# Sous Vide Question



## jimmer (Dec 4, 2016)

I got an Inkbird Sous Vide to try it out. I've been curious for a while.

I started with eggs, setting it for 63°C to get a soft egg, what the charts suggested. After an hour, I cracked the egg, and the white was runny, still quite liquid.

I bumped the thermostat to 65° (149°F). After 15 minutes, still liquid.

I shound say I'm very near sea level, if that matters, and I double checked with my thermapen— yep, 65° C on the button.

Can anyone suggest what's going on? Of course, I'm going to bump the temperature until they come out right, but it seems that eggs should come up 2° when in warmer water for that long. Unless the charts are off. Or is there some secret to sous vide I don't know? (trick question. I'm sure there's a lot)


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

https://www.seriouseats.com/2013/10/sous-vide-101-all-about-eggs.html
It looks like those temps don't set the "runny" part of the white.


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## phaedrus (Dec 23, 2004)

The perfect yoke is about 6 degrees F lower than the perfect white. The best approach I've found is to _sous vide_ the egg at the right temp for the yolk, then dip it briefly in hotter water to set the white. My method is to take 3 oz-ish ramekin, stick plastic wrap down in it, spray with a touch of cooking spray, crack the egg into it and tie off the top into a purse.


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## jimmer (Dec 4, 2016)

Thanks for the tips, phaedrus. I was confused and thought it was the other way around, so I was surprised when my yolks were set and whites still runny.

Great idea about how to contain the egg. I'll give it a shot today.

Shame someone doesn't make big short rubbers to hold the eggs, that would be handy.


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## someday (Aug 15, 2003)

One thing to keep in mind with sous vide eggs, there are actually 2 different types of egg "white" in the shell....there is a part of the white that remains runny and loose up until about 158-163f. If you crack a fresh egg on a plate or in a bowl you can actually see the 2 types of white...one is firmer and hugs the yolk, the other is almost watery and is noticeable around the edges. The older an egg is the more "loose" white it has.

Like I said, the "loose" part of the white won't ever set until you get to hard boiled egg texture.

I've found that draining the egg on a slotted spoon over a paper towel or (like phaedrus said) a quick dip in water. Usually that runny white part just slides off or through a slotted spoon though.

You don't often want to crack a sous vide egg right onto/into what you're serving, best to drain first.

EDIT: actually, here is a link to serious eats sous vide egg primer, which does a better job (with pictures) of describing what I was talking about Sous vide egg primer


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## fatcook (Apr 25, 2017)

Have you tried the higher temperature for less time ( 75C for 15ish minutes)? 

Unless you are using sous vide to hold for service, in which case that wouldn't work.


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## sgsvirgil (Mar 1, 2017)

Back in my day, sous vide eggs were called either "poached" (no shell) or "boiled" (in shell).


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## jimmer (Dec 4, 2016)

sgsvirgil, maybe I should back off to say this: We are looking for a better way to make poached eggs, so we can offer them in our small restaurant on busy weekend mornings. We had been poaching, then holding in ice water. The eggs came out raggedy, and sometimes contained water— kinda yucky. We tried getting absolutely fresh eggs from a farmer, but that did not help. I got the sous vide hoping it would make things easier, and we are still in the middle of experimenting.

So far, it seems there are a couple approaches that may help us for our setup. Phaedrus' suggestion of eggs in plastic wrap and Someday's hint of discarding extra uncooked egg white. Phatsh's and Someday's article was excellent (eggcellent?) in giving a lot of info about what's actually going on with the egg. I haven't digested all the info yet, and have not had the time to fully explore all the ideas. Fatcook's idea also works well, essentially softboiling the eggs at a precise temp and time. 

I'm really grateful for all the help, it's put us on a good track.


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## sgsvirgil (Mar 1, 2017)

jimmer said:


> sgsvirgil, maybe I should back off to say this: We are looking for a better way to make poached eggs, so we can offer them in our small restaurant on busy weekend mornings. We had been poaching, then holding in ice water. The eggs came out raggedy, and sometimes contained water- kinda yucky. We tried getting absolutely fresh eggs from a farmer, but that did not help. I got the sous vide hoping it would make things easier, and we are still in the middle of experimenting.
> 
> So far, it seems there are a couple approaches that may help us for our setup. Phaedrus' suggestion of eggs in plastic wrap and Someday's hint of discarding extra uncooked egg white. Phatsh's and Someday's article was excellent (eggcellent?) in giving a lot of info about what's actually going on with the egg. I haven't digested all the info yet, and have not had the time to fully explore all the ideas. Fatcook's idea also works well, essentially softboiling the eggs at a precise temp and time.
> 
> I'm really grateful for all the help, it's put us on a good track.


Let's hope so. But, is sous vide really the best solution for poaching eggs? Back in the day when I used to do brunches, we would push through on average 250 to 300 poached eggs per brunch. That's during a brunch that lasted from 11am to 1:30pm. We did it by keeping it simple. A poached egg takes 4 minutes if the eggs are room temperature. So, as part of the prep, we put out the eggs so they could come up to room temp. Next, I would put two people on the eggs. We would poach the eggs in a large saute pan that had a star shaped insert that divided the pan into 8 sections. On busy days, we would have up to 3 of these pans going at once and two people handling the eggs. That's 18 poached eggs every 4 minutes or so, all done to order so there was no holding.

I think you're going to find that the key to a properly poached egg is in the temperature of the water. It has to be a shade under boiling for the egg to cook properly. The yolk and the whites are going to cook at different rates given their differences in density. The hot water ensures that the white, which is mostly water to begin with, cooks as quickly as possible without overcooking the yolk that is insulated by the yolk. By the time the white is thoroughly cooked, the yolk has been heated sufficiently to serve. Et viola!

The relatively low temps used in sous vide are not going to cook the egg properly nor will it solve your time issues. If you increase the temperature of the sous vide to just below boiling, you may as well just poach the eggs in the traditional method.

Cheers!


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## someday (Aug 15, 2003)

Furthering my advice, I wouldn't take tips on sous vide from people that have no idea what they're talking about (with regards to sous vide). You'll find people on here will denigrate sous vide for no other reason than they don't properly understand it's utilization in the professional kitchen. 

You can pre-cook/poach as many eggs as you want several days before, then keep them in a holding bath for service. If you go through a 1000 eggs a week you can cook a thousand eggs at once for the week (assuming you have the appropriate space and circulators)

You can cook them at a low enough temperature so that they won't cook at all (still be raw looking/tasting) but they will become pasteurized for things like aioli and mayonnaise for immunocompromised people. 

No futzing with water temp, no burner space being monopolized by 2-3 rondeaus, no feathering, no comets, no overcooking, no labor cost to pay someone to stand over a pot of simmering water for minutes/hours poaching eggs in advance. Easy peasy. 

I used to be the chef of a medium size restaurant that ran a very successful and busy brunch on Saturday and Sunday mornings...we used sous vide for our eggs. It worked like a charm. The key is to dial in your cooking method (i.e. the time/temp that works best for you, your menu, and your guests) and drain the loose whites before they hit the plate. 

We kept a pot of poaching water for people that wanted eggs poached medium or hard...but really all we had to do was crack our sous vide eggs into that. Took up one burner for service. 

Feel free to PM me if you need/want any further specifics.


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## chefross (May 5, 2010)

Thanks Someday....Used to do just that during Sunday brunch. Egg Benny for 500 to 800. We poached 750 eggs on Saturday and placed them in ice water.


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## Chef Piya (Dec 13, 2020)

you are playing with Salmonella, I don't think it's worth to spend time for sous-vide eggs, suggesting you the tradition way. or use silicone mold for Combi-Oven. I am having average breakfast eater of 200+, and we cook them fresh.


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

Chef Piya, pasteurization is a time and temp curve. It seems you're used to the instant pasteurization of higher temperatures for salmonella. But longer times and lower temperatures can also work.


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## sgsvirgil (Mar 1, 2017)

phatch said:


> Chef Piya, pasteurization is a time and temp curve. It seems you're used to the instant pasteurization of higher temperatures for salmonella. But longer times and lower temperatures can also work.


Are those times expressed in that graph realistic when it comes to eggs?


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

The ground beef for salmonella would be similar for eggs. But it's not just putting eggs in 135 degree water for 27 minutes. The timing starts when the egg is at that temperature. According to serious eats, that's about 40 minutes. So you're looking at 70ish minutes for a refrigerated egg. Anova, who sell sous vide recomment 90 minutes at 135.


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## sgsvirgil (Mar 1, 2017)

And how would this sort of time requirement be factored into a busy kitchen during brunch as compared to the poached to order method? What are the differences in factors such as production control, purchasing, prep etc. 

At first blush, it would seem that the most crucial aspect would be having enough of these eggs prepped in advance to accommodate orders, no?


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## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

.

*WOW.*


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## sgsvirgil (Mar 1, 2017)

I will answer my own question. The problems presented by sous vide eggs far outstrip any meager benefit that it may provide. The logistics in terms of prep time, kitchen resource consumption and manpower renders the use of the sous vide technique utterly impossible in a busy kitchen during a brunch or breakfast service. To compound the matter, @Chef Piya is right. Sous vide eggs is playing with salmonella and that risk is increased if the eggs are purchased farm to table.

In contrast, an experienced cook can produce poached eggs to order using just conventional pots with dividers at a rate of 16 to 24 eggs every 4 minutes or so depending on the number of pots; more than fast enough to keep up with the busiest of services, not to mention maintaining the necessary food safety standards.

Cheers!


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## someday (Aug 15, 2003)

I see the "back in my day" crowd is out in full force. 

You sous vide the eggs ahead of time...not to order. You can do a few dozen or a few thousand (as long as you have the space), it doesn't matter. Once they are cooked you can hold them for service in large batches for hours if needed. 

If they are handled properly and cooked properly, the sous vide eggs become pasteurized during the sous vide process, making them MORE safe to eat. As Phatch pointed out above, pasteurization is a function of time/temp, not just temperature. 

Sous vide eggs are not necessarily for saving time during service (though it can help with that), but for consistency of product, saving labor and saving space. 

Some of you are spouting off about sous vide from a place of low understanding....if you have never done the technique before in a professional kitchen, why would you come into a thread and spread false and misleading information about it? Especially when you CLEARLY have no f-n idea what you're talking about. 

How can someone say something like "the problems outstrips the benefits" when they haven't done both techniques in order to compare the two in the first place? Someone who had successfully integrated a sous vide SOP into their brunch/breakfast set up wouldn't say that, lol.


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## Seoul Food (Sep 17, 2018)

I don't like sous vide not because I don't understand the concept, but because:

1. It will always feel like boil in a bag to me
2. The cooking times on some of these items are bordering laughable, I meant come on, a hour for a soft poached egg?
3. Some people come off elitist or condescending about it versus traditional cooking methods.


I understand a lot of people like this type of cooking and the results, I don't think it's fair to assume anyone who doesn't is some rube. There's nothing wrong with reinventing the wheel when it comes to some of these methods, just as there is nothing wrong with not wanting to embrace them either.

As for the OP, we used to just poach off eggs either to order, or if you needed a large amount you can either shock and reheat or hold in perforated pans to avoid that watery issue you talked about.


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## sgsvirgil (Mar 1, 2017)

someday said:


> I see the "back in my day" crowd is out in full force.
> 
> You sous vide the eggs ahead of time...not to order. You can do a few dozen or a few thousand (as long as you have the space), it doesn't matter. Once they are cooked you can hold them for service in large batches for hours if needed.
> 
> ...


Just because you disagree with it doesn't mean its false or misleading. For my part, I have plenty of experience with sous vide in my own restaurant. Because we used sous vide, I was responsible for submitting the HACCP plan to the DOH and had to jump through those hoops. So, I know quite a bit about this subject.

There is a good reason why any commercial restaurant that uses sous vide must submit an HACCP plan for approval. This has been law since 2010. This is because sous vide does not utilize high enough temperatures for long enough periods of time to neutralize food born bacteria. Sure, you can hold them long enough, as you've suggested. But, in my first HACCP plan that I submitted, I included that. It was rejected. Is this the way of thing in all states and counties in the US? I don't know. I can't speak to that intelligently. But, I am willing to venture a guess that just as many would reject such a proposal as those who would accept it.

Raw shell eggs and sous vide are a risky combination. There is no amount of attitude or condescension that you can muster that will change this simple truth. From the perspective of an employee, sous vide eggs are trendy. From an owner's perspective, they are a risk and an unnecessary one at that. All it takes is one sick guest to close a restaurant's doors for good.


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## sgsvirgil (Mar 1, 2017)

jimmer said:


> sgsvirgil, maybe I should back off to say this: We are looking for a better way to make poached eggs, so we can offer them in our small restaurant on busy weekend mornings. We had been poaching, then holding in ice water. The eggs came out raggedy, and sometimes contained water- kinda yucky. We tried getting absolutely fresh eggs from a farmer, but that did not help. I got the sous vide hoping it would make things easier, and we are still in the middle of experimenting.
> 
> So far, it seems there are a couple approaches that may help us for our setup. Phaedrus' suggestion of eggs in plastic wrap and Someday's hint of discarding extra uncooked egg white. Phatsh's and Someday's article was excellent (eggcellent?) in giving a lot of info about what's actually going on with the egg. I haven't digested all the info yet, and have not had the time to fully explore all the ideas. Fatcook's idea also works well, essentially softboiling the eggs at a precise temp and time.
> 
> I'm really grateful for all the help, it's put us on a good track.


Yes, there are some good opinions in this thread, some not so good. However, most, if not all, come from the perspective of employees. In my experience, cooking staff tend to embrace what is trendy and not give other factors, such as safety, its due. From an owner's perspective, this presents a point where the wheels can come off.

The bottom line is this. Sous vide shell eggs have an inherent risk that is more elevated than the risks associated with eggs produced by conventional means i.e. poaching, boiling, frying etc. Period. There is no way around this.

As an owner, assuming from your comment that you are the owner, you have to step out of your "cook's shoes" and consider the choice from the perspective of an owner. The most important questions that you have to ask and answer are: _*"Is this worth the additional risk; and is my staff, including myself, capable of ensuring these sous vide products are 100% safe 100% of the time." *_If the answer to either of these questions is anything but an absolute, definite, without a doubt YES, then, perhaps its not a great idea.

Using pasteurized egg products would mitigate the risk involved with sous vide eggs. But, that creates a question of cost. That along with the pro forma disclaimer on your menu about the risks of consuming raw or undercooked eggs is about as "safe" as you can make the process.

Setting aside safety considerations, is sous vide a faster, better method for producing poached eggs? I don't think so, no. Faster? What could be faster than poaching an egg to order in 4 minutes by conventional means? What's the prep for conventionally poached eggs? Heat water. Bring eggs to room temperature. Add eggs to the water. Repeat. You can purchase dividers that fit in your pots that will allow you to poach 4 eggs or more at a time in one pot. You can even look into purchasing an egg poacher, which is really nothing more than a glorified pan, that would allow you to poach 6 or more eggs at a time.

What's the prep for sous vide? Pouches. Timers. Extended cook times to an hour or more. Increased man hours. What happens if you don't sous vide enough eggs ahead of time? Tell your guests that you've run out? Or do you put the pan on the stove and poach them conventionally?

With sous vide, there simply isn't enough flexibility inherent to the process. Eggs that are poached to order eliminates a lot of the guess work. The only limitation is the traditional method limits the number of eggs that can be made at one time. But, that limitation is mitigated by the comparatively short cooking time of 4 minutes or so as compared to the time associated with sous vide.

From a logistical perspective, I would rather produce poached eggs to order conventionally than sous vide a number of eggs in advance, especially if I'm forced to guestimate how many eggs I will need to cover service. Too many, and you're throwing eggs away. Too few and there's not enough time to sous vide more. I suppose the sous vide eggs could be done in batches, but, that requires an even more involved prep process.

As they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Do a dry run with a couple dozen eggs prepped and cooked using both sous vide and conventional methods. Weigh the pros and cons of each. Ask your staff what they think. Make an informed decision.

Good luck and happy holidays!


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## someday (Aug 15, 2003)

You're talking out your behind, buddy. It's not condescension or attitude....you're just WRONG. Again, you don't appear to know what you're talking about related to sous vide. I've written HAACP plans for sous vide as well, that weren't rejected...

A properly sous vide egg (say, once cooked at 145f for 1 hour) *I**S **PASTREURIZE**D *and 100% safe to eat. I don't know how to be more clear about that....you don't need to hit 165f to pasteurize chicken (even eggs) if you *HOLD IT AT A LOWER TEMP FOR LONGER*. It is not a food safety issue if basic procedures are followed. This is straight



sgsvirgil said:


> Raw shell eggs and sous vide are a risky combination. There is no amount of attitude or condescension that you can muster that will change this simple truth. From the perspective of an employee, sous vide eggs are trendy. From an owner's perspective, they are a risk and an unnecessary one at that. All it takes is one sick guest to close a restaurant's doors for good.


Explain to me in detail how a sous vide egg is "unsafe" or "risky." I saw sous vide being done 15 years ago....how is that "trendy?" It's not a trend, it's here to stay.



sgsvirgil said:


> _*"Is this worth the additional risk; and is my staff, including myself, capable of ensuring these sous vide products are 100% safe 100% of the time." *_If the answer to either of these questions is anything but an absolute, definite, without a doubt YES, then, perhaps its not a great idea.


How do you ensure that a non sous vide product is 100% safe 100% of the time? Is that a metric you apply to other cooking methods and products? If I hired you as a chef for my restaurant, I could get it in writing from you that you would only serve "100% safe 100% of the time" products? How would you guarantee that?

A mistreated steak or chicken breast would be just as liable to get me sick as an egg.



sgsvirgil said:


> Using pasteurized egg products would mitigate the risk involved with sous vide eggs. But, that creates a question of cost. That along with the pro forma disclaimer on your menu about the risks of consuming raw or undercooked eggs is about as "safe" as you can make the process.


Sous vide pasteurizes the eggs as it cooks them....horrible point, unless you meant to agree with me?



sgsvirgil said:


> Setting aside safety considerations, is sous vide a faster, better method for producing poached eggs? I don't think so, no. Faster? What could be faster than poaching an egg to order in 4 minutes by conventional means? What's the prep for conventionally poached eggs? Heat water. Bring eggs to room temperature. Add eggs to the water. Repeat. You can purchase dividers that fit in your pots that will allow you to poach 4 eggs or more at a time in one pot. You can even look into purchasing an egg poacher, which is really nothing more than a glorified pan, that would allow you to poach 6 or more eggs at a time.
> 
> What's the prep for sous vide? Pouches. Timers. Extended cook times to an hour or more. Increased man hours. What happens if you don't sous vide enough eggs ahead of time? Tell your guests that you've run out? Or do you put the pan on the stove and poach them conventionally?
> 
> With sous vide, there simply isn't enough flexibility inherent to the process. Eggs that are poached to order eliminates a lot of the guess work. The only limitation is the traditional method limits the number of eggs that can be made at one time. But, that limitation is mitigated by the comparatively short cooking time of 4 minutes or so as compared to the time associated with sous vide.


There are no safety considerations to set aside, again, you don't know what you're talking about. It's embarrassing. You don't even need to take my word for it, all this info can be verified doing a quick google search.

You said earlier to had to have 2 guys on the line poaching eggs...what if you had to have 0 guys on the line poaching eggs? What if your eggs are already poached, hot, and ready to crack on a plate the second an order comes in? 0 seconds is faster than 4 minutes, last time I checked.

Also, if you're talking about POUCHES for sous vide eggs....Jesus. You're only proving my point about not having a clue what you're talking about. No wonder you're HAACP plan didn't get approved.

What happens if you run out of sous vide eggs? My dude, you're the one here talking about how easy it is to poach eggs to order...if you run out, set up a pot real quick. Lol.

I've got no issues of you promoting a different viewpoint or sharing your experience...no one thing ever fits every situation, and it's good for OP to see different ideas...but yeah, I draw the line at blatantly false information.


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## sgsvirgil (Mar 1, 2017)

Once again, you've either missed the point or you're being deliberately obtuse. Dealer's choice.

The HACCP plan that I submitted contained the exact same procedure that you outlined. It was rejected based solely on that section alone. Perhaps you would like to argue the point with the DOH? I don't know. Please....be my guest.

I know quite a few restaurant owners and head chefs. Few, if any, sous vide eggs. Its just not the first choice precisely because there are too many points where the process could break down. Does this mean their headstrong cooks didn't recommend it? No. I'm sure they did. But, they didn't take it on for the simple reasons that it was logistically cumbersome and contained an inherently elevated risk. I don't care what you say, kitchen staff love to cut corners, especially when rushed. That relocates the sous vide egg process a potential disaster looking for a place to happen.

Are eggs pasteurized of held at 145'f for an hour? Sure. But, again, you're not looking at it from a perspective other than your own, which is obviously that of an employee.. That's 1 hour spent just trying to make the eggs safe to eat. Dump the damn thing in hot water, set the timer to 4 minutes and move on to the next ticket. That's what you're not getting. Sous vide eggs are the bottleneck. What's the one thing we go out of our way to eliminate in a busy kitchen? Bottlenecks.

So, the validity of your entire point is the reliance upon kitchen staff to get the sous vide thing right 100% of the time without fail. My point is that I know better than to rely on that. Even the best kitchen staff f*cks up every now and then. What if those eggs are only held at 145'f for 40 minutes instead of 60? Or what if they meant to set it at 145'f but, set it to 125'f by accident? Human error is a thing. Employees forget to set timers. They set the wrong temperatures. They sometimes forget to wash their hands at the beginning of shift or after their break. They touch their noses, eyes or mouths and continue to handle food. They eat while working. They forget to put on gloves. The list is endless. And you're telling me that its inconceivable in your perfect world that this precise process such as this that involves sous vide eggs isn't vulnerable human error?

You also neglected to understand that I gave the OP my opinion from the perspective of an owner because it appears the OP is an owner, or he's in charge of the kitchen. Either way.......

There are safety considerations involved with sous vide that are inherent to it otherwise, there would be no need to for the submission of an HACCP plan from chefs and owners who use sous vide in their kitchens. Period. If you trying to tell me there is no inherent risk associated with placing food known to contain salmonella in a condom and soak it in warm water, then, I don't know what to tell you. This is fundamental food safety 101. Like I said, it only takes one prep cook with a hangover or who is high to mess it up. But, I suppose in your world, everyone you've ever worked with was a celebrity chef who never showed up to work hungover or high, right? No one made mistakes and god forbid, no one ever f*cked up the sous vide. Right?

You talk like a person whose only impression of this profession is that nothing ever goes wrong. You know damn well its the exact opposite and if you don't know that, then you've never worked in a professional kitchen a day in your life.

The only person who is embarrassing themselves here is you with your astonishingly poor attitude and caustic personality. Make better choices.


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## phaedrus (Dec 23, 2004)

There's your problem, sgsvirgil- if you cook in a condom you have to use an unlubricated type!:emoji_astonished::lol: I'm sorry you've had such bad luck with sous vide but I've done it pretty much like someday and it's worked great for me.:emoji_cooking:


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## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

[JUSTIFY]OK ... I'm going with sgsyvirgil on this idea based on that I don't see any time/work/effort value added from doing susie veed eggs. Any regular decent cook should be able to knock out at least 10 in 6 or so minutes. I do it in shelter kitchens using the workers there that I've simply trained myself.

We use a shallow steam-table tray over 2 burners. You can easily buy silicone rings for eggs like they use at _Mickey D's_ ... or use tuna can rings like I do. ... Get the water hot ... swirl the water in the can with a butter knife ... drop in the egg ... let it cook ... removed and use/serve.

You can also easily make poached eggs by using _"Chef Mike"_. ... Half a cup water in a coffee cup. Drop in the egg. Cover cup w/ saucer. Zap for needed time. Remove and use/serve. The only trick here is determining the timing needed based on power and number of eggs. That takes a little practice.

Now like I'v said countless times here before ... _"We work in kitchens. ... It ain'te rocket surgery."._ [/JUSTIFY]


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## sgsvirgil (Mar 1, 2017)

phaedrus said:


> There's your problem, sgsvirgil- if you cook in a condom you have to use an unlubricated type!:emoji_astonished::lol: I'm sorry you've had such bad luck with sous vide but I've done it pretty much like someday and it's worked great for me.:emoji_cooking:


And all this time, I thought those little swirly thingies were uncooked egg white! 

Its not that I had bad luck. To my eye, there were too many points where the process could break down that could cause much bigger problems and those problems could pose undue risk. I'm not saying that my observations are the be all/end all to the sous vide egg issue. But, my observations are, indeed, valid.

Have a Happy Holidays and let's all pray that 2021 brings us the happiness and peace that we all deserve.

Cheers!


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## someday (Aug 15, 2003)

sgsvirgil said:


> Are eggs pasteurized of held at 145'f for an hour? Sure.


That's another way of saying that eggs that are cooked sous vide for 1 hour at 145f are safe to eat.



sgsvirgil said:


> That's 1 hour spent just trying to make the eggs safe to eat. Dump the damn thing in hot water, set the timer to 4 minutes and move on to the next ticket. That's what you're not getting. Sous vide eggs are the bottleneck. What's the one thing we go out of our way to eliminate in a busy kitchen? Bottlenecks.


What? You DON'T STAND OVER THE CONTAINER FOR AN HOUR WATCHING THEM COOK. Are you drunk? There is a machine that keeps the water a steady temperature, you do know that, right? If you can boil an egg you can sous vide an egg, lol. It's not hard.

You've never done sous vide eggs for brunch service, have you? (I know the answer is no, because you wouldn't display the depth of your lack of understanding if you had) How are you even trying to answer this question about SV eggs when you've never even done them before.

I have done them both, professionally. There are drawbacks and advantages to both techniques. But you're "bottleneck" is imaginary. And you'd know that if you'd ever done it before.



sgsvirgil said:


> So, the validity of your entire point is the reliance upon kitchen staff to get the sous vide thing right 100% of the time without fail. My point is that I know better than to rely on that. Even the best kitchen staff f*cks up every now and then. What if those eggs are only held at 145'f for 40 minutes instead of 60? Or what if they meant to set it at 145'f but, set it to 125'f by accident? Human error is a thing.


Ok, so now that we've established and agreed that sous vide eggs cooked properly are pasteurized and safe to eat, now you're moving the goal posts to include....wait for it....HUMAN ERROR. What an INGENIOUS insight...thank you. Hey OP, don't cook eggs at your restaurant because your cooks might mess up sometimes.

Per your example, if a cook either: didn't cook the egg long enough at 145f (40 minutes), OR, only cooked it at 125f instead of 145f, then it would be obvious because the egg wouldn't be right/cooked. An egg cooked at 125f is going to look still raw when you crack it open. There are multiple steps in the QA process, just like how you wouldn't send out an undercooked poached egg to a diner during brunch. 
What if a cook only poaches an egg for 2 minutes instead of 4? What if it's busy in the brunch rush and the water temp drops below 180f? What if one of your cooks undercooks a poached egg and someone gets sick? Human error is a thing, sounds like you don't think poaching eggs is safe. (<---see how insane your argument is?) What fail safes and steps do you take to ensure that 100% of the poached eggs you send out of your kitchen are safe?

I'll ask you again, what technique can you apply in your kitchen for cooking eggs that would eliminate 100% of food safety concerns and 100% of human error, 100% of the time? Or is it just sous vide that you hold to that standard so you can be "right?" on the internet ? Absolutely absurd argument.



sgsvirgil said:


> Employees forget to set timers. They set the wrong temperatures. They sometimes forget to wash their hands at the beginning of shift or after their break. They touch their noses, eyes or mouths and continue to handle food. They eat while working. They forget to put on gloves. The list is endless. And you're telling me that its inconceivable in your perfect world that this precise process such as this that involves sous vide eggs isn't vulnerable human error?


Weak. You keep trying to move the goalposts--now we're not talking about the technique, but cooks making mistakes. LOL.

The things you described above are not specific to sous vide, involve general basic sanitation and safety procedures that should be applied in any kitchen, utilizing any type of techniques.
All those arguments could be made about poaching eggs too.

And the "process" for sous vide eggs isn't really a process. It honestly couldn't be simpler.



sgsvirgil said:


> If you trying to tell me there is no inherent risk associated with placing food known to contain salmonella in a condom and soak it in warm water, then, I don't know what to tell you. This is fundamental food safety 101.


You do know that eggs aren't cooked in a bag, right? This isn't the first time you've brought up bags...as I said, you really shouldn't speak about something that you have NO IDEA what you are talking about. The fact that you even think that eggs are cooked in bags shows me the depth of your lack of understanding.

You should have a fuller understanding of something if you're going to try and speak from a position of knowledge and authority. If you submitted a HAACP plan with bagged eggs no wonder they rejected it because it was clear you have no business even attempting something like this.



sgsvirgil said:


> Like I said, it only takes one prep cook with a hangover or who is high to mess it up. But, I suppose in your world, everyone you've ever worked with was a celebrity chef who never showed up to work hungover or high, right? No one made mistakes and god forbid, no one ever f*cked up the sous vide. Right?
> 
> You talk like a person whose only impression of this profession is that nothing ever goes wrong. You know damn well its the exact opposite and if you don't know that, then you've never worked in a professional kitchen a day in your life.


I have in depth knowledge about the entire process of sous vide, from practical applications to food safety. The steps I outlined for OP would ensure a safe, shelf stable, delicious, consistent product for their kitchen. Of course it's up to the OP to implement procedures to ensure safe food goes out, and to make sure procedures were in accordance to local laws....just as it is for every cook/chef/owner in the world.

I quoted that last part above because I wanted to highlight again how completely bat-sh*t crazy your argument is here. You seem to summarize your argument as...what..? Cooks mess up sometimes?



sgsvirgil said:


> The only person who is embarrassing themselves here is you with your astonishingly poor attitude and caustic personality. Make better choices.


I do have a poor attitude about people spreading false and misleading information about cooking, I agree.

Gotta love it when OP asks specifically about sous vide eggs, and you wander into the thread with your "is sous vide really best way?" and proceed with your "back in my day" rote answer like that is somehow going to help the OP answer their SOUS VIDE EGG question.


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## Seoul Food (Sep 17, 2018)

someday said:


> That's another way of saying that eggs that are cooked sous vide for 1 hour at 145f are safe to eat.
> 
> What? You DON'T STAND OVER THE CONTAINER FOR AN HOUR WATCHING THEM COOK. Are you drunk? There is a machine that keeps the water a steady temperature, you do know that, right? If you can boil an egg you can sous vide an egg, lol. It's not hard.
> 
> ...


I think we're conflating a bunch of different items here. For one, I think the issue being brought about the sous vide eggs being potentially unsafe is the amount of time invested. Yes people can make mistakes but it is a lot harder to screw up a traditionally poached egg and recover than if you had a large batch going only to find it's just been a bacteria farm and you now have nothing for service. When you are poaching an egg traditionally you can look right into the water and tell if you are under cooking or over cooking it. With sous vide you may not find that out until it's way too late to correct. And while you can screw up both methods, correcting a poached egg on the line is a lot easier than ones in a sous vide. I don't think anyone here is arguing that sous vide eggs are not possible, just that is use may not be practical considering all of the extra factors. Added to the fact that we are talking about poached eggs and not some long braised item that may benefit a lot more from this cooking method. There's a million ways to cook things out there and no one has the answer to what is best for everyone, every time. That is something the OP is going to have to decide on their own. So yes, sous vide is possible just as are a number of other cooking methods, I don't think anyone is arguing that, merely the practicality. But it is disingenuous to act like sous vide is infallible and any criticism of it being applied to every cooking situation somehow spreading misinformation. You're going to have people who like it and people who don't, end of story. And honestly from my perspective, if sous vide was some miracle cooking method we would see it a lot more in mainstream rather than places that are charging $50 a plate for a 2 oz. portion of greens and meat.


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## phaedrus (Dec 23, 2004)

sgsvirgil said:


> And all this time, I thought those little swirly thingies were uncooked egg white!


:rofl:

Eggs really aren't the "killer app" for _sous vide_, IMO. I agree it's pretty easy to poach 'em on the stove. I still think the most practical way is to poach them to about 80%, shock 'em in ice water and then slip 'em back into boiling water when you need them.

But_ sous vide_ makes it easier to make the ULITIMATE egg, IMO. It requires two baths though, or one bath and a pan of simmering water. Get a 3oz ramiken, line with plastic and spray with a bit of spray. Crack the egg carefully into it and tie into a purse. Immerse in the bath set to 155 or 156 (whatever temp you like the yoke) for 20 minutes, then dip for a few minutes in simmering water for 4 minutes in a 163 degree bath to set the whites properly.


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## someday (Aug 15, 2003)

Seoul Food said:


> I think we're conflating a bunch of different items here. For one, I think the issue being brought about the sous vide eggs being potentially unsafe is the amount of time invested. Yes people can make mistakes but it is a lot harder to screw up a traditionally poached egg and recover than if you had a large batch going only to find it's just been a bacteria farm and you now have nothing for service.


"bacteria farm?" Lol, guys. Stop with the scare tactics. Sous viding a bunch of eggs is no more difficult than hard boiling a bunch of eggs, you're just dealing with different times and temperatures. Boiling eggs is one of the easiest things you can ever cook, you guys act like it's translating Aramaic into Greek or something.

You guys keep changing the issue here...first it's "unsafe," then it's "human error," and now it's "too much time"

Nobody is conflating anything...

I want to get from point A to point B
I can fly or I can drive
Both have advantages or disadvantages

We can argue advantages vs disadvantages all day, and in good faith.

But if someone is going to argue with me that flying is MORE dangerous than taking a car, I'm going to call it out. Not only is it false, people might read it and get the idea that flying is more dangerous than driving (even though it's well documented not to be)

OK well, maybe flying isn't MORE dangerous, but the pilot might make an error and crash the plane, so flying is still dangerous so you shouldn't fly.

I mean,* I *don't know how to fly a plane, but I do know how to drive, so driving must be safer, right? And I feel qualified speak about it authoritatively, even though I've never flown a plane before.



Seoul Food said:


> And while you can screw up both methods, correcting a poached egg on the line is a lot easier than ones in a sous vide. I don't think anyone here is arguing that sous vide eggs are not possible, just that is use may not be practical considering all of the extra factors. Added to the fact that we are talking about poached eggs and not some long braised item that may benefit a lot more from this cooking method.


I disagree, I think having already cooked, already hot and ready to go (being held in a bath at a constant temp) eggs for brunch or breakfast service is better than having to poach 200-300 eggs a la carte for a busy service.

How would you know if it's practical or not if you've never done it before? The fact is, you actually have no idea if it would be practical or not because you have no frame of reference other than your prejudicial "boil in a bag" "too long" or "seems elitist" opinions.

You know what's easier than poaching eggs? NOT having to poach eggs.



Seoul Food said:


> There's a million ways to cook things out there and no one has the answer to what is best for everyone, every time. That is something the OP is going to have to decide on their own. So yes, sous vide is possible just as are a number of other cooking methods, I don't think anyone is arguing that, merely the practicality. But it is disingenuous to act like sous vide is infallible and any criticism of it being applied to every cooking situation somehow spreading misinformation. You're going to have people who like it and people who don't, end of story.


You're putting words in my mouth--I've never presented SV as infallible or the only/best way of cooking eggs (or anything for that matter)...*THE THREAD IS SPECIFICALLY ABOUT SEEKING ADVICE FOR SOUS VIDE EGGS*...so that's the advice I gave. JFC. I'm trying to make sure the OP has correct information so they have a baseline understanding to learn the rest.



Seoul Food said:


> And honestly from my perspective, if sous vide was some miracle cooking method we would see it a lot more in mainstream rather than places that are charging $50 a plate for a 2 oz. portion of greens and meat.


OK...so you came into a thread specifically about sous vide eggs, posted about how stupid sous vide was, proceeded to give advice along the lines of "don't sous vide, here's how I use to poach eggs"

I know how you feel about sous vide because you say the same things every time it comes up...so I gotta ask, if you feel that way about the method, why bother coming into a thread about it?

But please, tell me again how I'm the disingenuous one...

EDIT: This will probably be my last post, said all I need/want to say, don't know what I'd add to further discussion. If anyone want to continue feel free to PM me. Don't want to continue to hijack the thread, worried it might get locked.


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## Seoul Food (Sep 17, 2018)

someday said:


> "bacteria farm?" Lol, guys. Stop with the scare tactics.


It's not a scare tactic, it's just a fact that bacteria multiply faster in certain temperature ranges, holding potentially hazardous foods in said ranges for extended periods of time will enable that, it's as simple as that.



someday said:


> I want to get from point A to point B
> I can fly or I can drive
> Both have advantages or disadvantages


Exactly, that is all we are saying is that there are advantages and disadvantages to both. The only factor is not if it is safer or not, rather would you take a plane for a trip a car takes in 30 minutes? How about an hour? What is the cut off point? Poaching eggs takes very little time or effort and large scale places have been doing it just fine for years. Again you can sous vide them and no one here is saying you can't, your problem is that when legitimate counter points come up you just brush them off and get defensive and arrogant about it.


someday said:


> *THE THREAD IS SPECIFICALLY ABOUT SEEKING ADVICE FOR SOUS VIDE EGGS*...so that's the advice I gave. JFC. I'm trying to make sure the OP has correct information so they have a baseline understanding to learn the rest.


Yes and when asking a question it is usually the goal of taking in all the information and making an educated informed decision. The OP is asking about sous vide eggs and you are attacking and shooting down any information that is opposite of what you want to say. That is not civil discourse, it's just one sided lectures with false outrage over someone else having any type of opinion besides your own.



someday said:


> OK...so you came into a thread specifically about sous vide eggs, posted about how stupid sous vide was, proceeded to give advice along the lines of "don't sous vide, here's how I use to poach eggs"


Yes I try to check as many posts as I can, to help this community stay afloat and to either help someone of I can or learn something if I can. I really only posted because I wanted to let some of the other posters who you were belittling know that there are other people here with similar thoughts and experiences. The Op asked a question and I gave my thoughts on it, that's how it works here bud and like it or not there are going to be times when people disagree on things. It's your attitude about conflicting opinions that is the real issue here. Again no one here myself included ever said sous vide eggs was impossible, only our opinions about it versus traditional methods. You're the one on the high horse and I hope someday you can learn a little humility.


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## Seoul Food (Sep 17, 2018)

phaedrus said:


> :rofl:
> 
> Eggs really aren't the "killer app" for _sous vide_, IMO. I agree it's pretty easy to poach 'em on the stove. I still think the most practical way is to poach them to about 80%, shock 'em in ice water and then slip 'em back into boiling water when you need them.
> 
> But_ sous vide_ makes it easier to make the ULITIMATE egg, IMO. It requires two baths though, or one bath and a pan of simmering water. Get a 3oz ramiken, line with plastic and spray with a bit of spray. Crack the egg carefully into it and tie into a purse. Immerse in the bath set to 155 or 156 (whatever temp you like the yoke) for 20 minutes, then dip for a few minutes in simmering water for 4 minutes in a 163 degree bath to set the whites properly.


Yep did it that way (the beginning of the post) for years with no problems. Not saying it was the best way but no one was going to shell out the money for sous vide equipment for poached eggs.

I'm sure the eggs coming from this method are great depending on the application. For some fancy dinner or tasting, where you may be using special eggs, sure it would be awesome. But honestly the method you have listed would wasted on a brunch poached egg going on a benedict in my opinion.


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## phaedrus (Dec 23, 2004)

Seoul Food said:


> I'm sure the eggs coming from this method are great depending on the application. For some fancy dinner or tasting, where you may be using special eggs, sure it would be awesome. But honestly the method you have listed would wasted on a brunch poached egg going on a benedict in my opinion.


Fuck no, I'd never do that for customers! :rofl: I should have clarified, that's just for me!


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## someday (Aug 15, 2003)

"bacteria farm" is a scare tactic dude--how can something be a bacteria farm if it kills all the bacteria and pasteurizes the product? Those two things aren't compatible. Also, just to be clear, 145f isn't in the TDZ. (not that it matters, you can pasteurize an egg as low as 135f if you wanted)



Seoul Food said:


> Exactly, that is all we are saying is that there are advantages and disadvantages to both. The only factor is not if it is safer or not, rather would you take a plane for a trip a car takes in 30 minutes? How about an hour? What is the cut off point? Poaching eggs takes very little time or effort and large scale places have been doing it just fine for years. Again you can sous vide them and no one here is saying you can't, your problem is that when legitimate counter points come up you just brush them off and get defensive and arrogant about it.


In your example, I suppose driving for 30 minutes would be "faster" than flying for an hour. Basic math, right? But, what's faster than driving for 30 minutes to my destination?...
...already being there since yesterday. I don't have to drive 30 minutes today because I got all my travel done yesterday. (i.e. I sous vide 500 eggs yesterday so I don't have to poach eggs today) Not having to poach eggs is faster than having to poach eggs, yes?

Legitimate counterpoints? Lol. You can't make legitimate points about something you don't fully understand. I can try and argue with Stephen Hawking (just an analogy, not comparing myself to SH) about theoretical physics but I won't get very far, because I know next to nothing about it. But yeah, I'm still gonna tell him all the "legitimate" points I made, lol.

Your guys' "opinions" are stupid because you're basing them on what you THINK the method for SV eggs is, not what the method *ACTUALLY IS*. So your opinions/legitimate points or whatever you think you are making, are based from a wrong understanding of the FUNDAMENTALS of the process, See the issue here? How can you have legitimate arguments and opinions when your basing them of false information? And then continuing to double down on that info, with the belief that somehow, despite reams of information to the contrary, the world just needs you to opine on a subject that a) you weren't asked about b)you don't understand c) don't really like or respect in the first place.

A few examples of your guys' "legitimate points"
-putting eggs in bags (not part of the process of SV eggs, which you would know if you've done it before). 
-Takes too long (1 hr) to cook an egg during service (you don't SV the eggs during service, it happens well before...which you would know if you've done it before) 
-Too much "manpower" (less manpower than paying people to stand over a rondo and poach eggs) 
-Unsafe/bacteria farm (easily provable false, I'll say again)
-it's too trendy (SV been around since the 70s, prevalent in kitchens since like 2005) 
-logistically cumbersome (only someone who hadn't done that before would say that, because it literally couldn't be easier) 
-not 100% safe or 100% free of human error (what professional cooking method reaches that metric? None...zero)

I'd love for you to point out where I blasted someone for their "opinion" and not for spreading falsehoods.



Seoul Food said:


> It's your attitude about conflicting opinions that is the real issue here. Again no one here myself included ever said sous vide eggs was impossible, only our opinions about it versus traditional methods. You're the one on the high horse and I hope someday you can learn a little humility.


See here, I don't think of it as "conflicting opinions" I think of it as "correcting lies"

I actually think you guys are the ones on your high horses, because somehow you've convinced yourself that your ill informed, easily debunked, feeling-based "opinions" deserve as much consideration and weight as a well informed one from someone who has an understanding of both traditional poached eggs and SV ones.

Humility? Lol. Humility would be saying "Ya know, Someday, I was obviously not as informed of method as I thought, thanks for correcting me." So why am I held to a standard of humility and you aren't?

"The earth is flat! I deserve respect!"
"That's dangerously false...the earth is round, here's several things to prove it"
"Get off your high horse! My opinion is just as valid! Learn some humility!"

You guys crack me up.

And by the way, I'm allowed to have my fucking opinions too, and I have the advantage of my opinions being informed by fact, logic and science, not from being fearful of a technique I don't have a full grasp of but feel the need to speak about anyways. The only reason it's gotten this far is because you guys keep doubling down on your lies, and keep moving the goal posts.

But please, yes, keep telling me how I'm the problem.

(I was gonna just send a PM but it got a little big so I posted it)


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## rbrad (Apr 29, 2011)

I probably haven’t posted in over a year but need to chime in. Sous Vide is the LEAST labour intensive way to cook many, many items. A sous vide egg is cooked in the shell and not in a bag or a condom. It IS a labour saving devise. It DOES produce a perfect result every time with an EXACT temperature with NO residual cooking that happens with more traditional types of equipment. It IS space efficient. It IS mainstream... I’ve had so many people come up and talk about how much they love their home $100 Anova or Joule and ask for advise...I always tell them to buy a $20 dollar book to learn temperatures and safety. If they were death machines the general public would not be allowed to purchase them. I’m surprised when a restaurant DOESN’T have one. For a small, busy restaurant I feel they are essential. For a high volume restaurant I feel they are essential. I will always have one but maybe they aren’t for everyone.


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## rbrad (Apr 29, 2011)

And it IS safe. Cooks need to be trained how to use it in the same way they need to shown how to use a fryer or meat slicer but it is so simple to get a safe, perfectly cooked product.


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## phaedrus (Dec 23, 2004)

rbrad said:


> I probably haven't posted in over a year but need to chime in. Sous Vide is the LEAST labour intensive way to cook many, many items. A sous vide egg is cooked in the shell and not in a bag or a condom.


I mostly agree, but don't dismiss the purse, it works great and allows you to do things you can't do leaving the egg in the shell. You're probably right about the condom though.


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## Seoul Food (Sep 17, 2018)

rbrad said:


> I probably haven't posted in over a year but need to chime in. Sous Vide is the LEAST labour intensive way to cook many, many items. A sous vide egg is cooked in the shell and not in a bag or a condom. It IS a labour saving devise. It DOES produce a perfect result every time with an EXACT temperature with NO residual cooking that happens with more traditional types of equipment. It IS space efficient. It IS mainstream... I've had so many people come up and talk about how much they love their home $100 Anova or Joule and ask for advise...I always tell them to buy a $20 dollar book to learn temperatures and safety. If they were death machines the general public would not be allowed to purchase them. I'm surprised when a restaurant DOESN'T have one. For a small, busy restaurant I feel they are essential. For a high volume restaurant I feel they are essential. I will always have one but maybe they aren't for everyone.


I'm not referring to a home cook or use, the OP was talking about a busy commercial setting. I'm also not saying they are "death machines." It's a tool and can be used properly or improperly, that's all on he person.


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## Seoul Food (Sep 17, 2018)

rbrad said:


> And it IS safe. Cooks need to be trained how to use it in the same way they need to shown how to use a fryer or meat slicer but it is so simple to get a safe, perfectly cooked product.


Yes all of those items are based on the operator being able to do it correctly. The flip side I would say is most cooks or people working in the industry would already have experience if not at least a basic understanding of using items like a fryer and slicer while probably not SV. The training is just an added consideration for pros and cons.


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## rbrad (Apr 29, 2011)




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## Seoul Food (Sep 17, 2018)

phaedrus said:


> Fuck no, I'd never do that for customers! :rofl: I should have clarified, that's just for me!


Exactly, the the crux of this whole post is if it is worth it for a brunch benedict application lol.


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## rbrad (Apr 29, 2011)

Seoul Food said:


> I'm not referring to a home cook or use, the OP was talking about a busy commercial setting. I'm also not saying they are "death machines." It's a tool and can be used properly or improperly, that's all on he person.


I was using the use by home cooks as an example of how they are now mainstream.


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## rbrad (Apr 29, 2011)

They are familiar with a fryer 


Seoul Food said:


> Yes all of those items are based on the operator being able to do it correctly. The flip side I would say is most cooks or people working in the industry would already have experience if not at least a basic understanding of using items like a fryer and slicer while probably not SV. The training is just an added consideration for pros and cons.


after they have been trained on them for the first time. They will be familiar with the SV once they have been trained to use it.


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## Seoul Food (Sep 17, 2018)

someday said:


> In your example, I suppose driving for 30 minutes would be "faster" than flying for an hour. Basic math, right? But, what's faster than driving for 30 minutes to my destination?...
> ...already being there since yesterday. I don't have to drive 30 minutes today because I got all my travel done yesterday. (i.e. I sous vide 500 eggs yesterday so I don't have to poach eggs today) Not having to poach eggs is faster than having to poach eggs, yes?


But you DID travel in that example and you still chose the LONGER method. See? It's eggs were talking about here ,not all SV applications. Like I said before no one here is saying it isn't impossible or that other applications for a braised meat style item wouldn't be beneficial. We are talking about poached eggs for a brunch here. And the fact that you are okay with cooking eggs that far ahead to save some time at the price of quality shows where your mind set is about standards. Why not just cook the whole benedict ahead and save some time, better yet cook and freeze that way you can save even more time, wow possibilities are endless!



someday said:


> Legitimate counterpoints? Lol. You can't make legitimate points about something you don't fully understand. I can try and argue with Stephen Hawking (just an analogy, not comparing myself to SH) about theoretical physics but I won't get very far, because I know next to nothing about it. But yeah, I'm still gonna tell him all the "legitimate" points I made, lol.


This argument doesn't even make any sense, no one has to be a "expert" in a subject to be able to discuss it. The fact that you believe so and any arguments counter to your own opinions are automatically null and void just reinforces what I stated earlier. Talking about Steven Hawking doesn't even make sense in this example because you and Steven are not even in the same professional field. And I would assume some like Hawking would have a better attitude and listen instead of just preach.



someday said:


> A few examples of your guys' "legitimate points"
> -putting eggs in bags (not part of the process of SV eggs, which you would know if you've done it before).
> -Takes too long (1 hr) to cook an egg during service (you don't SV the eggs during service, it happens well before...which you would know if you've done it before)
> -Too much "manpower" (less manpower than paying people to stand over a rondo and poach eggs)
> ...


Now who is spreading falsehoods? I never stated that sous vide eggs were exclusively in bags, the only mention to it I said was sous vide will always feel like boil in a bag to me. I never said sous vide eggs were being cooked to order for the hour, merely that cooking them for that long seemed silly since you can poach them to order and have a fresh product. I never said it was too much manpower or that someone is going to be starring at the SV. The unsafe part was based on the points about the issue if the time/temperature was set wrong for the whole cooking time. So yes, if your eggs are set at the wrong temp they could be an issue. Is it going to be an issue every time? No, but to act like it can never happen is just asinine. I never said it was too trendy, only that SOME people can act like total tools about it which you are procing every time you post. It may not be logistically cumbersome for a trained professional who has used it many times, but for someone new or someone in management who has never used it and has to implement it, yeah there are some logistics to consider.

You seem to be unwilling to understand that neither I, nor anyone else I read here stated that it was impossible to use SV as to the OP's post. Only that there are pros and cons to using it, and if YOU would get off your "high horse" about it you would see that there is no substance to your arguments about the actual issues laid out against using SV IN THIS SENARIO. We are not talking about SV for ALL applications here.


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## Seoul Food (Sep 17, 2018)

rbrad said:


> I was using the use by home cooks as an example of how they are now mainstream.


Never said they weren't mainstream, you can find these things everywhere now, and relatively cheap too. I'm talking more about the practical application for one item on a brunch menu.


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## Seoul Food (Sep 17, 2018)

rbrad said:


> They are familiar with a fryer
> 
> after they have been trained on them for the first time. They will be familiar with the SV once they have been trained to use it.


Right and there's nothing wrong with that. From a cook's perspective there may be little downside but from a management perspective, there is extra trainings, supervision, paperwork, etcetera, not to mention with the way turnover is in this industry you will have to continue the cycle over and over. Again there are surely some applications where this may not be an issue or even beneficial, but for the specific question in place, it may not be a good cost/benefit ratio. It is just a counter point to consider, that is all I am saying.


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## rbrad (Apr 29, 2011)

Anyway I wonder what the OP ended up doing as I think SV eggs could work in their situation. I never realised there was such a divide on using a piece of equipment that has for a lot of professionals become commonplace. Maybe there were chefs arguing about microwaves in 1969 on telex machines. I will say because I’m in Asia I’ve never had to submit a HACCP plan and maybe that might be a deterrent to trying something new. Anyone that I have using one knows how to safely use it. It’s just not for everyone and hopefully jimmer has found a solution to his problem.


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## Seoul Food (Sep 17, 2018)

rbrad said:


> Anyway I wonder what the OP ended up doing as I think SV eggs could work in their situation. I never realised there was such a divide on using a piece of equipment that has for a lot of professionals become commonplace. Maybe there were chefs arguing about microwaves in 1969 on telex machines. I will say because I'm in Asia I've never had to submit a HACCP plan and maybe that might be a deterrent to trying something new. Anyone that I have using one knows how to safely use it. It's just not for everyone and hopefully jimmer has found a solution to his problem.


I had to look up what a telex machine was lol.


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## mgm0 (Nov 27, 2012)

its useful in certain settings. Most reliable and least labor intensive way to do 500 eggs in one hour if you ask me, also the easiest way of holding em as well. As a lot of you have said its tool useful depending on the circumstances. My two cents would be that poached eggs are not the same as sous vide cooked eggs though. the water being in direct contact with the egg gives it a different texture. Both are nice but certainly different.


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## Girlmeetsgrill (Feb 20, 2021)

sgsvirgil said:


> Let's hope so. But, is sous vide really the best solution for poaching eggs? Back in the day when I used to do brunches, we would push through on average 250 to 300 poached eggs per brunch. That's during a brunch that lasted from 11am to 1:30pm. We did it by keeping it simple. A poached egg takes 4 minutes if the eggs are room temperature. So, as part of the prep, we put out the eggs so they could come up to room temp. Next, I would put two people on the eggs. We would poach the eggs in a large saute pan that had a star shaped insert that divided the pan into 8 sections. On busy days, we would have up to 3 of these pans going at once and two people handling the eggs. That's 18 poached eggs every 4 minutes or so, all done to order so there was no holding.
> 
> I think you're going to find that the key to a properly poached egg is in the temperature of the water. It has to be a shade under boiling for the egg to cook properly. The yolk and the whites are going to cook at different rates given their differences in density. The hot water ensures that the white, which is mostly water to begin with, cooks as quickly as possible without overcooking the yolk that is insulated by the yolk. By the time the white is thoroughly cooked, the yolk has been heated sufficiently to serve. Et viola!
> 
> ...


I'm sure that 300 eggs in 2 hours were beautiful .


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## sgsvirgil (Mar 1, 2017)

Girlmeetsgrill said:


> I'm sure that 300 eggs in 2 hours were beautiful .


Why does you account say "banned"??


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