes.

Did you cook them side by side and chill each one as it hit its time-mark, and then reheat all of them for the test?

That reply was not made by me. It was someone else from that forum. I did not conduct that experiment. I just copied and pasted the post and the reply.

But I agree, that poster made some good time vs quality comparisons.

Well, I have 2 similarly sized tri tips. I can certainly run a similar experiment.

 

[MultiThom]

Roadfix: first, you should cook tritip a lot longer than 2-3 hours. You will be amazed at how the longer cooking tenderizes the cut. second, if you purchased the tritip at costco already marinated and in the vacuum bag; just cook it in that bag. I did so yesterday and let the sous vide run for 8 hours. You can continue for as long as you wish=so, like a slow cooker, you can set and forget. You should not try this at lower than 130 degrees, though since 130 will kill any bacteria. I've found that sous vide is a very good treatment for less expensive cuts such as london broil and tri tip. Cooking sous vide in the marinade just makes the marinade work better and drives the flavor throughout the meat. third, ensure you pat the meat dry or nearly dry before searing-otherwise you are making the moisture on the surface boil/steam and not getting the carmelization you want.

 

[Steve Kroll]

Coincidentally, I actually made a tri tip roast a couple of weeks ago while I was at work. It sat in the circulator for 12 hours. When I got home, I pulled it out, finished on the grill, and it was awesome - tender and full of flavor.

The beauty of sous vide is you aren't really committed to stopping it at a set time.