Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin

Greetings campers.  The unpromising shrink-wrapped thing to the left of this text is a sous vide-d pork tenderloin.  A little seasoned salt, some olive oil and not much else in there with it.  The bend in it is a little weird, I'd be the first to admit, but I don't have super long bags, and I didn't want to cut the raw tenderloin in two.

Anyway, as with all things sous vide (and all things pork tenderloin, too), it's not the most exciting thing in the world to watch it cook.  But here's a shot of it cooking just the same.

Eagle-eyed readers may note that I'm using Celsius on the immersion circulator.  I was feeling European.

And below is the finished product.  One of the sides is a little roasted butternut squash I made myself, topped with some seasoning mix from Kyoto.  The other is some gratineed cauliflower, frozen from Trader Joes.  Not bad, though I'm not sure I'll run out and buy more of it.

Anyway, of all the things I've cooked in a bath so far, pork tenderloins are second only to chicken breasts as far as this is really the only way you should ever ever cook them.  It didn't take a huge long time, the meat came out perfect, and it was quick and easy to get a nice sear going via a quick visit to the skillet.  Total and unqualified success.

I am really looking forward to making another one of these!

Sous Vide Chicken Again

 

I'm not totally sure why I'm posting this; I've done sous vide chicken here before, and there's nothing terribly different about this one.  It was delicious, and I do feel like I'm getting even more mileage out of my Sansaire when I get to share (or overshare?) what I've made with it.

How about this:  I did two breasts this time, and made the most amazing salad out of a the leftover one tonight:

 

I think chicken done sous vide-style is even better chunked in a salad that it is eaten as a solid block of protein.  Arugula, cucumber, and some avocado, and a balsamic/ lemon juice/ olive oil/ sumac dressing. Simple components but the sum was just delicious and the mix of textures was very satisfying.  Something I will remember for the next time!

Sous Vide Pork Chops

I cooked a pork chop in the old immersion circulator for the first time tonight.  Wow.  As good as the chicken was, this was fantastic.

I have been following the ChefSteps sous vide time and temperature guide.  Did this one on the high end of the guide’s scale, and it was great.  Tender, juicy, flavorful (it’s definitely worth it to get high quality pork for this).

I also set up a few extra and threw them in the freezer.  I can totally see this becoming a regular meal for me.

Sous Vide Poached Eggs: A Revelation

I made sous vide-style “poached eggs” for the third or fourth time over the weekend and have had a revelation:  eggs this way (which are actually very softly soft boiled) are sort of gross, and definitely not worth the time.

While I'm not a Creationist, eggs seem almost tailor-made by some higher power to be ideal for poaching.  The proteins in the white require a higher temperature to set than the proteins in the yolk, so cooking at a high heat from outside to inside works really well--pay attention to timing, and the egg takes care of itself.

But sous vide-ing them messes with this miracle of food.  Cooking at all one temperature--the right temperature to make a great yolk--ensures that the whites stay liquid and, by my standards, kind of nasty.

I have a buddy who says I'm wrong, that using ChefSteps's exhaustively researched egg calculator will yield the poached perfection I'm missing today. But look at SeriousEats, which I highly respect, but which says the best way to get a sous vide poached egg is to sous vide it, and then poach it. 

Contrast that with Alton Brown’s recipe for perfect poached eggs, which highlights and celebrates the miracle:  foolproof, five minutes, and the eggs are truly perfect (by my definition of perfection), with firm whites and soft gooshy golden yolks.

I guess if I had to make a bunch of poached-style eggs for a recipe, maybe whipping out the immersion circulator would be justified.  But, lesson learned, I’m going to stick to the old-fashioned way if I’m poaching some eggs for a weekend benedict for one.

Sous Vide Chicken

As threatened, today I made my first ever sous vide chicken.  I feel pretty awesome right now, we’ll see in 24 hours or so if I’ve poisoned myself.  Optimism rules, and photos follow!

The raw materials and the mise en place.  The authority assures me that you can safely cook in ziploc freezer bags, as long as the temperature doesn’t get too high.  So, here I go.

I wanted to use boneless skin-on breasts, which are hard to find.  No photos of me boning the chicken because (a) it’s been a long time, I turn out to be rusty at it and (b) I didn’t dare touch my phone while I was all chickeny.

I was going to cook two and then I had a moment of panic:  I think my biggest pot is too small to circulate water adequately around 2 breasts at once.  So breast 2 is in the fridge, I’ll do it tomorrow.

I put a little canola oil in the bag with the chicken, and some seasoned salt and pepper.  Kept things simple.  There’s a neat trick to get the air out of a ziploc when sealing it:  submerge it (carefully) up to the top in water, and let the water pressure push the air out for you.  Having no vacuum sealer, I'm glad someone thought of that.

Meanwhile I decided to make sure the thermostat on the Sansaire was correct, so pulled out my candy thermometer.  The verdict:  if it’s inaccurate, they’re both equally so.  Which seems unlikely.

I decided to do the breast at 144 Fahrenheit.  Modernist Cuisine at Home and Serious Eats both say 140, but a little more seemed prudent and given you’re “supposed” to cook chicken to 165, still radically lower in temperature.

These are before and after shots, though they look more or less the same.  I should’ve aimed at the chicken more.  Anyway, I dunked it for 40 minutes, then opened the bag (carefully!) and took its temperature (also carefully!) to verify that it was indeed a bit above 140 internally. 

 











Modernist Cuisine at Home says let it go for 25 minutes after that to sterilize.  I went for 45, because I was in no rush, and sous vide means it’s almost impossible to overcook.  So if you’re doing the math, that’s about 95 minutes of cooking time.


And the finished (nearly) product:

Doesn’t look too promising in the bag.  But I had a skillet at the ready with super hot oil, and plunked the chicken in for a quick browning.

And here’s the really finished product.  I did a much worse job than I usually do with the plating, mainly because I was so excited to cut into it.  And eat it. 

Here’s the inside.  It wasn’t exactly pink but it definitely wasn’t the usual cooked chicken color either.  Let’s call it pinkish.  But texture-wise it was great, and seriously I’ve never had a chicken breast as moist as this one.  Much less one that I cooked myself.

I think I want to do this a few more times before I do it for company...chicken being kinda dangerous, I want to make 100% sure I’ve got it down, and that I don't food poison myself, much less other people.  But I could do pork chops for company any time!

The Sansaire adventures will continue!