Sous Vide cooking. What's that about?

[IDMark2]

I think I'm going to change my signature to whatever suits the thread I'm in... All a bit pretentious for me I think, as soon as the chefs on Masterchef start 'innovative ways' of cooking food involving vacuum bags, smoky scented wood chips or steaming pots of chemicals and presenting 'textures' of a vegetable I'll be off up the woods to start a fire and roast a pheasant on a spit.

 

[PK99]

Ah - now that I can see the point of. But sous vide custard! Seriously?

I avoid the problem of how to make chicken breasts interesting by eating chicken thighs instead. Fried in gr.

far too easy to curdle creme anglais in the pan, esp when preparing a dozen other components of the meal at the same time .

chicken thigh roulade stuffed with sausage meat, wrapped in bacon, couple of hours in the water bath, quick brown in a hot pan= restaurant quality nosh for budget price.

 

[PK99]

do
[QUOTE 3020493, member: 259"]I've seriously thought about getting a sous vide thingy but I've been put off by the fact that you have to also buy a vacuum packing thingy and the real danger that it would be yet another gadget taking up room in the kitchen. I'm still tempted though. [/QUOTE]


do it! get rid of the microwave you never use and you have the space.

 

[PK99]

Load of middle-class bollocks.

three bikes is middle class bollocks ... you only need one. ;-)

 

[thom]

three bikes is middle class bollocks ... you only need one. ;-)

Treason !

 

[slowmotion]

This is the problem, isn't it?? I did the Google images thing and the results look good, but not significantly better than a steak I've cooked for a few minutes from room temperature in a decent pan. Isn't life just too short?

Life is never too short for adventures in bonkers gadgetry. Lookee here at a H&S inspectors nightmare...

Link:
http://makezine.com/projects/make-25/sous-vide-immersion-cooker/

 

[Fnaar]

I'm gonna build a pile of hot rocks in my kitchen:

(I know you can actually get 'hot stone' kits, but I want the full tribal experience

 

[martint235]

You cook a decent steak??? What a waste!!

 

[Crackle]

I hear the next big thing is gestation cooking, where you just sit on it until it's ready. In the meantime your partner has to cook stuff the conventional way and look after the kids and take the dog out but I hear it's worth the wait.

 

[ColinJ]

It is much cheaper (and probably healthier) to just stop eating meat!

 

[PK99]

In a domestic kitchen yes, but isn't this just something that's useful and convenient in a busy restaurant kitchen being marketed to domestic cooks because every other potential user's already got one?

No not at all. Domestic Sous Vide machines (both the sous vide supreme and the new Lakeland machine) operate via convection accurate to a steady temp of around 0.5F whereas most commercial machines are water circulators accurate to 0.1F Dittto the domestic vacuum suction machines (limited to dry ingredients) vs the commercial chamber sealers which can seal down liquids also.

The domestic kit brings the professional technique to the amateur not the professional equipment.

I'm a Masterchef standard home cook (if i were 28 rather than 58, I'd be on the programme) and Sous vide has enormously expanded my repertoire and improved the quality and consistency of my cooking. That's not to say that SV is only for gourmet cooking - I have a number of things pre packed and ready to cook in the freezer. I can arrive home from a ride at 5pm, fire up the SV, fill with hot water, drop in the bag. Then clean the bike, have a shower chill with a beer and have a great meal ready for 7pm with minimal effort.

Oh and i forgot: homemade SV limoncello in 3 hours start to finish is to die for. the machine is worth it just for that!

 

[ASC1951]

... That's not to say that SV is only for gourmet cooking - I have a number of things pre packed and ready to cook in the freezer. I can arrive home from a ride at 5pm, fire up the SV, fill with hot water, drop in the bag. Then clean the bike, have a shower chill with a beer and have a great meal ready for 7pm with minimal effort.

I have a slow cooker for that. Only ten quid, it does an excellent goat curry and I don't have to wait two hours after I get in.
There again, I don't require gourmet food. Although I can tell the difference, I feel that getting precious about the domestic eating experience is morally wrong. Getting precious about bicycle components is perfectly ok, of course....

 

[vernon]

It is much cheaper (and probably healthier) to just stop eating meat!

It's even cheaper to just stop eating.

 

[PK99]

I have a slow cooker for that. Only ten quid, it does an excellent goat curry and I don't have to wait two hours after I get in.
.

The Lakeland machine doubles up as slow cooker and SV machine/...

 

[threebikesmcginty]

three bikes is middle class bollocks ... you only need one. ;-)

It's six actually.