Clean up Sous vide

Made an IPA today on my electric system. As I was recirculating PBW it occurred to me-- I have a few filet steaks in the freezer, perhaps I should try "Sous Vide" cooking on my brewing rig. ON the first rinse after the PBW, I heated up to 132 degrees, and tossed in the steaks in vacuum sealed bags (I had put on salt and pepper before putting them in the vacuum bags). 100 minutes later, they come out, the second rinse starts, and each steak needs only a 45 second sear on each side as hot as possible.

Dinner was ready before the rig was cleaned, and it was easily the best cooked steak I have ever made. Perfect medium rare throughout.

Just another great side benefit of an electric system. I think this will be standard procedure for me with every brewing session!

I tend to cook dinner while brewing also, and this concept has occured to me, but i don't have a vacuum sealer...

Sweet. I've been thinking of doing the same thing. A Sous Vide turkey for thanksgiving? My tuns are so wide I could fit a 40 pounder in there.

I'll have to give the steak a try! Giggidy...

It really turned out quite stunning- an even pink all the way through with a nice char on the outside. The evenness of the texture was divine. It is just so easy to do and you have the brew rig out anyway, might as well just heat up your rinsing water and toss some steaks in. Perhaps it could be done with recirculating PBW, too- I doubt it would dissolve the bag, but I would probably double bag it if I tried this.

That's awesome. I've wanted to try sous vide steaks since I built my EHLT, just haven't yet.

dude, you just gave me a reason to buy a vacuum sealer.

Great idea, I'm going to give this a shot this weekend!!

Now I also need a vacuum sealer. My RIMS PID is an Auber Sous Vide contoller:

Oh damn... I wish I had thought of using one of those as the rims controller. I use an Auber Temperature controller for my smoker, and it never occurred to me to use that as the RIMS controller! Instead I went the all out version and followed Kal's instructions for building a mammoth brewery controller. If only I had seen this a year ago I would be significantly richer today!

I am imagining baby back ribs dusted with a dry rub and then cooked for half a day to take advantage of the enzymatic breakdown of the connective tissue. Better yet, chicken swimming around in a vacuum pouch of your favorite beer.

Brian_T said:

I am imagining baby back ribs dusted with a dry rub and then cooked for half a day to take advantage of the enzymatic breakdown of the connective tissue. Better yet, chicken swimming around in a vacuum pouch of your favorite beer.

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You don't need to add any juice normally, the fats will all melt off an make plenty of juice.

I did a 9# bottom round overnight @135F in mine. Pulled it out today while I made a batch of bitter, then back in dinner time.

passedpawn said:

You don't need to add any juice normally, the fats will all melt off an make plenty of juice.

I did a 9# bottom round overnight @135F in mine. Pulled it out today while I made a batch of bitter, then back in dinner time.

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How did this roast turn out? Did you finish it on the grill or sear?

pickles said:

How did this roast turn out? Did you finish it on the grill or sear?

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When I tore it out the bag is was great. We ripped into it right there and it was like pot roast, falling apart. But before I served it I got the grand idea to scorch the outside of it over coals. I overdid it (while waiting for the asparagus to finish) and it ended up far less tender.

I did a pork tenderloin sous vide Saturday (4 hours @ 135F) that was so tender my family was sure it was turkey!

Damn that looks good! That's my preferred method for cooking asparagus as well. Would it benefit to brown the outside before the sous vide? I'm picturing the meat fresh out of the bag to have little color and looked boiled, but perhaps that's not the case. Did you guess on the doneness?

pickles said:

Damn that looks good! That's my preferred method for cooking asparagus as well. Would it benefit to brown the outside before the sous vide? I'm picturing the meat fresh out of the bag to have little color and looked boiled, but perhaps that's not the case. Did you guess on the doneness?

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Color of the meat was really red, straight through the middle. There was a lot of blood retained in the bag. Grilling after sous vide is a mistake unless you make it really quick. I would have been better off using a torch.

The pork was pallid / gray. I scorched that quickly on the grill as well, which worked out for that.

Asparagus was super. I spritzed it with a vinaigrette I made from cider vinegar, mustard, lemon, etc. Now my pee smells funny.

Well, as an update, I did the Thanksgiving Turkey in my mash tun, cut into individual parts. Brined the breast, did the legs in duck fat (confit), and deboned the thighs and did them with a bit of duck fat as well.

The breast meat was extremely moist and flavorful. This technique really allows the flavors of the spices you add to permeate through the bird (just used fresh thyme, fresh rosemary and fresh sage- a few sprigs of each), and the fact that you really can't overcook the bird makes it very easy if you are attempting to time the entire meal together.

The legs were cooked a lot hotter and the meat just fell off the bone and was very tender.

The thighs were probably the highlight of flavor- they were quite thin and had absorbed an unbelievable amount of flavor. Unfortunately, I overcooked them when browning on a griddle and they were no longer on the rare side, but rather well done.

The most amazing transformation was definitely the breasts. I had been struggling to get nice moist turkey breasts, and while it sometimes worked, often I was left with a very dry piece of meat. Very easy to avoid this with sous vide. It transforms poultry breast meat and also port tenderloins into wonderful pieces of meat, easy to cook perfectly every time. And the mash tun with RIMS is the ideal way to do it.