Advice on sous vide.

[GTDjr]

I have been sous vide for 5 or 6 years. Here is what appears to be a helpful link:

Sous Vide Cooking: How to Get Started

Have a new sous vide circulator? Here's an introductory guide to sous vide cooking, including what to try making first.

www.seriouseats.com

One great thing that you can do with sous vide cooking is to eat rare meat of all kinds that is safe. As I understand it, the USDA minimum temperatures are meant to kill harmful bacteria immediately. You can safely cook meat to a lower temperature and hold it at that temperature longer and it will kill harmful bacteria. At one time I had a link specifying the various times and temperatures for safe rarer meats, but I could not find it during a quick look. Perhaps some of the links provided at the bottom of the link above will give you more specifics.

I have found that some foods are cooked best with a sous vide cooker (e.g. steaks and pork chops), some foods are cooked best on a smoker (e.g. ribs, pork butts, and briskets), and some foods are cooked best on an old fashioned charcoal grill (e.g. hotdogs and hamburgers). Your preferences may differ, but using the right tool for the right job is never a bad idea.

Good luck.

 

[dflaher]

As I understand it, the USDA minimum temperatures are meant to kill harmful bacteria immediately. You can safely cook meat to a lower temperature and hold it at that temperature longer and it will kill harmful bacteria.

That's the way I understand it as well.

Your preferences may differ, but using the right tool for the right job is never a bad idea.

Yep!

 

[k-dizzle]

My 2 cents. I have used timberline for years, cooking 2-3 nights a week on it. Have started using sous vide a lot in the last year or so.
Overall i prefer the timberline for all but 3 cases. (and yes I do proper searing after the cook every time)
1. Pork tenderloins or porch chops. They are better on a sous vide.
2. Big Roasts. You really can retain all the moisture and get a flawless cook.
3. When dinner time has to be super flexible. I think one of the real power of sous vide is it can hold a done temp for a long time without ruining meat. So if dinner time is unknown, I can have sous vide going, and then pull at sear at a moment's notice.
Even steak is better on timberline. reverse seared cannot be beat.

 

[Bogeyfire]

@RayClem
I've been using Smoke / Sous Vide alot since Christmas when I got my sous vide.

For me it works great on mid-sized cuts of meat; Tri-tip, pork tenderloin, thick ribeye, rack of lamb, etc... Season and start as normal for a smoke.

My basic formula is, smoke low until internal temp reaches 115ºF. Then, Sous Vide to final temp for 2-2.5hrs. I like to add butter, rosemary and herb spices in the sous vide. (The savory / salty spices go on before the smoke.)

When cooked to temp for a couple hours, remove, pat dry, & sear. I need to perfect the searing procedure. I've been doing it on the grill, or in a cast iron pan. I think I will get a torch and try that for the sear. If it fits in a pan with butter, etc. that's great. I find the hot grill doesn't really seem all that natural for larger pieces, which is why I want to try a torch.

FYI- I just did a couple of pork tenderloins. Although it was only smoked for about 75min., after final cook, there was still a nice smoke ring. The color of the ring looks a little muted, but it is definitely there, and you can taste it like crazy! No loss of smoke flavor.

As an aside, the Sous Vide containers I've seen cost almost as much as the Sous Vide appliance. No need for that!
Just use a cheap large enameled pot. You can use the vacuum seal, but unless there are a lot of irregular shapes, like a rack of lamb, you can simply place the meat in a large Zip Lock Baggie and suck the air out with a straw, or submerse in the water bath until most of the air is displaced. Zip it tight, and it should sink!

I've never needed weights to submerge, but you can use magnets as weights. I use standard spring clamps from Home Depot on the edge of the pot to hold into position.

 

[RayClem]

Time for an update. Last week was Amazon Prime Days. I ordered an Inkbird ISV200W sous vide circulator. It just arrived. I have hooked it up, connected it to the WiFI app, and made sure it works properly, but I have not yet tried to cook anything.

Thanks to everyone for their input as it was helpful in making my decision.

Now for my next decision. What do you all recommend for my first sous vide cook? Remember that I have the option of cooking low and slow on the Traeger, so I want to try something that will be as good or better done sous vide as it would on the Traeger. If I need to do a reverse sear after sous vide, I can either do it on the Traeger using Grill Grates or I can do it on the gas grill. So take that it account when making your recommendations.

What are some of the favorite sous vide dishes of Traeger owners?

 

[traeger860]

Time for an update. Last week was Amazon Prime Days. I ordered an Inkbird ISV200W sous vide circulator. It just arrived. I have hooked it up, connected it to the WiFI app, and made sure it works properly, but I have not yet tried to cook anything.

Thanks to everyone for their input as it was helpful in making my decision.

Now for my next decision. What do you all recommend for my first sous vide cook? Remember that I have the option of cooking low and slow on the Traeger, so I want to try something that will be as good or better done sous vide as it would on the Traeger. If I need to do a reverse sear after sous vide, I can either do it on the Traeger using Grill Grates or I can do it on the gas grill. So take that it account when making your recommendations.

What are some of the favorite sous vide dishes of Traeger owners?

Chicken breasts, wings, and thicker steaks are my favorite things to sous vide. Potatoes come out great too. I've also done a few briskets, but they take a long time. Frozen BBQ leftovers come out great as well. Easy way to reheat without drying anything out.

Chicken breasts and steaks take about an hour. Add another 30 mins if they're frozen. For steaks, I usually go with 127-129 depending on the thickness. That way they are still medium rare after they are seared.

I'm sure InkBird comes with a guide, but here's a link to the Anova recipes just in case: https://recipes.anovaculinary.com

 

[RayClem]

Chicken breasts, wings, and thicker steaks are my favorite things to sous vide. Potatoes come out great too. I've also done a few briskets, but they take a long time. Frozen BBQ leftovers come out great as well. Easy way to reheat without drying anything out.

Chicken breasts and steaks take about an hour. Add another 30 mins if they're frozen. For steaks, I usually go with 127-129 depending on the thickness. That way they are still medium rare after they are seared.

I'm sure InkBird comes with a guide, but here's a link to the Anova recipes just in case: https://recipes.anovaculinary.com

Thanks. If I do boneless, skinless chicken breasts, I will probably use the sous vide as they tend to dry out on the Traeger. On the other hand, large split chicken breasts are great when smoked on the Traeger.

I have a freezer full of stuff that I cooked on the Traeger. Normally, it is just my wife and I, so a Traeger cook makes enough for several meals. Using the sous vide to reheat them will be great.

When you recommend potatoes, are you talking about making mashed potatoes, or is there something else?.

 

[traeger860]

Thanks. If I do boneless, skinless chicken breasts, I will probably use the sous vide as they tend to dry out on the Traeger. On the other hand, large split chicken breasts are great when smoked on the Traeger.

I have a freezer full of stuff that I cooked on the Traeger. Normally, it is just my wife and I, so a Traeger cook makes enough for several meals. Using the sous vide to reheat them will be great.

When you recommend potatoes, are you talking about making mashed potatoes, or is there something else?.

If I buy a bag of potatoes and don’t use all of them, I’ll usually slice them up and vac seal with butter and some kind of seasoning. Freeze and then sous vide at a later time.

 

[Slimpicker]

Find the post somewhere... I just Sous Vide a CHUCKIE... added onion soup mix as a rub, Vac Pac, then ????
I forgot my temp, 165 for 30 hours??
I'll go look for it.

Going with "pulled"... 165° ►Onion soup mix ►27hrs... (I couldn't wait the full 30)
3.5lb added to my Sous Vide, counting down.

UNREAL, has plenty of it's own juice, I was attacking it before we even made the first meal.

Big chunk is gone for TACOS!!!!

Tomorrow, Beef & gravy sammies!!
This is so damn good and way too easy!!!
The Inkbird was a champ and worked without a glitch.

Wife was happy‼