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Faking Sous Vide

 
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Dilbert



Joined: 19 Oct 2007
Posts: 1304
Location: central PA

PostPosted: Tue May 06, 2014 4:24 pm    Post subject: Faking Sous Vide Reply with quote

Sous vide cooking is a trendy topic - and no question it is a good technique.
however comma one can "fake" equal/similar results for many things using some common sense and a "bake/roast low&slow" method.
so why does sous vide produce such wonderful results?
two things come to mind:
(a) meats, especially, remain moist - well, doh - the item is sealed in a plastic bag, where is the moisture going to go to?
(b) nothing is overcooked. if you want 135'F beef, seal it in a bag, drop it in 135'F water, walk away for many hours.... how can it overcook - its maximum environment is 135'F.....
so, how does one 'replicate' these conditions using an ordinary oven; everyone's got one of those....
first consider the temperature issue. take a chunk of meat at refridgerator and/or approaching room temperature, toss in in a hot oven, bake/roast it.
now, the primary factor in how fast heat transfers from a hot area to a cool area is the temerature difference oven temp to roast temp.
and temperatures are under the cook's control. the greater the temperature differential of 'chunk of meat' to 'oven temperature' - the faster the chunk-o-something cooks.
but therer is a catch:
in order for the inside of the item to reach, for example, 135'F medium rare beef, there is a temperature gradient from the inside to the outside of the item/chunk-o-beef. the outer portions of the chunk reach much higher temperatures than the 'middle' where the cook is awaiting/monitoring for 135'F.
and those higher temperatures in the outer portions can reault in overcooked / tough / dried out / etc - everyone has experienced this - a roast that's brown at the outer portions and pink at the center.....a steak that's charred black on the outside but still pink in the middle .....
this is why sous vide does such a marvelous job of keeping things tender - the exterior - or in this 'fake' case the "oven" temperature - is never higher than the target internal temperature. the item cannot 'over heat' / over cook. which is peachy keen until one gets to the bit about "need specialized equipment & space" plus the "takes quite a long time."

so here's my take on doing a pork roast low and slow:
2.5 lb/1.13 kg pork roast, bone in.
out of the fridge, made a rub of salt/pepper/onion powder/garlic powder. rub the roast and allow to stand about an hour outside the fridge.
looks like:

preheat oven to 275'F/135'C - roast into (non-convection) oven on a rack
core temperature going into oven: 52'F/11'C
core temperature after one hour: 94'F/35'C
core temperature after two hours: 120'F/49'C
increased oven temperature to 375'F/190'C after two hours - intent is to color and crisp the outside
after 40 minutes, internal core temperature reached 150'F/65'C - pulled from oven, covered, allowed to rest for 15 minutes.
(note that when roasting at low temperatures, carry over is significantly less.)

finished - buttery tender, dripping moist, no knife needed:
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Jim Cooley



Joined: 09 Oct 2008
Posts: 377
Location: Seattle

PostPosted: Tue May 06, 2014 9:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Heh, great minds think alike. I get those little pork tenderloins and cook for 3½ hours at 275° F tightly wrapped in aluminium foil.

I usually let them cool then smash them with a big rubber mallet (between some sheets of wax paper). This results in shreds which are perfect for burritoes or flautas.
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Dilbert



Joined: 19 Oct 2007
Posts: 1304
Location: central PA

PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 6:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

pork tenderloins are real good eats!
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