My Anova has arrived...👍

[Breadhead]

I've been trolling the Anova recipe thread and they really don't seem to really understand our type of cooking. There was some good guidelines of temps and times there but my gut tells me you guys are way ahead of them when using it as a tool for BBQ.👍

I've decided my maiden cook is going to be a Tri-Tip.

I'm thinking I need to preheat the water bath to 120° degrees, season the meat and seal it in a ziplock bag and put it in the bath.

What I don't know is how long it will take to reach that temp. I'm assuming starting earlier is not a problem because it won't over cook from what I've read.

My intent is to sous vide it to 120° and then sear it on my Weber Kettle & SnS to 130° and then count on 3° to 5° carryover cooking.

Based on your experiences how long will it take to reach 120°?

Any information you can give me will be greatly appreciated.👍

[Jerod Broussard]

No clue on what it would take to reach that internal.

Key is the hours it stays at that temp to get TENDA. Since you have the bath set at that temp the meat can't go any higher than that.

I did a small tri-tip steak at 130 for 3 hours. Was perfect.

If I had a whole tri-tip I would pre-sear best I could, season and bag it, cook at 125 for about 8-10 hours, remove from bag, pat dry, sear it again. Serve.

I know Ernest likes a 131 and post-sear.

I like what the pre-sear does to make the post-sear take only seconds.

[Ernest]

You still have to consider safety issues. I will not cook meat at 120 past 2 hours.
I set sous vide at serving temp.

My tri tip is done at 131 for 3 hours. Pat dry thoroughly and slapped on screaming hot grill.
When I'm good on time, I'll place it in the refrigerator on a rack for 10 minutes, then slap it on the hot grill.

[Breadhead]

Ernest ...

I agree... The essence of SV cooking is the set it up and forget it capability of that method.

However... Knowing you have options for when you failed to plan properly or you just got hungry and want to do a spur of the moment cook... It's comforting to know I have options.

Modernist Cuisine points out this is a less than desirable strategy but is sometimes necessary.

Your recommended strategy to me of turning up the heat to 176° to pouch an egg for 13 minutes is actually this exact strategy. If you don't pull that egg at 13 minutes the yolk will not be runny at 15 minutes.

[Ernest]

167 Breadhead 167 degrees LOL!

[Breadhead]

Ernest ...

I stand corrected.😆. 167° for 13 minutes. That worked perfect. Thanks for that tip.

I'm making eggs Benedict for a dozen people Super Bowl morning so I'll need 2 dozen poached eggs at the same time.👌 That's when you really love SV cooking.

[David Parrish]

Sous vide is a little different from reverse sear when you are targeting a certain internal temp before you sear. Let's consider a 1.5" steak.

If you reverse sear a 1.5" steak to 115 F and then put it on a table, carryover heat will take the steak up into the 120s as the more warm areas of the steak close to the surface equalize with the cooler innermost areas of the steak.

If you sous vide the same steak to 115 F and then put it on a table there is no carry over heat as the entire steak is the same temp.

So if you are going to reverse sear a steak you need to consider the carryover effect and target a final low and slow temp that is lower than the final temp you would target when cooking sous vide style.

So for that tri-tip I'd recommend sous vide in a bag with salt, pepper, and any other spices/herbs you desire for a few hours in the 129 F to 135 F range. When you're ready to eat, take it out of the SV, pat it dry, coat with ghee or some other high flash point oil, then sear it on the SnS flipping every 15 to 30 seconds until you get the color you are looking for. Good luck!

SV cooking really makes your salt penetrate the meat so you might want to salt the tri-tip a little before/during the sear OR just wait until it's at the table and salt to taste.

[Breadhead]

Thank you gentlemen for your valuable input. I'm going to wait until tomorrow to make this maiden SV cook.

I spatchcocked a chicken that was in the fridge yesterday so I have to grill that today or throw it away.

Maybe I'll SV some veggies today to go with my chicken dinner.

It's sure a valuable resource to ask fellow AR members about things you are clueless about. I appreciate your help.

[Dr ROK]

http://www.modernistcookingmadeeasy.com/sousvide/Sous-Vide-Thickness-Ruler.pdf

https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/sous-vide-time-and-temperature-guide

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/polyscience-sous-vide-toolbox/id518731878?mt=8

[Breadhead]

Guest ...

Having the sous vide content in my Modernist Cuisine books I'm set. I don't think I need other information. They cover every aspect of SV cooking in great detail. I had forgotten about that part of the books because when I first read through them Sous Vide cooking seemed kind of way out there to me at the time.🤔

[Dr ROK]

Lucky man having that resource. Would love to have it, just can't bring myself to spend the bucks. That had to have been one of the best Christmas presents ever.

[Breadhead]

Dr ROK ...

Those books are mind blowingly detailed and complete in ALL of the information needed for each cooking method and technique supported by beautiful photography.

It's a collection of information that only a billionaire with a passion for the culinary arts could produce. After reading his story about the team of highly accomplished chefs he hired to do the research and test cooks then seeing pictures of the expansive test kitchen and the equipment he made available to them it's quite extraordinary. The cost of all of the beautiful photography must have been very expensive.

I've often thought even at $500 per set he probably will never make a profit on that project. I don't think he cares either. The man truly loves good food and the culinary arts.

It was a gift to me but knowing what I know about those books I would spend my own money to acquire them.😎

[Willy]

I don't even want to try to address your question on time to get to temp from a safety perspective, but I can say that it takes very little time to reach the set temp in my experience. I would point out that the volume of water I am using is not large, maybe 1.5 gallons tops. I have mainly used mine for yogurt making to date (coupled with the Maverick 732 you've all the tools you need), but my conclusion based on doing ribs in the SV once is that SV and BBQ meat are not a natural pair. Go low and slow in your pit and forget SV, IMHO. I like the SV (also Anova brand) and I will do "real" cooking with it, but I don't plan at present to couple it with BBQ meat.

[Ernest]

Willy the trick is to smoke no higher than the temp you used to Sous vide. Then you have a perfect match.

[Willy]

Gotcha--but I see no real advantage over just going with a pit all the way.??? Plus, it seems "more manly". LOL

[Ernest]

LOL! You can't get the same texture from going all out.
It's like eggs, sometimes you then runny, sometimes you don't.

[Breadhead]

Ernest ...

I just remembered that I have the full set of Modernist Cuisine.

They have a plethora of Sous Vide information in those books. When I first read those books they were way over my head and Sous Vide seemed more like science fiction when I got those books about 5 years ago. They looked pretty on my book shelf though.😎

Plus at that time I didn't understand the bakers percentage system either. All of the recipes in those books are scaled using the bakers percentage process. I was forced to learn the bakers percentage during my bread making journey.

I opened the book about Sous Vide and I fully understood everything they were saying.🤔

I've learned a lot over the last 5 years.👍

[Ernest]

Smoke does not penetrate meat. So if I can get a smokey butt in 4-6 hours with juicy tender meat and a full night of sleep. Guess what? No brainer.

[Breadhead]

Guest ...

I was thinking that today... Why wouldn't I sous vide a pork butt up past the stall say 180°/185° and then put in my smoker to build the bark and finish it off at 203°?

Have you tried that?

[Ernest]

David Parrish it's on this page https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/fo...-landed/page19

I cooked it sous vide at 158 for 24 hours. Then chilled it, refrigerate until needed. This was a butt from Costco.
Smoked it at 145 - 160 degrees. It was easy to get it on the grate while cold but it pretty much pulled nicely getting it off the smoker. Juices everywhere.

[David Parrish]

Any smoke ring? Seems like the myoglobin would get fixed during the hot tub time.

[Ernest]

Breadhead no need to sous vide at that high temp. 158 for 24 hours for a full butt, will get you excellent pulled pork.

[Breadhead]

That's good to know but no bark?

[Ernest]

There was plenty bark. Look at the sammich

[Ernest]

David Parrish how thick is the Chuck roast?
Smoke ring was there, just not as pronounced. If you look at the beef in that same link, you'll notice a smoke ring. Did a rack of beef short ribs at 158 for 12 hours, chilled then smoked for 2 - 3 hours. I'm actually smoking another rack tomorrow. It's already cooked sous vide, smoking it for 2 hours for the NFL final 4 games.

[David Parrish]

Ernest the chuckie is about 4 lbs and is about 3 inches thick. Looks like a really big hockey puck.

[Ernest]

David Parrish this was my first Sous vide Chuck but wasn't for pulling.







That was at 140 for 24 hours. So if you're shooting for pulling, I'd go for 155 to 158 for 12 to 20 hours. You can always test doneness by squishing the bag.

[Breadhead]

That looks really good for Chuck steak. Mmmm

[David Parrish]

I think I'll give that a try. Thanks!

[scottranda]

I understand SV for meat, but why would you SV vegetables?

[Breadhead]

#1 because I could.

#2 because cooking them in a sealed bag retains the moisture and keeps unwanted moisture out. Ever had soft and soggy asparagus? Ever had dried out asparagus from the microwave.

#3 because I could squeeze the bag to decide when I had the proper firmness.

#4 because they taste better.

😁

[Breadhead]

My next step is going to make chicken and beef stock Sous Vide style.

Then there's yogurt...

Then there's Deserts.

Then there's egg's Benedict.

The possibilities are endless.😳