Auberins: Gauges and SOUS VIDE

[Mr. Flibble]

So, I headed over to Auberins from a link here about gauges, and I saw this:

http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_ ... 73d8ae7df2

Sous Vide, here I come!

Been wanting to set this up for some time, but I don't want to spend $400 on a dedicated Sous Vide, and I don't have the time to build my own controller from parts.

[Mr. Flibble]

So, I have been trying this out with a manual rice cooker. I have to say, you have to try this device. Granted, it helps to know a bit about Sous Vide cooking.

My fiancée says she has had the best steaks ever that I made sous vide. Same goes for baby back ribs - nothing like cooking them at 155F for 24-48 hrs! Chicken is great too. Best part? Nearly impossible to overlook. If the chicken is pre packaged like in Costco and frozen? Drop it on the rice cooker hooked up to the controller, turn the whole thing on and forget about it until you want to have dinner.

Finally, the best part apart from the ease of cooking is the taste. Simply amazing.

[FalcoColumbarius]

Is the rice cooker like a crock pot? How does this work? This device from Auberins, the wire coming off the side and into the top of the pot, is that the temp sensor? I haven't ever cooked this way but I have had some wicked stews that have been cooked in a crock pot.

Falco.

[Mr. Flibble]

Is the rice cooker like a crock pot? How does this work? This device from Auberins, the wire coming off the side and into the top of the pot, is that the temp sensor? I haven't ever cooked this way but I have had some wicked stews that have been cooked in a crock pot.

Falco.

You can use a crock-pot instead of a rice cooker, however, a rice cooker is better because:

1) It has a stronger element, so it can heat up and balance (stabilize) the temperature faster.

2) The element is at the bottom, not the sides, so it creates convection currents in the water that keeps the temperature much more stable.


Sous Vide is not like a slow cooker however. At first it seems the same, but it is very different.

First, it involves cooking at ultra-low temperatures for extremely long periods of time. These are normally the temperatures you would associate with the food making you sick - except the food actually gets pasteurized, and is in many ways much safer than regular cooking - as long as you do it correctly.

Here is an example, I cooked steak last night:

The steak was seasoned and placed in vacuum sealed bags (you can use ziplocks). The key here is to get as much air out of the bag as you possibly can. You want as much contact with the water/plastic/food as you can get.

The reason for this is that water transfers heat something like 30X better and faster than air. So, having air in the bag insulates the meat, and you would prefer to avoid that when you can.

You heat the water in the rice cooker - but the rice cooker is plugged into the auberins controller. That controller has an extremely sensitive thermocouple attached that you drop in the rice cooker water. The rice cooker gets turned on and off by the auberins controller until it reaches the temperature you want 135F for a medum rare steak (recommended) 144F or so for chicken or pork. (temps vary from 130f to 160F or so).

Next, you drop the sealed bag in the rice cooker (or steam table or what have you).

The meat will heat to 135 F, and stay at that temp for as long as you have it in there. In the case of the steak, it was 5 hours. I have done 24 hrs, and even 48 hrs. (My 36 hr baby back ribs were awesome).

When you are done, you take the bag out, empty the juice (make gravy with it if you wish) dry the meat and then quickly sear it to build a crust on it - you can use a screaming hot cast iron pan. I use a home depot blowtorch.



Now, you would probably ask, why?

Great question.

Here is the answer.

First, it only requires about 5 min of "active" cooking. Seasoning, bagging, and then searing. (I pre-bag all my foods, then freeze them. When I know I am going to cook them, I drop them in the rice cooker sous vide already prepared and I am done until they finish cooking - even better, Costco sells pre-sealed and pre-seasoned foods like this, so you just drop them in as is!!)

Second, this is the best bit. How the meat is cooked. When you cook a "perfect" medium rare steak, the core should be exactly 135 F. However, because you cooked it in air/flame at a temperature greater than 135 F, the outer layers are overcooked, and at a temp higher than the perfect 135 F. So, now if you sous-vide it, the entire steak is cooked to perfection. You only need sear it to get the nice crust at the end.

Third - it is nearly impossible to overcook. As you can cook some foods up to 48 hours, if you have dropped something in the sous vide water, and things are running late, no problem. Just leave the food in there. It will be fine. It can't overcook because it never goes above the temperature required to ruin the food!

Fourth - with the precise control, you can do some things that are impossible in other ways of cooking. Got a tough steak? Cook it at 135 F for 24 hours. What happens? All that tough chewy collagen that makes the steak so chewy breaks down and converts into gelatin. But, this happens without overcooking. In order to convert collagen to gelatin, you must have a temp over 130 F, and hold that temperature for at least a few hours. This is something that is extremely hard to do in a normal oven - and it is even dangerous. Since the water conducts the heat so perfectly, as long as you have a good controller, then the temp stays in the safe range, and you denature the right proteins etc, without overcooking.

Fifth - it basically yields amazing tasting food that is impossible to cook any other way. But it is so easy to do it is laughable.

[Mr. Flibble]

Additional, if my post does not convince you, read this:

http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/03/how- ... steak.html

Seriously, if anyone on the forum has a cheap rice cooker (you DON'T want an expensive one for reasons I will pass over at the moment).

You really want to order one of these:

http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_ ... 23541474ce

Also of note, a vacuum sealer is a big help, but you can use regular ziploc bags if you don't have a vacuum sealer.

Edit:

I figure I will give out the reasons for a cheap rice cooker. The reason is the type of switch the cooker has. Mechanical or Electronic. You want a mechanical switch. You need a mechanical switch because the rice cooker is plugged directly into the controller - and the controller turns the rice cooker on and off through the plug. If you have a manual switch, the rice cooker does not care if it is plugged in or not. If you have an electronic one, it thinks the power has cut off and stops the cooker from working.

[FalcoColumbarius]

Okay, okay.... This sounds more and more appetizing ~ however, about the steak... Have you ever seen "Brother, Where Art Thou"? You know the bit where they wake up after having been seduced by the sirens? and buddy's clothes are laid out flat and empty but still with a beating heart (that turns out to be a toad)? That's kind of how I like my steak... rare. Can this process deliver a rare steak?

Also, regarding the plastic bag wrapped around the meat; I get what your saying about removing the insulating air out of the bag but isn't the bag itself a potentially toxic component in this equation?

I'm going to check into the mechanical rice cooker. This sounds like something I'd be into once I get to understand it better.
Thanks Mr. Flibble,

Falco.

[Mr. Flibble]

Yes, the process can deliver a rare steak, you bet! But, I recommend 135. F. You can go as low as 130, but my recommendation is 133-135 based on the article about steak I linked.

The reason is that the cooking is "different" than normal cooking. Since it is so low temp, it "changes" the normal cooking process. I can't really explain it, but wow, can you TASTE it.

As to the plastic toxicity, since you cook below 160 F, you are in the safe zone for plastics. Ziploc guarantees their plastic up to 180 F, and they don't use BPA. I use the vacuum seal bag kits, those are safe too.

You obviously need the $150 controller from auberins, or, you can build your own for around $60 from Home Depot parts. Personally, I want my food cooked properly, so I bought the auber controller.

The really cool thing is it also makes steak cheaper. Yes, cheaper. You can put cheap cuts of steak in sous vide and they come out so tender.

I did some London broil for 48 hrs at 135 F (I also did 24 hrs). It came out so tender you could take it apart with your fingers. Now, it still tasted like great roast beef, not a steak specifically because of the type of cut it was. But, you can use hangar or any other cut and make it perfect.

[Mr. Flibble]

Here is a photo of my setup. This was my first ever attempt. You can see the torch is still in its packaging.

My first attempt and my original setup

sous_vide.jpg (327.42 KiB) Viewed 6736 times

[doodah]

Oh I'm tempted.....I just ordered a side of grass fed beef which is notoriously difficult to cook properly. This may be the solution.

Your rice cooker has a Plastic top I assume....

[Mr. Flibble]

Actually, I have two. The one in the photo is glass, the other is metal.

However, when I cook for large groups, and use my brand-new steam-table in lieu of a rice cooker, I put a piece of plexiglass over the steam table.

You have absolutely no need of a steam table unless you plan on cooking very large meals!

Steam Table

steam_table.jpg (295.56 KiB) Viewed 6734 times

It just so happens that the rice cooker I have with the glass top has a hole built in to let out escaping steam. I use that same hole to put the thermocouple through. But there is no need to put it through that hole. When I use the steam table, or my other rice cooker I just put it under the lid.

Why do I have 2 rice cookers you might ask? My fiancee and I each bought them separately, now we have 2! It actually works out pretty well when I want to cook rice and do sous-vide at the same time.

[mac_stang]

Wow, I just finished dinner...yet my mouth is watering!

I think I'm gonna try this method for our Buffalo steaks.


Brad.

[FalcoColumbarius]

Jesus, Mr. Flibble, I think you've started the beginnings of a cult.

[Mr. Flibble]

Jesus, Mr. Flibble, I think you've started the beginnings of a cult.

Heh, wait until you try it. You will become a cult member too.

As a bonus, there are a few good books, and lots of resources on the web.

My suggestion, to start out is to try the following:

1) prepare and seal a good steak in a plastic bag, Make sure the steak is 1" thick or so, if thicker, make certain you cook at least 4 hrs.

Get as much air out as is feasibl from the bag, but don't sweat over small amounts.

Drop that steak in the rice cooker at 135 F (57 C), and if it is raw (not frozen) cook from 2 to 12 hrs. (I if frozen in bag, I put it in for 4-5 hrs minimum).

When the time is up, take the bag out, use the juice for gravy or discard it.

At this point, the meat will look terrible don't worry, it will look normal in a moment!!! It is really surprising when you see the juice as black as Guinness stout! This is normal!

Dry the meat with a towel or similar, and throw it into a brutally hot cast iron pan that is nearly red hot. Or - use a propane home depot torch (by far my preference). The goal here is to create what is called The mallard reaction. This is when the meat caramelizes. It gives you that wonderful BBQ crust flavour. If you don't do this, the colour of the meat will look "off" and you will be missing a lot of the proper flavour. The reason you want to do this with super-high heat, is that if you take too long to perform the sear, then you overlook parts of the outer meat - totally defeating all the work you just went through!

Serve immediately. There is no need to let the meat "rest" as you cooked it sous-vide.

2) try the above again with the cheapest cut of steak you can find. Cook it 12-48 hours.

3) try chicken breasts for 2-6 hrs at 144 F. (I use pre packaged and pre seasoned honey-chipotle chicken breast from Costco. Throw it right into the cooker. Remember, if frozen, add an hr or two for it to defrost!)

4) try some baby back ribs. (this is why I bought the steam table!) when you package the ribs, be sure you put BBQ sauce in with the ribs in the bag. Cook 36-48 hours at 144 F or 12 hrs at 155 F (I really recommend the low and slow though...) when done discard the BBQ sauce in the bag, use a little as a side when you serve.

You will find that you can pull the baby back ribs apart with your fingers, and that the flavour of the BBQ sauce has completely infused the ribs, better than any marinade you have ever had.

-----

That should get you started.

[Mr. Flibble]

If you have the funds, I really recommend picking up the Auber controller I listed at the beginning of this thread, it is so much easier and simple to use. It really is the best option IMO.

However, if you want to build your own:



Note: A rice cooker is superior to a slow cooker due to the location of the heating elements and the fact that it can put out more power to get things up to speed. A slow cooker will work in a pinch; and a slow cooker is usually cheaper.

This is the book that got me into this:

http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Geeks-Sci ... 0596805888


Here is a really good beginning reference book:

http://www.amazon.com/Sous-Vide-Home-Co ... 814&sr=1-2

Great to learn with, although most of the information in it is already out on the internet now.

If you really want to avoid any hassles, and are not afraid of just dropping $400 to buy a Sous-Vide Supreme device, (I thought it was too rich for my blood personally) You can get one. Here is a demo of one for baby back ribs - but you can do the same exact thing with a rice cooker and the Auber controller!

[Mr. Flibble]

Some more information:

More info on making your own:

http://blog.makezine.com/2011/02/17/75- ... on-cooker/

http://seattlefoodgeek.com/2010/02/diy- ... -about-75/

I don't recommend using a beer cooler! It is probably not a good idea!
http://lifehacker.com/5545690/build-you ... ide-cooker

Here is how I do it:

http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2010- ... ve-diy-way