# Sous vide in restaurant kitchens



## santona 1937

as mentioned on another thread I thought would start a thread on Sous Vide.  Iput it here as it is much less about cooking, than about a commercial kitchen developing sous vide techniques.

 first off; an immersion circulator is more efficient than a water bath, but most places- mine included- use water baths as they cost a bit less and the  difference is not so great.

 Cheaper cuts of meat.Sous vide is perfect for Chuck, give

 n proper timing Chuck  will come out like filet mignon.

 In order for chuck steak to do this you need to  heat in water bath at 55-60 degrees C or 135 to 140 F for about 30 hours. In reality depending on the thickness of the cut the timing can be anywhere from 24 to 48 hours.  At these times the tough connective dissue will begin to dissolve and decrease the myofibrillar tensile strength.

 In effect sous vide is a very long and very controlled poach. so meat will need to be finished for service, we either sear in a hot pan and then oven or  sear with blow torch  straight out of the water bath.  to serve meat at around 60deg.C 

 The big advantage to using sous vide is the ability to hold cooked meat for a long time, as in effect you are pasteurizing the meat.

 If you do this  it is important to keep a very close eye on the cooling. ideally you should use a blast chiller. There is a lot of info on cooling after sous vide, and it would be very wise to research as pathogenic spores can be hard to get rid of. I say this  in order to protect myself  we have not had problems cooling and holding.

 Hope this helps and that this thread is useful to those wanting to use sous vide to reduce food costs.

 If you can get chuck steak to the texture of filet mignon you can charge  filet mignon prices. That looks good on your balance sheet


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## nicity

I remember working at a restaurant where they would Sous Vide all their steaks, and all they would be using would be filets and rib-eyes. There were some leftover steaks from a banquet party that were passed around. Very tender, I was looking around for another piece.

Now, for my question. Cost wise, how much extra would it cost per steak for Sous Vide? Considering you already have the Vacuum Sealer and the Immersion Circulator. I never really looked into it, and I would be guessing probably a couple of cents per serving.


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## santona 1937

overall it reduces cost per  item, we use it on all our proteins,  reduces wastage, less plates returned as the cooking process is more accurate, storage time is extended, allows us to use cheaper cuts and not reduce price. 

 It works really well on our buffet for athletes, where we can offer a greater variety of proteins, with differing calorific values, which for the super- elite athletes is very important.

 We are able to more accurately tailor our product offering both in the fine dining outlet, and in the Athletes buffet, which gives us better customer service, without increasing our costs.

What is the most interesting from a chefs point of view though, is it shows how aware we need to be these days of product offering and customer service quantitative,  something that  I never thought I would have to speak of.

 AS we have moved into  more modernist cuisine, primarily in a la carte dining, the chefs role has become much more specialised and  technical. One of our prospective hires is a science major at university, who we think might be able to develop our techniques and scientific base. It really is just an extension of using robot coupes instead of apprentices 

 AS chefs we have  understood that we need to take advantage of every technological advance possible. For instance we use pro cotta. which is a carageenan product ( a  polysaccharide extracted from red seaweed) and gives our pannacottas a more perfect texture, consistently, and allows us to offer pannacottas to vegans and veggies. We use Xantana for emulsions, agar for thickening ,etc etc. All of these like sous vide allows us to  offer better customer service and allows us to expand our art.


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## beastmasterflex

Thanks for the info I'm gonna give some a try next week. For what it's worth I've found eggs done at 75 degrees C for 10.5 minute produce a wonderful poached egg firm white with liquid yolk, need to be chilled after cooking and dropped in simmering water to serve. Give them a try. I really love my poached eggs  did 15 dozen to get it right


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## ali1971

How do you hold steaks for service once cooked? Do you sear them straight from refrigeration or do you somehow bring them to temp first? timing?


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## davidchef

If indirect cooking(cook minimun 2 hours at 60C, no bacteria, and keep) you can put it at room temp and then on a pan or grill to do maillard reaction.


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## jrlowey

Ali1971 said:


> How do you hold steaks for service once cooked? Do you sear them straight from refrigeration or do you somehow bring them to temp first? timing?


Does anyone have an answer/explanation or the above question?


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## chefbillyb




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## dreamshards8

I cooked at a restaurant who was having a sous vide phase. They would pre cook their salmon, duck breast, and chicken breast in the sous vide. During service the salmon was reheated in sous vide and the chicken and duck were seared and thrown in the oven to bring up to temp. It made for much more moist protein and shorter fire times. The only downfall was the space the circulator and water bath took up.


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## cook1st

beastmasterflex said:


> Thanks for the info I'm gonna give some a try next week. For what it's worth I've found eggs done at 75 degrees C for 10.5 minute produce a wonderful poached egg firm white with liquid yolk, need to be chilled after cooking and dropped in simmering water to serve. Give them a try. I really love my poached eggs /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif did 15 dozen to get it right


ill try that, right now i am doing 63C for 45 min and the outer white part is still loose.


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## someday

For service, you re-heat the protein in a water bath at a lower temp than you cooked. For example, if I cook my beef at 56c, then quick chill in ice and then store, for service I'd drop it in water bath set to 50c and warm all proteins up this way. They then get seared in a pan and finished.


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## alaminute

We've done petite filets sous vide at my place for years. First we clean and portion the steaks and then put the raw meat in the vacuum bag -4 10 oz portions per bag- with a little butter, thyme and garlic for aromatics. Then drop two to four bags in your bath at a time at 117 degrees f for at least an hour before pick up- longer is better as it will help break the meat down slightly. To pick up, open the bag one at a time and season and sear your steaks. Since the steaks are already 117 degrees when you start, after the seat they reach an internal temp of around135-140 or a nice rare steak. Then it only takes a minute in the oven for mr, two for medium and about three for mid well. The steaks are better because they've been slowly cooked essentially in aromatics before being pushed to the exact temp. Gauge how many steaks you'll use depending on the night and never try to put more than four bags or so in at once. As you pull some just cycle more in behind as you feel you'll need. At the end of service simply place any remaining bags in an ice bath- they will be safe to reheat the same way at least once and as long as you watch how many bags you drop you should never have to reheat more than once.


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## capecodchef

A 10 oz. 'petit' filet. I want to eat at YOUR place!


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## chefbillyb

alaminute said:


> We've done petite filets sous vide at my place for years. First we clean and portion the steaks and then put the raw meat in the vacuum bag -4 10 oz portions per bag- with a little butter, thyme and garlic for aromatics. Then drop two to four bags in your bath at a time at 117 degrees f for at least an hour before pick up- longer is better as it will help break the meat down slightly. To pick up, open the bag one at a time and season and sear your steaks. Since the steaks are already 117 degrees when you start, after the seat they reach an internal temp of around135-140 or a nice rare steak. Then it only takes a minute in the oven for mr, two for medium and about three for mid well. The steaks are better because they've been slowly cooked essentially in aromatics before being pushed to the exact temp. Gauge how many steaks you'll use depending on the night and never try to put more than four bags or so in at once. As you pull some just cycle more in behind as you feel you'll need. At the end of service simply place any remaining bags in an ice bath- they will be safe to reheat the same way at least once and as long as you watch how many bags you drop you should never have to reheat more than once.


I agree, I think Sous Vide was made for a thick cut Filet Mignon.


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## jonnyhotcakes

ChefBillyB said:


> I agree, I think Sous Vide was made for a thick cut Filet Mignon.


Ditto.


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## alaminute

lol, it's definitely a misnomer. The cut is also known as a bistro steak and it comes from the center of the shoulder clod. It's so named because of how phenomenally it resembles a miniature psmo. This particular cut works amazing sous vide.


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## capecodchef

Ahhh....teres major. Got it now.


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## dueh

I am absolutely in love with sous vide! The first restaurant i worked in used it for steak, chicken, even scallops at one point. 

I see quite a bit of pastry application for it aswell. gently cooking lemon/ fruit curds with zero moisture loss, cooking fruits for desserts gently or infusing them with syrups/flavorings while gently breaking down the fiber. 

the restaurant i worked for used it it gently cook large portions of meat in a marinade, that they later sliced for sandwiches. the cryo vac bags were nice for storage and labeling. 

we did have some failures though. Within the company was a butcher who made bratwurst, which they decided to sousvide. During the cooking, all of the fat had melted and settled to one side of the links.


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## someday

Dueh said:


> we did have some failures though. Within the company was a butcher who made bratwurst, which they decided to sousvide. During the cooking, all of the fat had melted and settled to one side of the links.


That sounds more like a failure with the emulsion not forming properly or poaching it at too high a temp. I've done sous vide sausage before with marvelous results.


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## kenthachef

We sous vide so many things where I work. Everything from chicken, scallops, shrimp and lobsters all the way to New York Strips and Dry Aged Ribeyes. Even some veg like asparagus and baby carrots. Veg usually at higher temp, shorter time. We are the only restaurant around where I am that does sous vide cooking. For our larger steaks such as our 21oz veal chops we drop it in a tank slightly lower than it was cooked in until it is up to temp then take it out and sear it in a bag. Others like our new York Strip get a nice sear on the cast iron flattop.

We also sous vide bratwurst for our Currywurst at lunch. Off the chain. In fact almost everything I have had sous vide is out of this world. Bone in 14oz Berkshire porkchop sous vide with bacon fat! Out of this world.


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## capecodchef

I'm thinking about trying sous vide for our poached eggs and boneless chicken breast, but I know so little about it. Most info out there relates more to the home cook instead of the commercial kitchen. Eggs seem easy to re warm for service, but how does one hold, say, a piece of boneless chicken? And what happens to the portions that don't sell that day? Can they be cooled and rewarmed the next day? Any specifics are appreciated.


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## chefbillyb

CapeCodChef said:


> I'm thinking about trying sous vide for our poached eggs and boneless chicken breast, but I know so little about it. Most info out there relates more to the home cook instead of the commercial kitchen. Eggs seem easy to re warm for service, but how does one hold, say, a piece of boneless chicken? And what happens to the portions that don't sell that day? Can they be cooled and rewarmed the next day? Any specifics are appreciated.


Hey Chef, I never had use for Sous Vide in my business, I use it at home. The whole point is to cook the breast Sous Vide and then dredge it in ice water to keep it from cooking and cooling it down fast. Most restaurants will start with a few of each Sous Vide menu Items and then add to it as the night going on. The Chicken breast would already be cooked, the front line process is just taking the warmed Chix breast and finishing it in a pan for service. The quality of the breast will be the same as it was when it was first cooked. If you were doing a pork belly Sous Vide, it would be cooked for two or three days and then cut and fried to order. So, to make a long story short. You are fully cooking food then reheating and finishing without losing any quality in the item. I like to do Sous Vide for Dbl cut pork chops, you know how long it would take from start to finish on a front line. If you did it Sous Vide it would be fully cooked and then put in a water bath on the line waiting for service. It can then be flame broiled or pan glazed when ordered. The other thing Sous Vide does for you is it gives you a constant temp cooking source. If you were doing a poached egg in a pan on the stove the temp of water will change and is hard to keep at a steady temp. I hope this helps a bit.......Chef Bill


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## capecodchef

ChefBillyB said:


> Hey Chef, I never had use for Sous Vide in my business, I use it at home. The whole point is to cook the breast Sous Vide and then dredge it in ice water to keep it from cooking and cooling it down fast. Most restaurants will start with a few of each Sous Vide menu Items and then add to it as the night going on. The Chicken breast would already be cooked, the front line process is just taking the warmed Chix breast and finishing it in a pan for service. The quality of the breast will be the same as it was when it was first cooked. If you were doing a pork belly Sous Vide, it would be cooked for two or three days and then cut and fried to order. So, to make a long story short. You are fully cooking food then reheating and finishing without losing any quality in the item. I like to do Sous Vide for Dbl cut pork chops, you know how long it would take from start to finish on a front line. If you did it Sous Vide it would be fully cooked and then put in a water bath on the line waiting for service. It can then be flame broiled or pan glazed when ordered. The other thing Sous Vide does for you is it gives you a constant temp cooking source. If you were doing a poached egg in a pan on the stove the temp of water will change and is hard to keep at a steady temp. I hope this helps a bit.......Chef Bill


Thanks for the reply ChefBilly. I understand the concept, it's the details that are a bit befuddling. from what I've read, a boneless breast takes about an hour at 146 degrees. Depending on the source, it says you can hold from 1 to up to 4 hours before the meat starts to break down and turn to mush. If you pull it once it's cooked, and ice bathe it, do you reheat back in the water for service? Or is the finishing process enough to get it back to heat? Can you hold it for longer if the water temp is brought down to a lower temp? If you don't sell it after holding it for several hours, is now waste?

Sorry, I just don't have lots of time for trial and error, and these are questions I don't see much info for on-line. Everything I find is geared toward the home cook.


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## chefbillyb

CapeCodChef said:


> Thanks for the reply ChefBilly. I understand the concept, it's the details that are a bit befuddling. from what I've read, a boneless breast takes about an hour at 146 degrees. Depending on the source, it says you can hold from 1 to up to 4 hours before the meat starts to break down and turn to mush. If you pull it once it's cooked, and ice bathe it, do you reheat back in the water for service? Or is the finishing process enough to get it back to heat? Can you hold it for longer if the water temp is brought down to a lower temp? If you don't sell it after holding it for several hours, is now waste?
> 
> Sorry, I just don't have lots of time for trial and error, and these are questions I don't see much info for on-line. Everything I find is geared toward the home cook.






kenthachef
Line Cook



We sous vide so many things where I work. Everything from chicken, scallops, shrimp and lobsters all the way to New York Strips and Dry Aged Ribeyes. Even some veg like asparagus and baby carrots. Veg usually at higher temp, shorter time. We are the only restaurant around where I am that does sous vide cooking. For our larger steaks such as our 21oz veal chops we drop it in a tank slightly lower than it was cooked in until it is up to temp then take it out and sear it in a bag. Others like our new York Strip get a nice sear on the cast iron flattop.

We also sous vide bratwurst for our Currywurst at lunch. Off the chain. In fact almost everything I have had sous vide is out of this world. Bone in 14oz Berkshire porkchop sous vide with bacon fat! Out of this world.

Chef, I would PM "Kenthachef" It looks like they do many items Sous Vide and would be able to give you a better person to answer your questions. My knowledge is more for home use and have never used it in the areas in question.........Take care.........Chef Bill


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## whm3223

CapeCodChef said:


> Thanks for the reply ChefBilly. I understand the concept, it's the details that are a bit befuddling. from what I've read, a boneless breast takes about an hour at 146 degrees. Depending on the source, it says you can hold from 1 to up to 4 hours before the meat starts to break down and turn to mush. If you pull it once it's cooked, and ice bathe it, do you reheat back in the water for service? Or is the finishing process enough to get it back to heat? Can you hold it for longer if the water temp is brought down to a lower temp? If you don't sell it after holding it for several hours, is now waste?
> 
> Sorry, I just don't have lots of time for trial and error, and these are questions I don't see much info for on-line. Everything I find is geared toward the home cook.


I have these same questions, if anyone (like Kenthachef) wouldn't mind weighing in. I'm involved in a startup and we're strongly considering basing our meat production around sous vide. I'm sure it would be of general help to have these answers posted publicly, rather than in PMs.


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## someday

Usually you warm the already cooked protein in a lower bath than you cooked it at. For example, if you cooked your chicken breast at 145, you would then, for service, have a bath on your station set to, say, 125, or 130, that you would place proteins in in order to warm. This would work for almost all your proteins, so your beef, chicken, lamb, etc can all be warmed up in the same bath for service, even if they are cooked at different temps during prep time. Then, on fire/pickup, you remove from package, season, and sear or grill or whatever. 

Some things, like fish/shellfish, are better done a la minute and can usually be cooked in a reasonable time from order to fire. 

For things that would take a long time to get to warm temp (double pork chops, large cuts of beef, etc) you can place them in the bath in batches throughout the night, trying to stay as close to possible for usage so you don't go over too much.


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## phaedrus

There are lots of reasons to _sous vide_ stuff, some good and some not so good- and some of the reasons overlap. The first reason is for convenience. You can do things that take a long time by first cooking them _sous vide_ and chilling them, then retherming them when you need them. The next is safety. You can do stuff to pasteurize, achieving a 6D or so reduction in the bacteria. Good candidates are eggs and chicken; you do eggs and still leave them raw-looking in order to use "raw" eggs in stuff like salad dressings and desserts while making them less risky for immune-compromised individuals. And you can do chicken breasts @ 140 for around 3-4 hours to keep them juicy while insuring they're be "done" on the place. This is handy for stuff like bone-in chicken to ensure it's done all the way to the bone. Lastly you use _sous vide _to achieve effects impossible to attain in any other way. One good example is brisket that looks medium rare that's fork tender. This take around 72 hours @ 130 F but the results are amazing.

Most stuff can be held for quite a while without loss of quality provided you don't go too high in temp. Above 140-ish you have a tighter window but this of course depends on what you're cooking. Brisket will hold better than a lobster tail for example. Very delicate stuff like seafood doesn't hold very well. With those items you're better off serving right out of the circulator or doing a cook/chill and retherming later.

With steaks and chops I would aim for cooking them to 130 F or just slightly above then keeping the holding time to just a few hours or less. If it becomes apparent that you won't use them you just shock them and retherm them later. Note that you must be as diligent at cooling as you are at cooking. Think "properly prepared ice bath"- try to get the internal temp of the food down to 32-ish as rapidly as possible, for safely but even more for quality.

I can't think of a lot of times I'd hold a chicken breast in the tank. Generally I'd probably just sear & serve 'em. Depends on the situation of course. _Sous vide_ is nice for cooking chicken that will be used cold (chicken salad, etc). It works great to do steaks in batches and sear them as you need them. I mark the bags with the time when I throw them in the tank, then go FIFO when serving them. If you're doing them at 131 F or so you will get edge-to-edge doneness in around an hour or a bit less for typical sized of steaks served in restaurants. A Chateaubriand would be a bit longer, natch.


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## capecodchef

Okay, so lets take boneless chicken breast as a specific example.... 45 mins. at 145 degrees. It's now fully cooked awaiting finishing. Give it an ice bath to cool quickly and into the walk in. Lunch service starts at 11:30 , so put back into immersion bath at 11:00 at 125 degrees? Pull and finish as orders come in. Will it hold okay through 2 pm, end of lunch if it's a slow day? If so, can you recool and reheat next day or is it now cat food consistency?

We're a short order kitchen with a quality component not normally found in our niche, yet we still, if possible, need  fast 5-7 min. ticket times during busy times to get the turnover we need to make the whole place work. Currently, chicken from fresh marinade to grill takes 10-12 mins. and sometimes gets dried out from over cooking. Sous vide would seem to solve that issue and improve our ticket time. Do I have my details correct?


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## flipflopgirl

How safe is a product that has been sous vide for hours then chilled and plopped back into the warm water to hold for service?

Will the simple act of tossing in a hot pan (or on a grill to mark) negate the window of time safety rule?

I worry most about toxins as the initial cooking bath has most likely killed most of the bacteria.

Most likely....because if just one clostridium bacteria (thrives in absence of air) remains alive it is a huge problem....no?

Not being snarky....really having a problem here.

Can someone plz explain?

mimi


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## phaedrus

flipflopgirl said:


> How safe is a product that has been sous vide for hours then chilled and plopped back into the warm water to hold for service?
> 
> Will the simple act of tossing in a hot pan (or on a grill to mark) negate the window of time safety rule?
> 
> I worry most about toxins as the initial cooking bath has most likely killed most of the bacteria.
> 
> Most likely....because if just one clostridium bacteria (thrives in absence of air) remains alive it is a huge problem....no?
> 
> Not being snarky....really having a problem here.
> 
> Can someone plz explain?
> 
> mimi


Sure. Again assuming you have cooked the food long enough to pasteurize it then you already have a 6D reduction in the amount of pathogens. Let's take the example a little past _sous vide_ to actually pressure canning. Once the food has been sterilized in the jar (let's say an hour at a couple atmospheres @ 235 degrees) virtually nothing is left alive in the can/jar. At that point you can heat the can, chill the can, whatever- it's safe so long as you don't break the seal. Once you do then new bacteria can get at the food and start spoiling it. Basically that's what negates the "window of time" safety- breaking the bag and reintroducing bacteria. Of course if you put the cooked food in the glove box of your car over the weekend during the summer it will spoil! That's because a 6D reduction kills most of the bacteria but the very few that survive will reproduce given enough time. [Note: Health departments are generally using out of date information- http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/complex-origins-food-safety-rules/ ]

With something like botulism you can kill all of the bacteria but still be poisoned by the spores they produced while alive- it takes intense heat to break down toxins already produced. The whole aerobic/anaerobic thing is kind of a red herring anyway with _sous vide_ since no commercially available machine can remove all the air. Usually 25% or more of the air still remains.

If you cook it long enough to pasteurize it then you aren't quite as bound to normal times as you would be with raw. Still it's best to shock in very cold water anyway. While a few bacteria will survive they can't really do anything while still in a very hot or very cold environment. So you still want to minimize the time spent in the [legitimate] danger zone of 50-120 F or so.

If you don't cook it long enough to pasteurize then keep the entire time in that danger zone down to the minimum standard acceptable time. For example if you cook a steak for 55 minutes at 130 then you better chill it as rapidly as you can. For the record I don't think it's wise at all to do cook/chill unless you're pasteurizing the food.


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## flipflopgirl

Thanks P .... the home canning analogy was perfect as that is something I understand and can relate to.

I knew the answer had to be simple but just couldn't suss it out.

So much of what is out there in blogs (and personal opinion FAQ's) is not trustworthy IMO.

Trying to make sense of the rest (gov rules and data) is near impossible to understand (and I have a degree in science lol).

So like home canned, high pH foods it is perfectly safe (unless of course I leave the item in the car during the middle of a Texas summer ;-)

Thanks again.....

mimi


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## phaedrus

Yeah, it's not shelf stable but it will keep a lot longer.  Once pasteurized you can keep it refridgerated for a month.


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## dave s

CapeCodChef, you may want to look into Cvap machines and the advanced staging techniques as well.

I havent installed it yet, but I just bought a used warming cabinet to pre-stage burgers for a high volume operation.


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## chef scoots

We plan to do 1/2 chickens for both a dish and ton pull for tacos, nachos and quesadilla, also planning on pork pabil(loin) and pastor(diced loin) for tacos and stuffed chicken breast
Could I sous vide all these items?


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## someday

chef scoots said:


> We plan to do 1/2 chickens for both a dish and ton pull for tacos, nachos and quesadilla, also planning on pork pabil(loin) and pastor(diced loin) for tacos and stuffed chicken breast
> Could I sous vide all these items?


I don't see why not. I'm not sure about 1/2 chickens, generally with sous vide you want to take advantage of exact temps...since chicken white meat and dark meat are ideal at different temperatures, you might lose some of the benefit of sous vide if you cook them both together. I'm not saying its not possible, but one way or the other you'll be compromising.

My suggestion would be to separate the two meats so you can take maximum advantage of the process.

Pork loin should be excellent sous vide. Stuffed chicken breast would probably work, but depending on what you stuff it with you have to pay attention to pasteurization times and core temps with that.


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## peristeri62

I am setting at Farmers Markets and I want to sell the sous vide steaks. Can I sell them frozen and the customer will thaw them and sear them before eating them?


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## someday

peristeri62 said:


> I am setting at Farmers Markets and I want to sell the sous vide steaks. Can I sell them frozen and the customer will thaw them and sear them before eating them?


You want to sell already cooked sous vide steaks??

I don't know about that. Have you done research enough to know that you wouldn't be breaking any laws or anything by doing it? Even with home stead laws and all that, you might run into problems with the health department if you try and sell stuff. Most health departments don't like vacuum bags, especially from places that aren't commercial food prepare facilities.

I guess I don't understand why you would sell already cooked steaks to someone. You have to trust that when they reheat it they aren't going to overcook it in the pan...

I dunno, seems...like a messy idea.


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## phaedrus

I don't know the laws of KY. Here in MN you'd need a HACCP plan for the circulator and the vacuum sealer, not sure about selling them off site. But as long as the legalities are sussed out there's no reason it couldn't work. Personally I'd rather _sous vide_ them and chill them, selling them chilled but not frozen. I think the quality would be better. But it would work okay to freeze them if necessary.


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## someday

That is all true, but what about reheating them for whomever buys them? The point of sous vide is obviously to get really precise cooking, if we are trusting home cooks to properly reheat a sous vide steak by using a pan what is the point?


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## phaedrus

Well, obviously one won't get the best results at home without any equipment. But it can still be useful to retherm an home that was cooked _sous vide_. One example would be flank steak; one could _sous vide_ it off site for eight hours @ 130 to pasteurize it and to make it extremely tender, then retherm it in any way you like at home and get a nice tender piece of steak. Tougher cuts are better suited to this notion than something like a filet or ribeye.


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## flipflopgirl

peristeri62 said:


> I am setting at Farmers Markets and I want to sell the sous vide steaks. Can I sell them frozen and the customer will thaw them and sear them before eating them?


The majority of regular FM customers in my area are busy professionals who IMO would find this attractive.

They are career driven and work long hours (and order takeout most of the time).

So they are hitting the FMs in order to pick up a few ingredients for weekend dinners.

Don't know if they would want to pay too much of an upcharge tho.

Have you surveyed your regulars re this potential new product and the higher price tag?

Have you figured out if this would be worth the extra time and effort (not to mention the cost of equipment and bagging materials?)

mimi


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## luis de vence

When I was interning at Restaurant Alto in Caracas, Venezuela, I was introduced to sous vide.

I sous vide Mango for a creamy mango gel, sweet chilies with garlic and coriander root to make savory chili pastes. Cassava and Milk to make a very messy to make, but delicious puree.
We seared magret, cooled and sous vide at 110º C and then shredded the meat for a delicious magret confit in rum and coffee sauce. We sous vide snapper fillet and finished them off on the flat top.

Baby onions confit in brown sugar. One of the messiest and most aromatic preparations was the egg sac of the llisa fish sous vide with garlic, coriander root, sweet chilies, and olive oil. It was then passed through a sieve and mixed with sweet chili paste.

Sous vide cooking is definitely innovative, it may not work for everything but it does work for some things. From moisture retention to absolute temperature control or the ability to have 30-40 proteins ready for service, I think sous vide cooking is here to stay.


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## peristeri62

Mimi, I am still in the process of doing what you just said; checking the high cost, the equipment and my market. My first big farmers market is the 14th May, I will ask my regulars and go from there.

Thanks


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## peristeri62

Checking and testing all legal ways. I will post later


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## thepot

Hi everyone.

I am diving into a new endevour, and if anyone is willing, please share your best practicies, in order for me not to drawn.

Couple of words about me- 18 years in the cruise line industry, last 5 working as a Maitre'd, on the rivers in Europe. Never worked as a chef though. Settling back on land, I found really good offer to rent a fully equipped restaurant with high end equipment including professional sous vide machine and vaccuum machine.

 Now, planning strategies, making recipies with Chefs- friends from the cruise lines, it looks like noone really knows much about sous vide, and its practical usage. Skilled stuff is very hard to find back home. Ignorance and low professional standards are like plague- everywhere. There are only couple of restaurants I can go, and meet part of my expectations. I've been reading and reading about sous vide, and I find it great way to start the business, but you can't practically think of everything. Things gonna pop up all the way through the journey.

My question is- How practical is for example to cook lets's say 10 kilos of chicken breasts via sous vide and use it for whatever needs- pasta, grilled chicken breast, some asian style chicken, etc. The overproduction will be chilled and refrigerated used later on for lunch pot dishes, and cold salads. How far I gonna be from the original recepie making chicken adobo or chicken satay, or fried chicken nuggets or anything, just finishing the sous vide product, with the corresponding sous, or technique? Also- what are the juices from the bag best for?

Thank you all.


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## flipflopgirl

@thepot welcome to Chef Talk !
The archives are full of great discussions on your topic.
Try digging thru those and then if you need to clarify start a new thread.
Sometimes questions get swallowed up when tacked onto an older discussion.

mimi


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## someday

manavatmix said:


> When I got started with sous vide, I was just experimenting & ended up building my own DIY machine. Below are some details of how I did it.
> 
> I took my existing stainless steel warm bain marie and used aquarium filters and digital thermometers as cut off devices.
> 
> Using an aquarium impeller with a temperature probe was just about $300 for 1000 gallons of water circulation per hour and a thermostat cost about $45. This can let you substitute an immersion device at a fraction of a cost.
> 
> Do note: the thermostat controls the heat range and water circulation is on throughout. Better the water circulation, better the results and uniformity of cooking.
> 
> I hope this helps someone looking to get started with sous vide!


You can get circulators for under $200 now, I don't really see the benefit of building your own.


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## thepot

manavatmix said:


> When I got started with sous vide, I was just experimenting & ended up building my own DIY machine. Below are some details of how I did it.
> 
> I took my existing stainless steel warm bain marie and used aquarium filters and digital thermometers as cut off devices.
> 
> Using an aquarium impeller with a temperature probe was just about $300 for 1000 gallons of water circulation per hour and a thermostat cost about $45. This can let you substitute an immersion device at a fraction of a cost.
> 
> Do note: the thermostat controls the heat range and water circulation is on throughout. Better the water circulation, better the results and uniformity of cooking.
> 
> I hope this helps someone looking to get started with sous vide!


That is a way to get started, but sounds like - uh, no. I started with a beer box and a silicon hot water bottle at 90c. It kept 65c for about four hours within 1 degree difference. Kicking it from time to time to make waves...


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## qiuyeah

alaminute said:


> We've done petite filets sous vide at my place for years. First we clean and portion the steaks and then put the raw meat in the vacuum bag -4 10 oz portions per bag- with a little butter, thyme and garlic for aromatics. Then drop two to four bags in your bath at a time at 117 degrees f for at least an hour before pick up- longer is better as it will help break the meat down slightly. To pick up, open the bag one at a time and season and sear your steaks. Since the steaks are already 117 degrees when you start, after the seat they reach an internal temp of around135-140 or a nice rare steak. Then it only takes a minute in the oven for mr, two for medium and about three for mid well. The steaks are better because they've been slowly cooked essentially in aromatics before being pushed to the exact temp. Gauge how many steaks you'll use depending on the night and never try to put more than four bags or so in at once. As you pull some just cycle more in behind as you feel you'll need. At the end of service simply place any remaining bags in an ice bath- they will be safe to reheat the same way at least once and as long as you watch how many bags you drop you should never have to reheat more than once.


 hi, like the way you cook the filets. Just want to ask

how long meat can sous vide in 117 degree? is 12 hours going to be ok?

"takes a minute in the oven for mr, two for medium and about three for mid well." Can I ask how hot is the oven? for me it seem cooking very quick.

Thanks


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## stevepark

I has anyone heard of any good machines that can cook sous vide large scale like doing 100 steak in one day ?


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