Cookaholics Bulletin Board

My granddad loves turkey necks. I always cook mine a day or two early to make stock for the gravy. When I was living with him, he'd be tickled like I had specially prepared that neck just for him. Of course, the cat was pissed that she didn't get it those years.

Thanks Lisa - didn't know that. I'll try it over Xmas.

My sous vide turkey breast came out great. I was surprised I did not find it dry and bland which are my normal reactions to most Thanksgiving turkey breasts.

Thanks Lisa for reminding me to save the liquid from the bag. I was supposed to make gravy with the breast bones but didn't. Decided to make turkey soup for Steve instead.

I had some extra pieces of turkey meat from around the bones, so I sous vided those in a separate bag and froze them for stir fry.

We had problems with the Sansaire getting error messages, but finally got it to work after cleaning the rotating parts and putting the back on correctly. (I think by housekeeper dropped the Cambro where it was stored because we found the cord on a different shelf). Anyway, I spaced on making crème fraîche after the turkey was done.

Glad to hear everyone's holiday went well.

JB -I had Asher pick up 3 extra necks, too. The ones you purchase are much bigger than the ones that come in the turkey. My dad was also tickled that I found another method to cook them that would make them more tender than normal.

Wino -let us know what you think!

Josh, I'd love to hear more about the cheese cigars. Those sounded really interesting.

--Lisa

Our Anova Precision Cooker arrived yesterday. I've only had time to try eggs (now I appreciate the issues with SV soft-boiling an egg) and a NY strip that was perfectly cooked at 130 but should have gone longer for tenderness (our strips were cut from a primal that isn't as tender as K would have liked). I guess we'll try seafood next; not sure that we'll get to it before taking off for the holiday.

My Anova arrived as well.....will likely be a week before I get to use it though. So excited!

So, I tried the Anova a few weeks ago to make sweet potatoes. I did not love it. The bags floated, I could not get the entire bag under water (even when I put a bag of marbles inside the food bag) and half the cubed potatoes developed large spots that needed to be cut out.
So I put it away and now am unable to summon up the desire to try another thing.

What can I make that will not have the same problems and make me love this thing? How do all of you deal with the floating bags?

Veg is much harder to sous-vide than protein, and has much more variable results. Some are definitely good (carrots, brussels spouts,pearl onions we do consistently), others are whatevs, or inferior. All will give some level of trouble in cooking; gases just happen a whole lot more often with veg. I typically put a plate over the bag. I also have a machine that pulls a pretty hard vacuum, which likely helps.

Some veg gas way worse then others. I like the roasted flavour in sweet potatoes, so haven't tried them, but they could well be one of the bad ones. Brussels sprouts definitely put up a fight. Corn, only mildly, and perl onions very little. Carrots, only moderate.

Jean,

I think I have some immersion weights left. If you speak up now, some of my coworkers are going to Montreal next week.

Jean,

I've also had mixed results with vegetables. I usually don't bother with them anymore. The first veg I tried, I followed the directions that came with my machine. Asparagus - 183F for 1 - 1 1/2 hour - mushy grey asparagus. Mistake! Like Paul, I prefer the roasted flavor in many of my vegetables, and it's simpler to toss them in oil on a sheet pan and throw them in the oven.

Steak is perfect. Just season, seal, and cook to your desired temp. Sear with your favorite method. Seafood is exquisite. There is no trick to getting perfectly cooked seafood. We are eating more and more fish because it's less troublesome. You don't have to watch it so closely - an extra minute won't turn it from luscious to dry. I sous vide s/b chicken breasts several at a time. The results are much better than poaching, and it's great to have them handy for salads, sandwiches, etc.

It's also great for melting and tempering chocolate. Kenji has a good article on how to do it, and so does the Sous Vide Supreme site.

Stick with it - you'll love it. I find I use mine more that the stove or oven these days, but mostly for proteins.

http://blog.sousvidesupreme.com/2011/12 ... chocolate/

http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/12/the- ... l#sousvide