Sous Vide Technique - Purge

[Dr ROK]

Last night I sous vide a mini prime rib roast that I coated with Cow Crust prior to cooking. The purge was excellent in the au jus I made. Gave the au jus the same flavor as the rub. Perfect match. I sautéed a clove of garlic in evoo, added about a half cup of cabernet and reduced till syrupy. Then added a can of Campbell's consume and a sprinkle of beef base and the purge. Reduced a bit and man was it tasty. Thanks for posting this process/technique!

[MBMorgan]

I'm just putting my toe in the SV waters

OK ... There's a joke in there somewhere ... just need a little more caffeine to think of a good one ...

[MBMorgan]

Great info, Potkettleblack ... thanks!

[Potkettleblack]

Thank you. Please pay it forward.

[Lowjiber]

Thanks a zillion-times for this piece, Potkettleblack. I'm just putting my toe in the SV waters, and you've finally revealed how to handle the purge. Being an old hillbilly cook, I just tried to use as I would the juice from a conventionally cooked roast and quickly discovered that I was somehow making a huge mistake.

This should be "required reading" for anyone venturing into SV cooking.

[Potkettleblack]

You are welcome to try. Consider that the albumin that is coming out of the purge is not terribly dissimilar to gently cooked egg white. It's not remotely the same as what drips off a roast... it's not fatty... I encourage the experiment, though.

[Bruce54]

So, what if you took the filtered out albumin, threw it in a pan with a little oil / fat of choice, and browned it up? Just a speculation, but wouldn't the post Maillard reaction bits be a close relative to the drippings in a roasting pan? I haven't tried this, but maybe following the next SV chuck ...

[Potkettleblack]

Thanks, Tom. I'm trying out a technique for rub adherence post sous vide that I've seen in a couple of places. That's a problem I've had that needs a solution. Given the snow is falling, grill proof might be a while.

[Tom M]

I agree with Moscuba and he knows his sous vide! Potkettleblack, thanks for that tip. I have been straining my liquid because of the albumin, but not knowing the science of it. Hope to see more from you.

[Michael Brinton]

I did my dark meat on the smoker, but did my breast in the style you mentioned. Really great.

[Potkettleblack]

For my Thanskgiving turkey parts, I did a brine in bag of 1.5% by weight of turkey meat with 5-2 salt-sugar mix. If you recall your Blonder on Marinades, you will note this is all stuff that will penetrate well, and since it's going in a bag and hot, it will penetrate fast. With some sage leaves in the dark meat bag, this made a most glorious turkey stock for gravy.

[Potkettleblack]

Awesome.

[Michael Brinton]

Just did a few rib eyes sv and utilized the purge technique to add to a simple mustard sauce. Just chicken stock, Dijon mustard, butter, adding the purge (microwaved, strained) then a slight reduction. I've done that simple sauce a hundred times but just that slight addition added a complexity... wow! My five year old won't touch sauces but this time she was dipping her steak in.

[Moscuba]

Thank you. I've tried and tried but never figured out how to use the purge. Agree on lightly seasoning the meat and far less salt in SV than would normally be used. If using brined meat, no salt in the bag (too salty and could cause the meat to over tenderize)

Cheers!

[Potkettleblack]

Just taste it after filtering and if you're going to reduce, don't salt without tasting.