Sous Vide

[Rock Taxi]

I did a side by side with a sous vide and just searing - all seasoning the same, just sous vide then grill versus room temp and grill. The general consensus of all testers was that they were all but indistinguishable on T Bones, except for one extra vote for seared on the grill. 9 votes.

Ed

 

[Apparition]

not into it but I hear it gets good results. I'd rather just fire up the stick burner and smoke some ribs or a brisket.

I work with a guy who did sous vide ribs for like 21 hours at 150 or some such nonsense and he said they were falling off the bone blah blah blah, but what good are ribs without bark and a smoke ring?

I guess I just don't get it.

Good ribs don’t fall off the bone

 

[rhines81]

Well, not for nothing, but I did take the 1st step towards trying this method out and bought a vacuum sealer. My wife has been resisting this purchase for years saying that a straw in a ziploc bag produces a sufficient way to vacuum seal. It does work to a point, but... I haven't taken the plunge on a sous vide unit yet, and will probably hold off for a while. I think we needed a vacuum sealer anyhow so it was money worth spending.
My new sausage stuffer should arrive by Thursday and I've been hankering some Boudin and other great sausages lately, so I'll be busy with that until my truck finally arrives next week!

 

[soulezoo]

Ok, French guy here and ex wife was chef and we owned a restaurant together. My grandfather was a well known chef in N.Cali back in the day. He was asked to do cooking shows, but he was too apprehensive of that.

You'd be surprised to find out that a lot of even very fine restaurants sous vide to control consistency and timing.

It's not for everything obviously, but can be used to great success in many things.

I'm a big griller/BBQ guy too.

So a wonderful example would be filet Mignon where straight grilling would leave you charred and overdone on the outside and nowhere near done on inside nor would it be consistent. I mean there's ways and techniques, but SV is so much better!

So, I will preseason with fresh pepper, garlic powder and kosher salt. Into the bag goes grass fed butter, fresh thyme, rosemary and minced garlic. Vacuum seal. I let it SV for 3-4 hours @ 130*
Throw onto very hot charcoal to sear and close everything completely off so it starts just a tad bit of smoke and sear both sides, leaving just a little more to go. I finish in a cast iron pan bathing quickly with more butter with fresh thyme and garlic cloves. I also roll the sides to get a little sear there as well. That finish is just one minute each side or a little less. Experience will guide you over time.
Serve after a 5 minute rest.

When you do it right, you have a very thin caramelized crust on the outside and absolutely exquisitely consistent medium rare all the way through.

 

[Hank.]

SV makes the best prime rib ever. Perfect medium rare all the way through. Finish by searing in 500* oven for 10-15 min.

 

[MTTremor]

We’ve had one for years and love it. I’ve also got a smoker and love it and a grill too and will reverse sear steak if the mood strikes. Different tools for different jobs.

Sous vide can be used for a lot of different things and can be great if you have the time to wait but don’t want to be focused over the task of cooking. We’ll often break it out if we are having friends over for dinner and sous vide up some steaks. While they are chilling in the spa we are free to hang out with friends and socialize. We can hold them in the water bath for up to about 4hrs total (figure about an hour of cook time) without an negative effect to the texture of the meat ... While it’s true you can’t really overcook something using this method of cooking you can change the texture, which can be just as bad. Then we’ll pop them in a searing hot skillet with some butter or finish them on the grill.

And don’t get caught up with thinking you need a vacuum sealer. Regular zip top bags work fine. Just submerge the bag in the water up to, not over, the zip top to force the air out and then seal.

And I will agree with one of the previous posters, it did make some of the best, juiciest double cut pork chops we’ve ever had.

**Edit to add a few pics. The first time we did the double cut pork chops and some steaks we made. The rib eyes are ours, from cattle we raise, vs a store bought T-Bone that someone brought over.

Damn it I'm on a diet ? now I'm hungry and I'm going to fall off the wagon. Help I need my weight coach. ?

 

[jhblaze1]

Good ribs don’t fall off the bone

that's subjective.
In BBQ competition you want a clean bite. In the backyard, most people want them nearly falling off the bone.

I aim for a sweet spot right in between.

 

[Apparition]

that's subjective.
In BBQ competition you want a clean bite. In the backyard, most people want them nearly falling off the bone.

I aim for a sweet spot right in between.

I can agree with that.

 

[jhblaze1]

I can agree with that.

I personally like a clean bite but I want the meat to pull off the bone with 0 effort. My wife likes it literally falling off the bone. I want to pick up a rib by the bone and not have a wad of meat fall into my lap lol.

I run the stick burner between 225-250 for about 5.5 hours no foil and I get nice results. I'll wrap one rack in foil to help steam them into mush for the wife.

now all this BBQ talk has me wanting to run to the firewood yard and get a truckload of red oak to fire up the smoker this weekend.

 

[Whyte Rhyno]

cool thing about sous vide is the ability to leave the meat "resting" until ready to eat. We always find it hard to coordinate timing of steaks with sides. with SV you leave the steaks in until ready to sear and eat. We make up all the sides and when those are ready to plate we take out the steaks, sear them up and eat. perfect every time

 

[Apparition]

I personally like a clean bite but I want the meat to pull off the bone with 0 effort. My wife likes it literally falling off the bone. I want to pick up a rib by the bone and not have a wad of meat fall into my lap lol.

I run the stick burner between 225-250 for about 5.5 hours no foil and I get nice results. I'll wrap one rack in foil to help steam them into mush for the wife.

now all this BBQ talk has me wanting to run to the firewood yard and get a truckload of red oak to fire up the smoker this weekend.

I need to be able to cut them, if it falls off it's a mess.

I use BGE so whatever I cook is always moist enough. I'm a less effort smoker so I never wrap and never open until it's testing for being done.