Sous Vide-a-loca

My food experiments so far have been focused mainly on items involving "Molecular Gastronomy" (MG).  Sometimes MG is rolled into the broader term of "Modernist Cuisine".

Nathan Myhrvold (former Microsoft CTO) sticks to this term, and used it to title his epic $500 cookbook set. (http://www.amazon.com/Modernist-Cuisine-The-Science-Cooking/dp/0982761007/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334452836&sr=8-1-spell)   Check out youtube for some great talks on the topic by Nathan, especially the lecture at Harvard (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcnW49luEGQ).

Modernist Cuisine is a much broader topic, and in studying that, I came across the topic of "Sous Vide" cooking.  Wikipedia says that Sous Vide is "a method of cooking food sealed in airtight plastic bags in a water bath for a long time—72 hours is not unusual—at an accurately determined temperature much lower than normally used for cooking, typically around 60 °C or 140 °F. The intention is to cook the item evenly, not overcook the outside while still keeping the inside at the same 'doneness' and to keep the food juicier."

This cooking method has actually been around since 1799, so not sure what makes it "modern" other than it took things like the microprocessor to make this technique easy for the home cook.  (Bread machines have microprocessors, but I guess bread has been around forever, so that doesn't apply.)

My Sous Vide Supreme

After watching for a scratch and dent deal on Ebay, I pooled my spare change and bought a Sous Vide Supreme.   It basically heats a big water bath and keeps it at the temperature that you choose for hours (days) at a time.  (Check out youtube for folks who have rigged up versions using crockpots or beer coolers for a cheaper method.)

What really attracted me to this method of cooking was that it was very forgiving of time and "doneness" on most types of meat.  (Fish are the main exception).

My first attempt was to cook chicken breasts.  You throw the seasoned chicken into a plastic bag, and then vacuum seal the bag and throw it in the water at 140 degrees.  The recipe said to leave them there for "2-4 hours".    So, I planned so my 2 hours ended at 6pm.  Then, at 530, I get a call from work, and I end up dealing with an issue until 7 pm.  Any other cooking technique would have given me a ruined dinner, but because of the the time window, when I finally got back to my chicken, it was still just fine.

All the internet discussions of sous vide chicken breasts say that chicken cooked this way isn't much different than  poached chicken, and I would agree.

The netverse seems to universally agree that Sous Vide Beef Short Ribs were delightful, so that is what I did next.  Beef Ribs cooked this way require at least 48 hours of cook time (yes, 2 whole days).  I followed the "Chinn Chinn's Asian Short Rib's Recipe" (http://blog.sousvidesupreme.com/2012/01/chinn-chinns-asian-short-ribs/).

Short Ribs, ready for their bath!

Per the recipe, applied the rub, let them sit in the fridge for a while, and then bagged them up.

Put them in the SVS (Sous Vide Supreme) on Thursday night, and didn't mess with them again until Saturday night. (I love that story!)

I think all my future dinner parties are going to have a Sous Vide main course, because it is so forgiving about time.  No worrying because the guests are late, or because your side dish isn't done yet, or because you forgot you had to buy wine for the meal and have to run out and get some -- who cares!  You meat is happy if it comes out of the bag at 6pm or 9pm!
 
This particular recipe is wonderful because you can use the juices left in the bag after cooking and reduce them into a lovely sauce.

2 days later...

The other interesting thing about Sous Vide cooking is that because the temperatures are so low, you don't get browning or searing of the meat (also known as the maillard reaction).  There three different methods for "browning" seen in all the Sous Vide recipes are:

1. After the bath, brown the meat in a pan before serving.  (boring!)
2. After the bath, brown the meat on a BBQ grill.  (boring!)
3. After the bath, brown the meat using a Chef's Torch (Right on!)

Fire! Awesome!

Guess which one I chose?  (heh heh heh)

After waiting 2 days, I "de-bagged" the meat, made a sauce from the juices, and browned them with a torch, and it didn't take more than 10 minutes.  Totally doable for a party, and even fun to watch!







How did it taste?  Those ribs were perfectly-cooked nuggets of tasty goodness.  The texture was soft and wonderfully juicy.  Easily the best ribs I have ever had.  This particular recipe was good as well, but very spicy, so if you are cooking for others, make sure they are good for spicy.

I will be trying pork chops next. Yay!  And to my local friends, yes, you can borrow this wonder device.