Joule stopped in middle of cook

[fzxdoc]

Thank you so much, DouglasBaldwin , for the great answer. I pulled the pork chops in question after extending their cook time to a total 2.5 hours in the bath at 140°F, in response to the Joule shutting off for about 15 minutes or so. I then put them in an ice bath for about 15 minutes, then put them in the freezer. Yesterday I took them out of the freezer to thaw in the fridge overnight. Today I was going to reheat them using the Joule again, following the reheating time/temp recommendations from Chef Steps, given in whole inch increments for steaks:

1 inch steaks 1.25 hours
2 inch steaks 3.5 hours

My pork steaks are 1.5 inches thick; I was still planning on doing 3.5 hours just to be on the safe side.

However, now that I read your comments, I see that those poor boneless pork chops will have gone through the danger zone a total of 3 times by the time they land on the plate: once when initially sous vided, again when cooled down in the ice bath and freezer, and the third time when heated back up to serve. And that doesn't include the little bump down to 130°F when the Joule died temporarily during the initial sous vide.

Will these things still be safe to eat? I never hesitate to pitch food if I'm at all unsure.

Thanks in advance,

Kathryn

P.S. I was too worried to serve these chops to my guests last night, as I had originally planned. Instead I made a killer spaghetti marinara with smoked pulled beef chuck and smoked hot Italian sausages for the protein component in the sauce.

I'm planning on having them tonight instead for supper, if I get a thumbs up that is.

[fzxdoc]

fzxdoc I'm glad you like my tables! I agree with everyone's food safety comments.
... In my cookbook for home cooks, I recommended pasteurizing (at ≥130 °F / 54.5 °C to reduce Listeria monocytogenes by 1M to 1), cooling rapidly in ice water (for longer than most would think necessary), either refrigerating for a few days or freezing, and then reheating and serving....

DouglasBaldwin
Douglas, I just placed an order for your book. Thanks for referring to it; as a sous vide newbie, I might not have known to look for it otherwise.

Kathryn

[DouglasBaldwin]

I have no concerns about the safety of your chops. The freezer will bring down the temperature of most moderately sized (1–2 person portions) fast enough. The main reason I don't broadly recommend it is that warming the rest of the freezer a bit will grow larger crystals in ice cream and degrade any frozen fish. Likewise, the little temperature dip when cooking is also of no concern – as stated up thread, you need several hours at 120 F and below; if your curious, I highly recommend the article at http://www.foodsafetymagazine.com/ma...e-reevaluated/ on the "danger zone".

[fzxdoc]

Thanks, DouglasBaldwin, for the additional information. I put them in at 140°F to warm thoroughly over 3.35 hours before taking them out, searing, and serving. They were mostly thawed when I put them in.

Thanks to your input, my husband will get fed a home-cooked meal tonight.

Kathryn

[Meathead]

Last week I posted a table of common pathogens and their optimum growth temps and their max growth temps to this page http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_tech...the_grill.html

[DJ DeSpain]

One of the main reason I bought an Anova over the Joule is the Joule is too dependent on the app to operate it. I've downloaded the Anova app, but I only used it for the recipe ideas rather than monitoring using it to set temps and cook times.

[Mosca]

the reason I bought the Anova over the Joule is that the Anova was on sale for $99!

[EdF]

Yeah, that's an unbeatable deal for a SV machine with its reputation!

[vandy]

So far no problems with my Joule, the only time I updated it was when I first turned it on there was a notification that an update was available so I updated it and then went about my cook.

[vwskirch]

The replacement has worked flawlessly for many cooks since, very happy with the joule.

[vandy]

And a hearty welcome aboard Douglas Baldwin, I have watched several of your videos and I plan on using your suggestions on doing a chuck roast in the next few days. Great to have you here!

[EdF]

Cool! It's a great site, and the product is obviously a fine one!

[mgaretz]

I have done chuck a la Douglas many times. You get the tenderness of Prime Rib but the taste and price of chuck!

[vandy]

Well Douglas you certainly did a great job with the Joule. I heated about 4 gallons from tap hot 119 to 155 in about 30 minutes. Just testing to see if I can do a pork butt in a cooler and it should be not problem for Joule.

[fzxdoc]

Well, I followed Douglas's recommendations and reheated and seared the pork chops on Monday. I'm here and kickin' so we didn't die! Hahaha!

The chops were not very tender or very juicy. On a scale of 10, I'd say a 6. I used the drippings in the bag to make a gravy (with spices) which was dynamite and saved the chops flavorwise.

I used the Joule instructions for basic pork chops but did not add oil or any herbs/spices. Just salt/pepper. Due to a glitch in the first heating (see my earlier post), I ended up heating them at 140°F for 2.5 hours, chilled in ice bath, froze for 2 days, thawed in fridge, reheated at 140°F for 3.25 hours, seared and served.

I thought that after all that time, they'd be mush. But they were on the chewy side and barely moist. Not nearly as good as my routine reverse sear pork chops.

My first cook with the Joule was NY Strips, which were off the chart for taste and tenderness. The pork chop cook was my second one, and it derailed me a bit. But I learned a lot and my next chops will be much better, I'm sure.

Kathryn

[Michael Brinton]

If I could suggest skipping the thawing in the fridge step, just toss them frozen into the 140 bath. You'll get better results and it saves time. Just divide cooking time in two and add that amount onto the original cook. So 1 to 11/2.

[Potkettleblack]

I prefer pork cooked to 135* instead of 140. 140 produces something more like people who don't know how to cook lean pork chops grew up eating.

[fzxdoc]

Yeah, that's what I found out, Potkettleblack. Also, I did not wet brine the chops, which I always do when I reverse sear them on my WSCGC. I'll do that next time. This time I followed Joule's recommendations all the way.

Thanks, Michael Brinton, I'll do that in the future. I was so derailed by the Joule croaking temporarily that I just wanted to get the chops as cold as possible as quickly as possible. I don't think that freezing/rethawing in the fridge did them any favors.

Kathryn

[Steve Vojtek]

DouglasBaldwin

' A Practical Guide to Sous Vide Cooking ' is my go to bible for my SV cooking. It is great to have You on board. Welcome!!! and Thank You!!