Turkey Breast Sous-Vide

No more Dry Turkey Breasts thanks to Sous-Vide!!! 

Set water temp at 145 degrees. If I could only find a Turkey breast that was organically raised and not frozen. It made a difference with chicken. 

De-bone your breasts and save for stock

Liberally apply your favorite herb blend

Sous-Vide your breast which means Vacuum seal them.

Submerge in water bath. As a technique I usually set the water temp up a few degrees higher to compensate for the drop in temperature when cold meat is placed in water bath. After meat is submerged I set the temp I want and in this case it was 145 degrees. The Breast cooked for 4 hours and 13 minutes. The breast was fully pasteurized. I used the Sous-Vide APP.

Breast all cooked at pretty drab looking due to lack of Maillard Reaction. 

A very quick sear in fry-pan remedies this situation.

Gorgeous

A picture is worth a thousand words.

While the Turkey was spending some alone time getting a water bath I used this time and make a Stock. I broke up the bones and proceeded.

A simple stock that I used for homemade gravy.

Dinner served.

Update- 2/15/2015

I was able to purchase a higher quality turkey breast and after doing this several times I have landed on the temp of 140. If you are going to Sear or smoke the breast 140 is the magic number for SV. 

I was able to buy the breast bones intact and unfrozen.  A huge difference in quality. 

Update 11/26/15

Thanksgiving 2015 was a hit! I have made 12 Sous-Vide Turkeys to date. I think I have finally dialed in what I think is the best temp and time; for both the Dark and White meat. 

Turkey Breast Sous-Vide at 140˚ƒ for 4 hours is perfect. 

Dark meat came out perfect at 150˚ƒ for 6 hours. 

Let me give this caveat: All these temps and times are designed around how I want to finish the Turkey. In this case, I planned on smoking the Turkey for about 90-120 minutes at 180-190˚ƒ. When the smoke dissipates, I will crank the heat up to about 225˚ƒ to give that mahogany glaze we all love so much. 

What preceded the smoke is important too. After the Sous-Vide process I shocked the Turkey in an Ice-Bath and refrigerated overnight. If I had taken the turkey out of the SV and proceeded directly to the Smoker, the Turkey would have overcooked. Starting out with temps much lower helps mitigate the possibility of overcooking the Turkey. I also know if I placed a Turkey on my smoker with an internal temp of 34˚ƒ, it would have taken forever for the meat to come up to temp too. So what did I do?  I cranked up the Sous-Vide to about 125˚ƒ and set the Turkey in the bath for about 40 minutes. The Turkey hit the smoker registering 90˚ƒ internally. The Turkey was removed from the smoker when an internal temp of 140˚ƒ was reached. These are all techniques. If you miss one of these steps the outcome will be different. Let's say I wanted to finish the Turkey in a frying pan instead of an oven or smoker. I would have made sure that the meat was at least at 120˚ƒ before the meat would have hit the pan. Again these are my techniques.

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Sous-Vide-By-Me

The title of this blog coincides with the the blog name because this is Sous-Vide-by-me aka Kosher Dosher. I am so excited about Sous-Vide aka the English translation of "Under Vacuum". 

For those of you unfamiliar with Sous-Vide it's a method of cooking food in an airtight plastic bag that sits in a temperature controlled vessel in circulating water. 

Cooking Sous-Vide is straightforward. You seal food in a plastic bag, place bag in temperature controlled water bath, when food reaches your target temperature or time, take it out and give it a quick sear to finish if desired. So to put it another way you are cooking the food at the temp you will be serving it at. Simple right?   

Cooking Sous-Vide produces culinary masterpieces that are virtually unattainable to produce by traditional cooking methods.

The picture in the upper left (Tri-Tip) side of the blog is one of the first things I cooked and allows me to point out some advantages and limitations of the Sous-Vide method of cooking.

Pros:

• No Carry over cooking
• Uniformly cooked food always Edge to Edge
• Holding food at specified temp without over cooking. 
• Cook at lower temps and pasteurize food simultaneously
• A recipe can be duplicated 100% of the time. 
• Cooking large amounts of food in advance and heating up days later using Sous-Vide with no loss of quality. 
• No more Dry edges or rare centers

Cons:

• No browning or Maillard Reaction
• Pre-planning required.
• Cooking process is long

So what do you cook in a Sous-Vide? I cook lots of meat. Tender cuts of steak (I.E Rib-eye, New York or Fillet etc). Let's contrast Sous-Vide first with traditional methods. Here is what most people do. Whether it's a grill or a pan it's cooked the same way. You place steak on a very hot surface, the moisture on the surface evaporates almost instantaneously which means the surface is at 212 degrees. Don't forget steak is considered well done at 160 degrees and all the layers of the steak are increasing in temperature and drying out. I like my steak at an internal temperature of 128-129 degrees but but by the time the center of the steak reaches that temperature the outer layers are way overdone. If I am lucky maybe 25% of the inner layers are at 129 degree. The rest of the layers are over cooked.

Now for the Sous-Vide method of cooking that has revolutionized the world. We cook the steak in a water bath of 129 degrees. The steak will never go beyond 129 degrees. All we do after it is done cooking is brown the outside which take only a minute or two (see my T-Bone). Creating the maillard reaction (browning) is easy and only requires intense heat. You can use a hot skillet, a grill or a butane torch. 

How about Tough meats like, Short-Ribs, Flat Iron steaks, Pot-roasts etc? Sous-Vide excels in this area too. We can cook meats at temperatures that are low enough to break down (dissolves) all the connective tissues. With this method of cooking you can prepare sublime meat. Cooking tough cuts Sous-Vide does not dry it out like conventional braising. 

To get started what do you need? You need some type of vacuum sealer. There are several to chose from. Some options might be a Chamber Vacuum Sealer, Vacuum sealer such as a Food Saver, or a pistol Vac sealer like Waring.

What Sous-Vide machine would I recommend? I have been blessed with two of them that I just love. 

Chef series by Poly-science is is a top of the line unit and sits in many restaurants. I love this unit. It is accurate to 1/10 of 1 degree (30 Liter capacity). I use the polycarbonate containers that polyscience carries on there website.  

I did a lot of research on this unit before choosing. There were three to chose from and I chose this Sous-Vide by Anova (20 Liter capacity max)I connect it to different containers and stock pots. 







What else do you need? I would suggest reading and reading before you jump in. 

The Poly-Science App for the I-phone and I-Pad makes things very easy. Plug in some numbers and it gives you temps and times. Very user friendly. 

A practical guide to Sou-Vide is a great place to start too. Douglas Baldwin is an expert in the field. Click the link above to find out more. 

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Chicken Breast Sous-Vide

So who doesn't like chicken breasts? For several years I have been buying the pre-cooked grilled chicken breast at Costco for convenience. I like to snack on them for the extra protein. When I got my Sous-Vide machine I was very excited to cook them using the Sous-Vide method. I researched appropriate temperatures for poultry and I came across several recommendations. (SEE UPDATE)

There were a lot of variances and personal preferences that ranged from 135-155 degrees F. I know you are saying to yourselves "I thought you had to cook the chicken to 165F degrees to kill or pathogens" this is untrue. 

A combination of temperature and time can pasteurize a piece of meat. Take a look at this graph. If for example, we cooked chicken until it hit an internal temp of 165F degrees it would become instantaneously pasteurized and safe to eat. If we then cooked a piece of chicken to an internal temp of 140 degrees and held it there for 35 minutes it would be safe to eat also. I use an APP by Polyscience to figure all that out for me. 

Anyhow, I have experimented twice now with chicken temps. I have tried 150.9 degrees F and 147F degrees F temp. I used the 150.9 temps because the APP used this temp to describe a Med cooked chicken. The 147F-degree temp came from a Chef I talked with about poultry and he like 147 degrees. Both temps produced perfectly cooked juicy chicken. After cooking it twice now I am just a little close to dialing in what I think would be good. I think 149 will be my preferable temp for chicken. Although both temps above worked well it's about the texture of the meat and what it felt like when I chewed it. I thought the 147F-degree temp was a little too fleshy for me and the 150F temps were just about right but not perfect. I am also going to try organic chicken breast to see if this makes a difference too.

Note: after cooking breasts, I submerged them in an ICE BATH for about an hour to stop the cooking process and get them ready for storage. I left them in their bags. 

Chicken seasoned with Poultry spices

Just submerged in a water bath.

Side profile.
Will cook for 1:38 min to pasteurize.

Beautiful!!!

Update: I used organic 

Chicken breasts and 

cooked them 

at 145F degrees.  

They were beyond perfect.

Update: 12/11/18

UPDATE - DARK AND WHITE MEAT

UPDATE- BULK BREASTS ONLY

(SEE UPDATE)

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Flat-Iron-Steaks Sous-Vide

I needed something quick and easy to cook for Wednesday night dinner and a thought crossed my mind. How about Sous-Vide. It's not quick but if you time it well it can be both quick and easy. So say it with me SOOO-VEEE!!!! because it is so so good. Yea, Yea I know it sounds geeky but you know what I don't care because Sous-vide to me is exciting and new. You can make virtually anything well. However, Sous-Vide cannot replace basic culinary cooking skills and great techniques. As I tread along these uncharted waters I hope to educate my self and others who read my blog. 

I got off work at 6 AM after working an almost double with no sleep but I still had a little fuel in the tank so I headed for QFC to go shopping for tonight's dinner. I just knew I can find something to Sous-Vide. 

I needed something that 

• could be cooked in a matter of 6 hours or something close to that or
• cook at least 16 hours or more so I could sleep

By chance Flat Iron Steaks were on sale and I purchased them. 

There's not much of a story here except for the easy steps I used to cook them. 

Just came out of the water water. Blah looking!!! No maillard. Cooked at 130 degrees for 16 hours.

I applied a dry rub and some BBQ sauce and applied some intense heat. 

Beautiful looking.

Some final thoughts. I loved my T-Bones at 129 degrees F but the Flat Iron steak at 130 f gave me the sensation of slipperiness.  It is really hard to describe. Overall I loved how the Flat Iron came out but steak I think next time I will shoot for 132-133 f. At 130 f degrees the intramuscular fat should have rendered down a little bit more and firmed up the meat. I am learning that a degree or two can really make a huge difference depending on several variables.  Cut of meat, age of meat, and quality of meat. There is definitely a learning cure when it comes to Sous-Vide. 

Update- 7/4/14 Flat Iron Steaks Sous-Vide Temp of 133 f degrees for 6 hours was perfect. The time of 6 hours was perfect because the meat was no longer slippery when eaten and had a better chew which I enjoyed and the temp of 133 f was just the right temp to render down the fat and connective tissue.

Update- 5/24/15 I still like the 133 fdegree temp but prefer a 6-9 hour cook time. I also do a dry-brine for at least 24 hours.  

Update- 7/19/15 These were a last minute Dinner thing. They were still in the package frozen like a Rock. I vacuumed sealed them in their package and SV'd them for about 7 hours. There was no dry-brine but they tasted great. 

Right out of the SV

Update- 4/30/2018- Dry-Brined with 1% Fish Salt from Red Boat for exactly 72 hours. Warm Aged at 113 F for 3 hours and finished at 133 f for 7 hours. Flawless!!! You can see some of my Experiments HERE. 

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T-Bone Sous Vide

T-Bone Sous-Vide

T-Bone Sous-Vide..... Even the name sounds great. I will get to the details in a bit but I just gotta come out of the gate and say this was probably the best steak I have ever eaten. You might be saying to yourself....."this blogger has never eaten at any high end steakhouses.

Ah Contraire Mon Fraire!!!! I have eaten at Ruth Chris Steak House, El Gaucho, Metropolitan Grill, Peter Luger Steak House in Brooklyn NY and a couple of others. The only caveat to the above statement is the the quality of the meat at those steak houses were probably Prime and mine was a higher version of Choice. The Sous-Vide method of cooking made my above average steaks taste like PRIME and superior than those fancy steak houses. Only a side by side comparison would be fair to determine if I was correct.

One of the first things I did when I arrived home was to set up my Sous-Vide. Pre-planning is always helpful with Sous-Vide. I usually start out with hot tap water which in my house is about 120 degrees and add boiling water if I plan doing potatoes which should be Sous-Vide at 183-185 degrees. I mean who wants to wait until the Sous-Vide apparatus comes up to temp. 

So what am I using? I have the Polyscience Sous-Vide Chef and the ANOVA Sous-Vide. I also have the 3 Polcarbonate Tanks to choose from depending what my need is. I chose the 18 Liter version (and many other setups too) for these large steaks .

While the Sous-Vide was getting up to temp I prepared the "Breath Taking" T-Bones steaks for its long bath.

I seasoned both sides of the steaks with Apple-wood smoke Sea Salt, Granulated Garlic, Onion Flakes, Crushed Black Pepper and fresh Thyme. I have come across some recipes that have included some FAT or butter inside the bag with the hope of the fat helping distribute their aromas and flavors. I chose not to do this. I have tried it both ways and prefer no butter or fat for steaks that are Sous-Vide. In fact, I believe the addition of butter inhibits the Herbs and spices penetration into the meat. I think all those flavors get suspended in the fat globules. Just a theory and no way to prove.

How did I decide what flavors I wanted? I chose what I liked. I think using Smoke Sea Salt was genius but other than that I just used what I thought would go well. 

Note: After making the steaks I read in Thomas Keller book Under pressure:Cooking Sous Vide that the addition of fresh herbs directly to the steaks could concentrate all the flavors in isolated parts of the steaks. He suggest putting the herbs in a little plastic bouquet garni than place in bag. I will do this next time. 

Let's talk about temp for a moment. I am still trying to figure out what temp might be my favorite for Steaks. I have tried several temps and I am narrowing it down. I used 129 degrees last night and this seems to be almost perfect. I will try 127 and 128 and evaluate next time. At a temp of 120 degrees the connective tissue and fat starts to break down. So temp and time working together should produce something superb. Starting out with a tender piece of meat cuts down your time obviously. 

How I did I calculate the time? I use The Sous-Vide Tool Box APP by Polyscience to determine how long I should cook the proteins. The APP uses science to predict accurately how long to cook proteins. The APP will calculate a lot of "What if scenarios" I.E Time to center temp is reached, Time to center and surface pasteurization etc. It will even tell you how long to submerge in ice water water if you want to drop temp rapidly.  Another good source of info is found here by Douglas Baldwin. 

Setting up Sous-Vide Temp desired

My cooking vessel

4.35 lb of steak

All Seasoned and ready to go

Sous-vide which means Under Pressure (Vacuum sealed)

In the water bath

Just came out of the water bath after 4:23 minutes

All cooked with no searing.  Very unappealing. 

All Seared and ready to EAT!!

Gorgeous

and Beautiful. 
The steak was like 
cutting into butter. 
All the connective 
tissue had melted away. 

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