Post: #76

(05-04-2014 12:54 PM)deerhunter Wrote:  Thanks Dude 3737, great tip on not lowering the pressure too much in your chamber vacuum sealer. Can't believe I never thought about that before. I seal hundreds of pounds of red salmon as well other stuff every year (a lot of hunting and fishing), and always just turn the vacuum suction to maximum. More is better theory. Definitely see the water boiling in there. I will have to play with it to find the sweet point now. I don't cook sous vide, but I am sure it still affects the quality of my final product.

Damn I never expected anyone to have any experience with chamber vacuum sealing or have any clue what I was talking about haha, but there you go, just goes to show the diversity of dudes that are on the forum.

Every chamber sealer is different so you'd have to check out the manual, but you want to adjust the vacuum pressure accordingly.

Since water boiling is relative to air pressure and temperature, it helps if you chill the food thoroughly before vacuum sealing. That's tip 1.

Tip 2 is understanding at what pressure water will boil out of food. With chilled food right out of the fridge, water begins evaporating rapidly at pressures less than 20 mbar / 0.3 psi, and it boils at 5-10 mbar / 0.1-0.2 psi. Some chamber sealers have a digital display of the chamber pressure. Stop the vacuum well before the pressure reaches these low levels. Nearly all foods are well-sealed and preserved at a pressure of 30-50 mbar / 0.4-0.7 psi. Pulling a harder vacuum to get a tighter seal won't preserve the food any better and at that point is only damaging the texture of the fish or whatever else you're sealing.

For anyone in the room wondering what the hell we're talking about, it's this:





As you can see in the video ^^^ the first machine has a display of vacuum percentage. This knucklehead is letting it go to 99.99% which is way too high and if you actually cooked that salmon it would have a shitty, mushy texture once cooked sous vide. He should have set the machine to a 90% vacuum.

Post: #77

^^^ that is some quality info that I have never run across in years of being on outdoor forums where they talk about meat care and vacuum sealers. The best part about this forum is that I don't have to read about how someones "better half" gave him permission to buy a new boat or gun, with his own money.

Post: #78

If in the US meat processors are an option, especially after hunting season. It is against the law to not use the meat from game animals (can't just leave them in the field and take the antlers). So people take the deer to the processor. For a variety of reasons they occasionally never pick them up. So here in Oklahoma the processor sells the unclaimed ones for the cost of processing, they can't make a profit on the meat because it is wild game. So if I don't harvest my own I will usually pick a couple up at one of the processors for 50-60 bucks for the whole thing. Works out to less than a buck a pound usually.

Post: #79

About the science behind the vacuum sealing, look at the phase diagram of water.
For sealing food at room temperature, the 30-50 mbar advice is good. If you want to seal at higher or lower temperatures, it can be adjusted accordingly. You want to stay in the liquid phase region of water.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_point

Post: #80

(05-04-2014 12:31 PM)thedude3737 Wrote:  This idea of sous vide replacing traditional cooking is bogus though. If you're a shitty cook and can't grill a steak to save your life or poach an egg the old-fashioned way, then sous vide won't help you much. Sous vide cooking is a tool for skilled cooks that REALLY know what the fuck they're doing and have already mastered the fundamentals like meat cookery, vegetables, grains, grilling, baking, stewing, etc.

Quote:Stews are another story. You could put together a stew of beans and lamb stew meat, some herbs, tomato paste, white wine, etc, vacuum seal it, cook it sous vide for 4 hours, cool the bags down, and then freeze them and reheat as needed. That would be a more ideal home scenario for this process.

Thanks a ton for this and the posts on vaccuum sealers, the next frontiers in cooking for me are sous vide and liquid nitrogen. I love poached eggs and I keep hearing that sous vide poached are even better. I like the idea of cooking without losing juices to the pan, or turning everything I want to cook slowly into a giant pot of stew.

The theory here is that I buy long-cooking cuts of meat, brine/season/sous vide. This way I keep a rice cooker of rice available for carbs, add in eggs/good fats as needed, juice my fruit/veg, and use workout drinks around gym time. This way I only screw with tools that need cleaning when I feel like doing stuff, instead of for my daily high quality food. Is this workable?

Post: #81

(05-04-2014 09:23 PM)Failing Wrote:  

(05-04-2014 12:31 PM)thedude3737 Wrote:  This idea of sous vide replacing traditional cooking is bogus though. If you're a shitty cook and can't grill a steak to save your life or poach an egg the old-fashioned way, then sous vide won't help you much. Sous vide cooking is a tool for skilled cooks that REALLY know what the fuck they're doing and have already mastered the fundamentals like meat cookery, vegetables, grains, grilling, baking, stewing, etc.

Quote:Stews are another story. You could put together a stew of beans and lamb stew meat, some herbs, tomato paste, white wine, etc, vacuum seal it, cook it sous vide for 4 hours, cool the bags down, and then freeze them and reheat as needed. That would be a more ideal home scenario for this process.

Thanks a ton for this and the posts on vaccuum sealers, the next frontiers in cooking for me are sous vide and liquid nitrogen. I love poached eggs and I keep hearing that sous vide poached are even better.

I like the idea of cooking without losing juices to the pan, or turning everything I want to cook slowly into a giant pot of stew.

The theory here is that I buy long-cooking cuts of meat, brine/season/sous vide. This way I keep a rice cooker of rice available for carbs, add in eggs/good fats as needed, juice my fruit/veg, and use workout drinks around gym time. This way I only screw with crap that needs cleaning when I feel like doing stuff, instead of for my daily high quality food.

Solid game plan.

High end restaurants commonly make what they call Eggs 63 or Eggs 64. Meaning eggs cooked in a circulator bath at 63 degrees Celsius for an hour. The white is barely set, the yolk is thickened but still liquid, and it's got a very custardy texture. Me personally, I prefer Eggs 64 because I like the white to be set a bit more. The yolk is still quite liquid at that temperature. The ease of these things is you can keep them in your water bath for an hour and they won't overcook, so when you decide to plate a dish you can toast some bread, crack the eggs open to reveal a perfectly cooked egg, and top with some ham and hollandaise for a very quick Eggs Benedict. (If you really want to get fancy you can stabilize the hollandaise with a little soy lecithin and xanthan gum and disperse it from an isi cannister for an aerated hollandaise, but that's something for another thread)

Post: #82

Quote:High end restaurants commonly make what they call Eggs 63 or Eggs 64. Meaning eggs cooked in a circulator bath at 63 degrees Celsius for an hour. The white is barely set, the yolk is thickened but still liquid, and it's got a very custardy texture. Me personally, I prefer Eggs 64 because I like the white to be set a bit more. The yolk is still quite liquid at that temperature. The ease of these things is you can keep them in your water bath for an hour and they won't overcook, so when you decide to plate a dish you can toast some bread, crack the eggs open to reveal a perfectly cooked egg, and top with some ham and hollandaise for a very quick Eggs Benedict. (If you really want to get fancy you can stabilize the hollandaise with a little soy lecithin and xanthan gum and disperse it from an isi cannister for an aerated hollandaise, but that's something for another thread)

You can also do the Momofuku 5:10 egg. My father, who can barely boil water, will only eat his eggs like this. I taught him how to do it so I know anyone can learn the process.

What you will do is boil a pot of water to a rapid boil. Leave your eggs in the fridge while the water is boiling. Take them from the fridge and immediately drop in the boiling water and leave them for EXACTLY 5 minutes and 10 seconds. Remove from boiling water and plunge into ice water. Allow to cool and then peel. You will have something like:

   

Post: #83

Found out the local Ralph's actually carries American lamb under their Private Selection label, so I got a lamb shoulder steak (which is a cut I haven't tried before), so it will be an interesting experience once I grill it up.

It was about $7.50/lb, and it looks pretty fatty, compared to what I'm used to with lamb. The lamb loin chop (the cut i usually get) was about $14/lb (also American). Maybe Ralph's is discretely hooking it up?

I hear the American Lamb is grain fed. Is this true?

Post: #84

am all for organ meats. I go for heart, kidney and liver....so underrated and so high in good stuff!

Post: #85

Just bumping this thread. For any of the LA guys, is there a good place to grab meat? Reading through the thread it looks like Jon's may not be ideal. I'd like to get some more steak in me and pork belly seems like a decent choice also. This thread got me interested /thread-27396.html.

Maybe I just need to look for specials at Von's or Ralph's and just freeze it.

It has been so hot in LA lately that I haven't wanted to crockpot or use the oven. But want to get back to cooking.

Thanks.

Post: #86

(09-21-2014 11:37 PM)samsamsam Wrote:  Maybe I just need to look for specials at Von's or Ralph's and just freeze it.

Interestingly, I just discussed this issue with a neighbor just a few days ago. He told me that the local Von's has a special section where they keep the "Manager's Specials," which are the cuts of meat that are within a day or two of their expiration date.

He said that these cuts are at least fifty percent off. He buys a bunch and then immediately freezes them. He said that the best time to go is early on a Sunday morning before all the vultures arrive. You might want to make an inquiry in the meat department of the stores that you frequent as to where the section for these "Manager's Specials" is located and the best time to visit.

Post: #87

(09-21-2014 11:37 PM)samsamsam Wrote:  It has been so hot in LA lately that I haven't wanted to crockpot or use the oven. But want to get back to cooking.

I used my crock pot the day before the height of the heat, which reached 105 degrees for several days in my area, and I made a huge pot of collard greens and smoked turkey wings, so that I did not need to cook during the worst of it. It is a dish that I do not mind eating hot or cold.

Post: #88

(09-21-2014 11:37 PM)samsamsam Wrote:  Just bumping this thread. For any of the LA guys, is there a good place to grab meat? Reading through the thread it looks like Jon's may not be ideal. I'd like to get some more steak in me and pork belly seems like a decent choice also. This thread got me interested /thread-27396.html.

Maybe I just need to look for specials at Von's or Ralph's and just freeze it.

It has been so hot in LA lately that I haven't wanted to crockpot or use the oven. But want to get back to cooking.

Thanks.

Recently, it seems like much meat has gone up 50%.. but maybe it has been coming down again in price a little bit in the last couple of weeks.

I have had a tendency to buy my cheaper cuts of meat at chinese markets in Monterey Park.

Ground pork: $1.89 per pound

Ground Beef: $1.89 per pound

Pork legs with fat and skin (no bone): $1.89 per pound

Chicken Gizzards: $1.29 per pound

They have other cuts of meat and seafood that may be of interest to you.. maybe... but I know that their cuts are fresh.. and one time I said, where's the ground beef.. and the guy behind the counter ground me the quantity right as I waited.

I can PM you the name and address of the store that I use, if you are interested (if you send me a PM).

I get my young coconuts from there too, and most recently, in the last few weeks, the young coconuts have been $1.39 per coconut (but they had been more expensive a few weeks ago - like $2.49 per coconut)

I also try to look out for cheap cuts of meat, and from time to time, I had found $.99 per pound for pork at the mexican supermarket that I go to in Culver City (on Inglewood blvd near culver blvd - recently named Northgate but used to be called Top Value).

Usually Vons and ralphs more expensive than places that I go.. even when on sale.. but sometimes vons and ralphs has better cuts than the places I go.

Post: #89

Quote:Ground pork: $1.89 per pound

Ground Beef: $1.89 per pound

Pork legs with fat and skin (no bone): $1.89 per pound

Chicken Gizzards: $1.29 per pound

Are you living on planet MeatHeaven?
Is meat so ridicilously cheap in L.A?

I'm packing my bags asap...

Post: #90

(09-22-2014 05:09 AM)JayJuanGee Wrote:  Recently, it seems like much meat has gone up 50%.. but maybe it has been coming down again in price a little bit in the last couple of weeks.

I always use this example against the inflation deniers. The price of ribeye steak has doubled since 2008, as have most other meats. Restaurants that I have visited for over a decade without seeing them raise their prices now raise their prices every year or two. Yea, nothing here to see. Just move along.

Post: #91

I'm cooking a skirt steak tonight (might be called something different outside the UK). £1.40 each, roughly, compared to £3.49 for a cheap rump. That's with better flavour, too.

Post: #92

Anyone have experience using one of these for sous-vide? Im so tempted because it's only 200 bucks.
http://sansaire.com/

My favourite internet cook guy loves it
http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/08/we-te...isine.html

Wonder if it really is the solution for affordable sous vide? I have a good vac sealer tht I use for fish processing, but if this guy can get good results in ziplocks then maybe it is really legit?

Post: #93

(09-22-2014 07:34 AM)Chaos Wrote:  

Quote:Ground pork: $1.89 per pound

Ground Beef: $1.89 per pound

Pork legs with fat and skin (no bone): $1.89 per pound

Chicken Gizzards: $1.29 per pound

Are you living on planet MeatHeaven?
Is meat so ridicilously cheap in L.A?

I'm packing my bags asap...

Since LA is such a large and ethnically diverse area, there are means in which (if you have a car), you can find various niches to get really decent food deals... including the prices that I listed... but sometimes, you gotta be careful NOT to flood these niches with customers.. otherwise they will realize that they can charge more and still get the same number of customers...

Frequently, in the regular supermarkets, ground beef can be $5 per pound... so I would NOT buy that., and I would NOT call LA any meat or food haven because a lot of time food is overpriced, in my opinion, so I shop around to find the better places.. and I do NOT frequent the regular chains - except maybe for some special thing or if there is a convenience factor to account for.

Regarding moving to LA: or even visiting. There are a few decent and interesting things in LA (including the pretty decent whether and the variety of cultural events, hollywood and a few other things), and can be real fun in the right age group , social circle and/or if you have a decent bankroll - but since I have been living here for nearly 14 years, I am getting really tired of the whole scene, and I am continuing to plan and prepare for my escape from LA... though since I have ongoing business ties here, I may NOT be able to complete escape, unless I take some drastic measures, which are NOT out of the question... FUCK!!!!

I mean fuck, I want to get out of LA, but yep there are probably worse places to be stuck.. .and I do have a pretty good time playing around in the LA salsa dance scene, too... but fuck that too, if I can get my other business shit together in order to evolve myself into a greater location independence state of being.. that would be the better scenario for me and this time in my life... Other than that, guys may find a few advantages with some of the sexy attractions of LA and to sing along with their aspirations in the video clip.. hilarious.

Post: #94

There's a wholesale market in Culver City - they require a wholesaler's or business license, anyone have info on getting one easily as a civilian. Restaurant Depot is the name.

If you like fatty cuts, Tri tip untrimmed is a good choice. Very tasy, $3-4 a lb.

costco Business Centers and Smart and Final is worth a look. The bulk packaging, not the consumer grade stuff.

Post: #95

Grocery stores and big retailers like Costco have all kinds of specials.

Getting enough protein isn't actually as hard as some guys make it out to be. You can easily get 98 grams from breakfast alone.

Eggs, tuna, milk, and some cheap cuts of meat will do you wonders. They aren't too expensive as long as you're willing to stockpile when it's discount season.

Personally, my freezer is always stocked with sale priced ground beef and steak.

Post: #96

I've yet to find a cheap source for quality red meat, however I eat a lot of pork which is very cheap. Aldi of all places actually have the best pork I've found also at the best prices, various cuts, different types of pork chops, pork spare ribs, etc. I also tend to eat a lot of chicken which is also cheaper. I buy my chicken at Costco big packs of GIant chicken breasts and they often have whole chickens for like $8 for two. I like to pick those up put on a nice rub and do beer can chicken. I love red meat from costco, great quality but not cheap.My gf's dad gets a lot of great cuts of steak, flank steak, etc at the Mexican grocers. Great deals on pork lines and arachera which I think is basically flank steak.