SOUS VIDE WITH A BEER COOLER

[Suu]

I'm going to Pennsic again this year. Hopefully I can get my feet even muddier this time for a new emote.

[Triple Zero]

yesterday we prepared two pieces of quality steaks (aged for nearly a month and all that) at 53C using the beercooler + thermometer + ziplocs method. They were perfect.

Maybe a master chef like ECH can cook his steaks to be slightly-below-medium-rare equally all the way through and with a thin crust using a regular stove, but I have never managed to pull it off myself

It was very delicious. Of course I couldn't argue with ECH on the topic of food, so I will just point out that from an objective point of view (ECH's) they were absolutely foul and disgusting. Apart from that, we loved them, though.

No pics, unfortunately.

In case anyone is going to try this, and is tempted to put some spices or herbs or marinade in the ziploc, go for it. But be aware that since the juices and flavours have nowhere to go, you only need a tiny littlebit or the flavours will be too intense. Take special care with coarse ground black pepper, they explode into megahyperpepper. I might actually get myself a can of fine crappy preground black pepper crap just for that.


Tonight, it's tuna steak. It's from the freezer so not top-quality, but I had to get them since they hadn't been available in the supermarkets for a while (guess they're going extinct or something). According to those handy-dandy links I got from Badge, I need to prepare these at the low low temperature of 43.5C. Also I made some quick teriyaki sauce (garilc+soy sauce+rice vinegar+fresh ginger+sugar+salt+black pepper) that went with the tuna into the ziploc.

I wonder how this'll turn out. There's this horrible overpriced disgusting fusion cooking asian foodhouse in city, and as far as I've been able to tell they can do exactly one thing right (I went there a couple of times cause when they just got here, they were half-price, which I considered just about fair for the junk they serve). This one thing is the tuna steak salad. Actually just the tuna steak, because the salad is just some leaves of curly lettuce, sesame seeds and wasabi-flavoured vinaigrette. But I always wondered how they got their tuna so perfectly equally pink in the middle with only a very thing brown-gray crust around the edges. I asumme they must have used a sous-vide technique also.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I have a very low-tech way of preparing cuts that aren't really tender enough to just pan-sear, like the nice cuts of organic grassfed Bottom Round I can get up the street for $3.99/lb from time to time.

I call this technique "sticking it in the toaster oven". I just put in it a baking pan and roast it at low heat (180-250, depending on how much time I have) for 40 minutes to two hours (depending on what temperature I choose) and then I throw it in a hot, greased skillet on the stove for a second to brown it, slice it up, and serve it. It comes out perfectly tender and evenly cooked, plus I don't have to fuck around with anything in my kitchen that would irritate the living shit out of me, like a beer cooler.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I don't understand why you would cook tuna? Tuna, in my experience, is usually served raw or very nearly raw; just barely seared on the outside.

[Jasper]

I don't understand why you would cook tuna? Tuna, in my experience, is usually served raw or very nearly raw; just barely seared on the outside.

Canning also ruins everything nice about it, but that doesn't stop them.

[Triple Zero]

I have a very low-tech way of preparing cuts that aren't really tender enough to just pan-sear, like the nice cuts of organic grassfed Bottom Round I can get up the street for $3.99/lb from time to time.

I call this technique "sticking it in the toaster oven". I just put in it a baking pan and roast it at low heat (180-250, depending on how much time I have) for 40 minutes to two hours (depending on what temperature I choose) and then I throw it in a hot, greased skillet on the stove for a second to brown it, slice it up, and serve it. It comes out perfectly tender and evenly cooked, plus I don't have to fuck around with anything in my kitchen that would irritate the living shit out of me, like a beer cooler.

are you being this condescending on purpose? it kind of bugs me, as you could have said the same thing in a nice way, just as easy.

anyway, yes, I know about putting meat in the oven first to get it up to temp. it didn't get me as consistent good results as the couple of times I've tried this.

and the beer cooler is just a rather small plastic box, but a good one, I got it at the Queen's Day flea market two weeks ago for just one or two euro but it's small so it doesn't annoy me.

and you might be right about the tuna, too. I'm gonna try an even lower temp next time. It came out pretty good (might upload some pics later) but it needs to be barely raw indeed.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I have a very low-tech way of preparing cuts that aren't really tender enough to just pan-sear, like the nice cuts of organic grassfed Bottom Round I can get up the street for $3.99/lb from time to time.

I call this technique "sticking it in the toaster oven". I just put in it a baking pan and roast it at low heat (180-250, depending on how much time I have) for 40 minutes to two hours (depending on what temperature I choose) and then I throw it in a hot, greased skillet on the stove for a second to brown it, slice it up, and serve it. It comes out perfectly tender and evenly cooked, plus I don't have to fuck around with anything in my kitchen that would irritate the living shit out of me, like a beer cooler.

are you being this condescending on purpose? it kind of bugs me, as you could have said the same thing in a nice way, just as easy.

anyway, yes, I know about putting meat in the oven first to get it up to temp. it didn't get me as consistent good results as the couple of times I've tried this.

and the beer cooler is just a rather small plastic box, but a good one, I got it at the Queen's Day flea market two weeks ago for just one or two euro but it's small so it doesn't annoy me.

and you might be right about the tuna, too. I'm gonna try an even lower temp next time. It came out pretty good (might upload some pics later) but it needs to be barely raw indeed.

What was condescending about that?  I do call it "sticking it in the toaster oven". I thought that might be mildly funny because of how literal it is, but not condescending. Not everyone has a toaster oven, and I wouldn't cook one steak in my full-size oven because it would make my kitchen really hot for just a little piece of meat. I use the large oven for full-size roasts. I also feel like the small oven does much better at regulating low temps for small cuts.

Also, it's your kitchen, and if a beer cooler doesn't annoy you, go for it. It would bug the piss out of me, partially due to the layout of my kitchen and partly due to having a need for everything in my kitchen to have a very specific place, and to stay there always. That's one of the reasons my housemate bugs the piss out of me, is that she has utterly cluttered up my kitchen storage and layout.

[Doktor Howl]

are you being this condescending on purpose?

What?

[Doktor Howl]

I'm going to Pennsic again this year. Hopefully I can get my feet even muddier this time for a new emote.

That didn't bother you, did it?  I didn't mean to offend you.

[East Coast Hustle]

are you being this condescending on purpose?

Pot calling kettle, says my "objective master chef opinion".

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I don't understand why you would cook tuna? Tuna, in my experience, is usually served raw or very nearly raw; just barely seared on the outside.

Canning also ruins everything nice about it, but that doesn't stop them.

God, I know! So sad. It's fine in sandwiches and sauces, but I'd rather use salmon for that.

[East Coast Hustle]

I don't understand why you would cook tuna? Tuna, in my experience, is usually served raw or very nearly raw; just barely seared on the outside.

Canning also ruins everything nice about it, but that doesn't stop them.

God, I know! So sad. It's fine in sandwiches and sauces, but I'd rather use salmon for that.

hell yeah. I don't mind picking out the bones either, a can of what started as good pacific salmon is WAY better than a can of scraps of albacore tuna.

That said, there are some imported brands of tuna that come canned or jarred and use yellowfin tuna that are pretty friggin' good for "canned" tuna. We use an italian brand that comes in a foil pouch for our nicoise salad and it's one of our most popular menu items. I still prefer salmon though.

[Triple Zero]

What was condescending about that? 

yeah, sorry, it wasn't. I was very tired and I interpreted it the wrong way.

[Triple Zero]

Recently I had something that was truly incredible.

An entree, it was a cube of pork belly that had been sous-viding for 24 hours. Probably brined or marinated, too. It was absolutely soft like butter, even the white fat layers, everything just melted (sort of) in your mouth, really delicious. When I asked, the chef cook confirmed it was sous-vide, although when I later asked another kitchen cook (restaurant with an open kitchen) he said it was submerged in a wire mesh or something, which I think it's kind of weird cause it would have been in contact with the liquid, and I bet all the flavours would have been gone after 24h, maybe it was both in a vacuum bag and wire mesh to keep it submerged.

I guess, however, that the real secret is in the brine or marinade or other flavourings, but I'm still going to try and have a stab at recreating this.

As soon as I either find a way to automatically keep the water at the right temp, or feel like spending a day replacing the water with hot water every hour. I guess if I keep notes of temp measurements I could figure out exactly what amount of boiling water I need to add every hour, to keep it at a reasonably constant 50-55 degrees Celsius.

For doing it automatically, I'm not good with electronics, but who knows maybe the guys at the Young Researchers Centre can help me. Building a simple thermostat shouldn't be too hard, would it? Though I'm not really sure whether putting a heating element in my plastic beer cooler is a good idea, but if I make sure it doesn't touch the sides it should be fine, no? I bet I could salvage one from an old coffee maker.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Recently I had something that was truly incredible.

An entree, it was a cube of pork belly that had been sous-viding for 24 hours. Probably brined or marinated, too. It was absolutely soft like butter, even the white fat layers, everything just melted (sort of) in your mouth, really delicious. When I asked, the chef cook confirmed it was sous-vide, although when I later asked another kitchen cook (restaurant with an open kitchen) he said it was submerged in a wire mesh or something, which I think it's kind of weird cause it would have been in contact with the liquid, and I bet all the flavours would have been gone after 24h, maybe it was both in a vacuum bag and wire mesh to keep it submerged.

I guess, however, that the real secret is in the brine or marinade or other flavourings, but I'm still going to try and have a stab at recreating this.

As soon as I either find a way to automatically keep the water at the right temp, or feel like spending a day replacing the water with hot water every hour. I guess if I keep notes of temp measurements I could figure out exactly what amount of boiling water I need to add every hour, to keep it at a reasonably constant 50-55 degrees Celsius.

For doing it automatically, I'm not good with electronics, but who knows maybe the guys at the Young Researchers Centre can help me. Building a simple thermostat shouldn't be too hard, would it? Though I'm not really sure whether putting a heating element in my plastic beer cooler is a good idea, but if I make sure it doesn't touch the sides it should be fine, no? I bet I could salvage one from an old coffee maker.

I wonder how something like this would work? http://www.amazon.com/NORPRO-559-Immersion-Warming-Liquids/dp/B000I8VE68