133°F for 18 hours to 2 days

Update 2015.12.25: I only was able to do the shanks. The shanks were done at 133 for ~39 hours. The doneness was good. The meat was dryer than I want. It wasn’t salted but I think a bit of sail might have helped with getting the flavor better. But then again it might have made the texture worse. I am not sold on beef shanks. There were nice tendons interlaced with the meat but I don’t think they had enough of an effect on the texture to pursue this as something I want to make often.

I now have a dedicated container for doing sous vide. The plastic should be a slightly better insulator than metal. the size is great. Large enough for anything I currently plan on cooking. And it is light weight. The lid will reduce evaporation.

For Thanksgiving

133°F for

Aiming for ~3 pounds

Small piece at 133 for ~17 hours turned out better than I expected. It was fantastic. Tender and flavorful. With the connective tissue melted down.

Update 2015.12.25: I did the other piece from Thanksgiving that was in the freezer for a month. It was in the bath for closer to 21 hours. It was dryer than I want. The extra time had a negative effect on the texture. I want to try 15 hours next and maybe 131 degrees.

Frozen salmon individually wrapped.

From freezer to pot.

122F

30-40 minutes cook time targeted if thawed.

Over an hour because it is still frozen.

Update: 2015.12.19 I did salmon properly this time. Thawed and rebagged the fish. 122°F for 40 mins. Amazingly moist and intense salmon flavor.

Brining: Soaking the fish in salt water seems to be the key to keeping it pretty. I have seen various times and percentages. I will try 10% for 10 minutes first. Then probably up to 30 minutes. I see many instructions for doing this in icy water.

So to get that 10% solution, I will try one tablespoon of salt per scant (a bit less than) cup of water. I will try fridge cold water maybe with a few ice cubes and put the water in the fridge. 10 minutes, then increases in time by 5 or 10 minutes until I like the results. 122°F for up to 40 mins.

For chicken salad

144F for 2 hours
Salt and pepper

Chicken Salad Recipe

Add 2 Tablespoons sweet pickle relish to chicken and add enough mayonnaise to bind chicken salad. Add salt and pepper. In this case, the chicken with seasoned enough before it went into the cooking bag.

Stuff like cranberries, celery, grapes, red onions, curry powder, raisins, strawberries, pecans, almonds and other dried fruits or fresh fruits work too.

Thirteen-Minute Onsen Eggs

13 minutes at 167°F

12 minutes and let residual heat finish up eggs

13 minutes extra large eggs & residual heat

I was given 2 authentic salsa recipes by a friend’s mom.

Red Salsa

15 Red Tomatos
1 White Onion
1 Celantro
10 Serrano Peppers
2 Aguacates (Avacatoes)

Green Salsa

25 Green Tomatos
2 Cilantro
16 Serrano peppers
1 Can of Serrano Peppers in little slices
1 Aguavate (Avacato)

Seasoning

1 Spoon of Oregano
5 Garlic sections
1/2 spoon salt
1/4 spoon black pepper (no pepper for green salsa)

Boil peppers first. Then Tomatos. Peppers longer than peppers.
Chop onions and celantro.

I am planning pork chops for my second attempt. I should use thick cut ones and I’ve found them at Mariano’s but for this attempt, I am using whatever Costco has. I plan on them being medium rare.

I can’t find my vacuum device so this attempt might not fire. But I will look more.

140 degrees
2 hours
Salt, pepper, olive oil marinade

Towel dry
Sear
Serve

Update 2 / 2015.08.01: Cooking it now. The chops wound up being decently thick. I’m kind of excited.

Update 3 / 2015.08.12

After patting down the chops and throwing them on a not too hot grill, this is the result.

The seasoning was good. Right amount. The result was good. Juicy.

Next time I do pork chops, I want them even juicier though. I will try at a lower temperature. And I think better pork would help but I am not there yet. This is surely mass produced and fatless pork. I want to eventually try something like Berkshire pork.

I will finally try my first go at sous vide. I am planning a thick steak finished on a grill.

Targeting medium rare 129°F. Thinking of something fatty like a rib eye at 1.5 to 2 inches thick. Two hours of cooking.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/06/food-lab-complete-guide-to-sous-vide-steak.html#temp

Update: The first try was a complete failure. I had too much salt in the bag. The vacuum seal went well. The bag was a bit small but functional for the steak I got. I screwed up by searing too long on too hot a grill. I stoked that fire til the charcoal was glowing red. Then I think I had the steak on there too long. The steak was barely an inch thick, which is a problem. I did 130°F for 1:45. It ended up juicy but overdone.