Sous Vide Q - What's the bid deal?

[pjlstrat]

Looks like it came out really good!

[pkadare]

BourBonQ - I just google when I'm going to do something in the SV.

[BourBonQ]

pkadare What's your SV method-time-temp for your veggies?

[MarkN]

Getting some more Sous-Vide practice in during these quarantine days. The weather is still its usual unpredictable self here in the upper midwest (it's snowing right now in fact) so I thought I'd try another brisket the SV way for this past Easter weekend.

Turned out pretty darn good. Actually got a little fatter (?!?). It was not as good as smoking it the full time, but following the Amazingribs Smoked Sous-Vide-Que BBQ Brisket recipe complete with the Big Bad Beef Rub and Mesquite wood smoke turned out a close second.

Since it was just the two of us, it lasted three days. Sliced on Kaiser rolls for Saturday. With Mashed potatoes and gravy made from the juices in the SV bag for Sunday, and a reprise of the Kaiser rolls for lunch and dinner on Monday.

[Thunder77]

Where sous vide shines for me is pulled pork, and chicken breasts. For pulled pork I sous vide at 155 for 8 hours, then on to the kamado to finish it off for about 4-5 hours. Makes awesome pulled pork; my family loves it.
My kids often request Dad’s homemade chicken nuggets. For some reason, I HATE prepping raw chicken breast for nuggets. So I sous vide those babies first. Cool then down and bread them, and fry them up quick! And no messing about with raw chicken breast.

[rickgregory]

Years ago when I first heard about sous vide I went out and spent an ungodly amount of money on one along with this big fancy vacuum packer. I thought this would improve my cooking skills of which I have none. I think I tried it twice along with a torch burner to char them. I’m not sure what cooking show I got the idea from. Everything I tried to cook in it came out bad and I couldn’t stand to look at the meat when it came out.

I"m quoting this not so much to pick on Ronald but in case others are lurking who don't have great cooking skills and for some reason are thinking about getting into SV...

SV is a tool. It won't improve one's cooking skills any more than buying a fancy grill or nice pans will. AS a technique, it has great uses and poor uses. I don't slow cook in my carbon steel skillet and I don't expect my 5qt cast iron dutch oven to make great omelettes.

Anyone who wants to learn to cook can. There's a ton of information and books out there and there are places like this and others where people are willing to help out. But we can't blame the tools for our mistakes. Those are ours to own.

[MarkN]

As it turned out, I could not have been happier with the results. The smoke ring and crust were not what I've gotten with a more traditional method, but they were there and the juices flowed as I cut into it. I intended to share a picture of it, but by the time I got around to it, there were only a few shards of brisket remaining.

[Troutman]

Agreed on never overshooting if the result is to be medium rare for instance, but I’m assuming he’s cooking the brisket to a more traditional higher temp so there’s no point in ice bathing.

[Red Man]

Troutman I thought you were an advocate of never letting the IT get above the SV temp for the QVQ or SVQ methods. You can’t do that without an ice bath. I agree with no need for the ice bath before a sear, but seems to me like a necessary step in QVQ/SVQ.

[MarkN]

That's good enough for me. Straight to the smoker it is. Thanks!

[parkerj2]

+100. I don't love smoke on a steak. Cooked over crazy hot wood coals is enough for me. But I don't need the smoke on a steak. I want beef, salt, and maybe come compound butter. The rest is overcomplicating a good cut of meat.

[Troutman]

Answer is no, you don;t really need to ice bath if you're going straight to the cooker for final smoke. I've done it both ways and have seen little or no difference in the outcome with various proteins. If you are going to keep the meat in the refrig for a time then by all means it's important to stop the cooking. Also, if you are concerned about overcooking with a sear, then ice bath can help with that. In the case of brisket, I argue for no ice bath just get it on the smoker.

[MarkN]

Family began arriving for our Thanksgiving Week festivities so I decided to give the relatively hands-off SV of a small brisket at try. Both the AmazingRibs Smoked Sous-Vide-Que BBQ Brisket Recipe and the J. Kenji Lopez-Alt recipe list the ice bath step. Neither says that you skip the ice bath if you are going directly from the SV to the grill/smoker.

Is the ice bath for 30 minutes really a mandatory step with some magical powers I don't understand, or if I'm not going to refrigerate/freeze the brisket, am I OK to go straight to the smoking step?

[surfdog]

And THAT is why while I used one in a commercial kitchen I had no real desire to own one...
Then I too picked up an Anova (WiFi) and gave it a shot. SUPER for when guests arrive but nobody is quite ready to eat. Not a problem, toss the bags into the "hot tub" and when everyone is ready...pull 'em and blast them with a torch. Dinner in "minutes."

[MarkN]

After further review (mainly of the weather), the party for this weekend has been canceled. However, I have an opportunity to SV then smoke at a tailgate later this month or possibly to kick things off when the family assembles at the start of Thanksgiving Week.