illdothedisheslater

Drama!

Through a complicated holiday bonus system at work, I ended up with an Anova Sous Vide Precision Cooking System, which has been on my radar for years.  I also purchased a 12-quart water bath with a custom-made lid.

And instead of working my way up, I decided to throw the most expensive cut of meat possible into it and see what happened.  This required some amateur butchery.

(That weird spoon-thing is supposed to act as a stylus for a phone or tablet while you cook.  It doesn’t work.)

Despite watching several YouTube videos, and having my copy of Jacques Pepin’s Complete Techniques at the ready, my whole beef tenderloin resembled nothing like what the videos showed.  Maybe because I get the smaller ones?  I don’t know.  But luckily I’m not too squicky about raw meat.  I sharpened my knives, washed my hands, and started hacking.

While the end product looks pretty good, it’s not quite what was supposed to happen.  Regardless, I have three vacuum packed parcels to start my sous vide (the head part of the tenderloin was supposed to stay attached), and I cut the “chain” into tips.

(Here’s a tip if you ever want to feel like a damn fool – watch videos on how to tie a butcher’s knot.  You WILL fail.  You WILL get angry.  You WILL realize it’s some sort of witchcraft.  I mean I taught myself how to knit with a pamphlet.  I can’t do this.)

I got too excited when the actual loin part turned out loin-shaped and vacuumed it up before I even considered seasoning it, but the head got some salt, pepper, and thyme.  The tips were also salted and peppered, then I added some bouillon and an ice cube (for which I consider myself kind of brilliant.)  You can’t use the food saver bags with liquid and I needed a bit of a broth to develop.  Ice cube.  Genius.

Since this machine/device/magic wand came with almost no set-up or operating instructions, I used my superior intellect and several visits to Serious Eats, and bumbled through downloading the app, setting up the tub, and getting a time and temperature set.  So without further ado, here are my three cuts cooking to 126 degrees for three hours.

(I checked this picture ten times to make sure there was nothing embarrassing in the background.  I think it’s clean.)

What’s cool about sous vide is the science, the precision, and the reduced danger of overcooking and farting up an expensive slab of beef.  What’s not cool?  Or interesting?  Watching it steadily maintain its temperature, while the bags of meat gently bob around.  This does not make for edge-of-your-seat blogging, folks.

But it works.  A mere ninety minutes later, All the meat is cooked to perfectly rare.  And it is extremely unattractive.

The pink that looks so good when you cut into a steak isn’t quite the same when it’s the whole darn piece of meat.  So now we sear it – you need a screaming hot pan with vegetable oil (or other high-heat oil – do NOT use olive oil – the smoke point is too low, everything will burn and smell and taste rancid).  This has to be performed quickly so you don’t cook the meat too much.  (Also I was frantically throwing seasonings at the loin, since I forgot to pre-season.)

The beauty of this system is instead of a well-done exterior, gradually turning rare in the middle, you end up with a loin that’s perfectly pink all the way through.  But the sear is necessary for color and flavor.  The internal temperature gets to up around 132 during the sear, but you avoid the gray ring around the edges of the meat.  This turns out just-past rare, which is where I like it.  Good beefy taste, but no unpleasant raw chew.

Et voila!

OMG you guys.  (And I don’t use the term “OMG” lightly.  Usually I use it sarcastically.)  Doesn’t that look awesome?  I got 30 likes on Facebook just posting this picture with no caption.  It’s amazing.  I have to admit a little more seasoning could help, but this sous vide thing has potential.  A couple weeks later I try it with chicken breasts and make a batch of chicken salad.  Is it possible for chicken to be too juicy?  It almost doesn’t work, except it does.  I can’t wait until pork butts go on sale and I can try pulled pork.

Now this weekend I’ve vacuum sealed, sous-vided, dragged out my KitchenAid mixer, AND the pressure cooker.  Last weekend I used my immersion blender.  Next weekend maybe my new pasta maker.  No one can accuse me of filling up the house with gadgets I never use.  No one.  Especially not Mr. Dishes.