Medellitin

Reader Chris asked me on twitter : bob_mcbob @pablo_escolar if you had a choice, do you think you would prefer one SousVide Supreme or two Demis? This is a somewhat tricky question for two reasons: I haven't finished using the SousVide Supreme Demi .   We'll just pretend the device just plain works as advertised for now. On some level I refute the premise of the question as it is asking exclusively about SousVide Supreme products.  Therefore, I will give an answer, and then ask and answer a second question. My answer is really simple.  I would rather have two SousVide Supreme Demi's (assuming that they work as advertised).  The reason for this is pretty straight forward.  To date, I have never cooked anything that wouldn't fit inside of a single Demi.  The only thing that might have come close was the four pound sous vide octopus .  Now, I live with my woman and don't have a family or a lot of guests over, so I don't end up cooking for much more...

Reading  this  thread on eGullet reminded me about another thread on the Fresh Meals Solutions  support  site.  It isn't surprising, because both threads had awesome posts from one PedroG .  His awesomeness is proven by these two datapoints: 1. SVM Powered Immersion Circulator PedroG wrote: My suggestion for the not so skillful: Buy a SousVide Magic 1500D (160$) plus a mantled  1000W immersion heater  (36$) ... plus an  aquarium air pump  (10$), fix the silicon tubing of the aquarium bubbler and the sensor of the SousVideMagic to the stainless steel guard of the immersion heater, and use it with any pot you have at hand. And here you are for 206$ without any tinkering Basically, turn your SVM into an Immersion Circulator.  The air pump circulates and the immersion heater gets hooked up to the SVM. 2. SVM/FMM In The Hottub Pedro strikes twice  in the same thread.  This time he demonstrates how to use the SVM/FMM to...

Jean-François, over at sousvidecooking.org,  posted about KitchenAid's first foray into a sous vide solution: Chef's Touch .  As a casual observer of the consumer sous vide market, I am excited to see the one of the largest home appliance manufacturers dip a toe into the space.  So excited, that I scoured their website trying to absorb as much as possible. QUICK RUNDOWN OF THE  KITCHENAID CHEF TOUCH Image of the KitchenAid Chef Touch Their website indicates that the Chef's Touch Solution is comprised of three parts:

I think that most fish cooked sous-vide is a little over rated.  There is something about the texture that just doesn't work for me.  There are a couple of notable exceptions:  Swordfish, Monkfish and Skate.  With both Swordfish and Monkfish, you can get thick cuts of dense fish that remain incredibly moist, and you can achieve some amazing textures. Alas, I didn't take any other pictures.  Swordfish (thicker the cut the better), lemon zest, salt and pepper.  This was tossed into a 127F bath.  Lemon zest is an amazing ingredient when used in sous vide cooking.  It results in a very powerful and clear lemony flavor.  After the bath, I seared it in a cast iron pan.  The only warning I have with fish in sous vide, besides the texture/consistency issues, is that it will turn to mush if you let it cook too long.    The great thing about this was I used a minimal amount of fat (just the oil in the pan for searing). ...

As we already know, I cannot get enough of octopus.  I feel bad, because they are very intelligent creatures.  But, if they were so intelligent, wouldn't they find a way to be less delicious?  Or evolve, industrialize and hunt us for food?  I had a whole octopus vacuum sealed in the freezer.  So I defrosted it, splashed in some olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest and salt.  Cranked up the FMM to 176F and tossed it into my water bath. I've talked about cooking octopus sous-vide .  This is one of those sous vide applications that just. makes. sense.  Octopus can be a finicky beast.  Cook it right and it is fucking amazing.  Cook it wrong and you are chewing on cephalopod chewing gum.   The great thing about using the Fresh Meals Magic here is just the shear amount of space available compared to other water baths that I've used.  I also took the liberty to cook some sweet potato in the same bath.   ...

4# Octopus cooking at 176F in an FMM controlled water bath or alien life-form in hibernation chamber? Either way, it's what's for dinner.

As part of a newer, healthier Pablo, I am on the hunt for making a delicious turkey burger.  The biggest challenge with turkey burgers are flavor and lack of moisture.  Or, said another way: the lack of fat that makes a turkey burger healthy, also makes it suck.  As far as flavor goes, I mixed the ground turkey meat, soy sauce, salt, pepper, ramp and garlic powders.  I also figured this would be a good application for sous vide.  You are probably asking why there is a ring mold in the bag.  This was done to maintain the shape of the burger during the vacuum sealing process.  Even on a weak sealer, a burger will end up tapering on both sides. As we can see in the picture above, tapering makes your burger look like a flying saucer.  This is less visually appealing, but there is a very utilitarian concern here as well.  If it is not flat on each side, then less surface area touches a grill or griddle.  While a ri...

It has long been on my list to make that amazing slow roasted pork dish of the yucatan: cochinita pibil.    Soak pork or chicken in a marinade made with a base of brick red achiote, garlic and sour orange juice, boosted with powerful spices like cinnamon, allspice, and clove. After an overnight marinade, wrap everything up in a banana leaf package, and let it roast for hours.  Serve with pickled onions augmented with the smoldering habanero chile. Or in my case, toss it in a plastic bag, vacuum seal and put in a 146 degree waterbath for a two hours.  I was worried about several factors going into this: Would the fresh garlic create that plastic-y, overly garlicy flavor that it is known to do?   The answer is: nope! Would the flavor of the banana leaf transfer and would I like the flavor?   The flavor of the banana leaf did come through, and without any surprises!   Chicken isn't pork, and its leanness doesn't really let you do any magi...

Short rib is by far the most amazing ingredient to cook sous-vide.  One person's cheap, fatty cut of meat is another's delicious and cost effective cut.  The last one I made was done using a short rib, removed from the bone, some roasted garlic powder , salt, pepper and some thyme.  Dropped into the FreshMealsMagic controlled water bath set at 136F and then left to slowly cook over a period of 72 hours. Sous vide genuinely lets us do something magical here.  We can break down the chewy fats that are typically broken down by braising, while maintaining the rareness of the meat.  This is because collagen (our chewy enemy) will actually break down at lower temperatures, if we give it enough time.  I have done this a couple of times and there is no doubt that 72 hours is a HUGE improvement over 48 hours. For our obligatory money shot, Here we can see a morsel of short rib, seared in a hot pan, with a roasted poblano puree.

I have in my possession a FMM for evaluation purposes. I got about as far as making sure that everything arrived before I had some travel that took me far away from my kitchen.  Now I am back and ready to shift into overdrive on the FMM.  I am going to write up a test plan for this, but in the meantime, let's walk through the different components: BRAIN // The SVM 1500D PID Controller Input: Power via Outlet Input: Temperature of Water Via Temperature Probe Output: Power -> FMM This component regulates the temperature of the water bath via a temperature probe and power going to the FMM.  I promise I'll talk about the differences between the 1500D and previous models.   MUSCLE // The Fresh Meals Magic Bubbler and Heater Input: Power via the SVM Input: Air via the Airpump This is a submersible heater.  It is responsible for providing both heat and circulation via air bubbles. LUNGS // The Air P...

Frank Hsu updated me via email on a couple on pricing and also gave me a couple of preview pics to use. Oh look... Here's one now with some tasty flank steak! There are two models for the FMM.  A 110V/1500W version and a 220W/2000W version.  Both come with an adjustable air pump and your choice of either an 18L pot or a 12L pot. With the 18L pot, the pricing is $159, with the 12L pot the pricing is $150.  The 220V/2000W costs an extra $20.  Additional pots are available at $29/$20 respectively.

I've been cooking sous vide at home for awhile now. I currently use a Sous Vide Magic 1500  connected to a Black and Decker RC880 Rice cooker. This is the classic PID controller DIY setup and continues to be the cheapest way to cook sous vide. For approximately 150$, you get a device that allows you to regulate the temperature of water in a rice cooker. One of the biggest perceived issues when cooking with a PID controller is heat distribution. Rice cookers heat from the bottom (and potentially unevenly) leaving the water closer to the heating element warmer than water further away. PolyScience recently studied this in their stir or not to stir experiment, which I have already written about. Good news! Almost on cue, the FreshMealsMagic (FMM) is FreshMealsSolutions' answer to those challenges. It is ...  a submersible bubbler/heater. A submersi-bub-bluh-huh-wha-wha?  Chill out! The FMM is a green disc that can be placed inside of any heat-safe container....