Tried this last night and this is my new favorite way to cook bacon. It it a whole new dimension. This paragraph explains it pretty well:
I mean, really, really good. The idea of bacon that’s crisp and moist at the same time is appealing, but in practice, it ends up crisp in some areas and rubbery in others—which is why I generally prefer my bacon cooked completely crisp. But overnight sous vide bacon using an immersion circulator is the first bacon I’ve ever tasted that delivers on that moist-and-crisp promise. It’s crispy on the exterior as you bite into it, but it quite literally melts in your mouth, like the finest confit pork belly, as you chew.
I love how Kenji can’t just try a recipe, he has to test the extremes to find the perfect way to do it. I ended up going for 10 hours at 145F and then hitting it with the searing torch and it came out perfect. Nice and crispy on the outside and super tender on the inside.
This won’t be the only way I cook bacon from now on, but it will be my method of choice when I want to impress a brunch guest with something they’ve never experienced before.
The last sentence in the article hits it spot on for me, but I think I will cook it like this from now on when I have the time.
Yes, exactly. I just tried this last night for the first time and I’m cooking my bacon like this from now on. It has a whole different flavor even. I cooked at 145F for about 10 hours and then torched the bacon with my sear torch. Tasted like the bacon came off the grill. Super tender inside and nice and crispy on the outside. The bacon had a texture more akin to a crispy pork chop. I found a new favorite
Also, like you said it’s the first thing in the article. And then the very first paragraph is:
I love the work that they do over at ChefSteps, but when I saw their video recommending sous vide bacon, I have to admit I rolled my eyes a little. This has got to be one of those “everything looks like a nail when you have a hammer” situations, I said to myself. You know, one of those times when sous vide is deployed just for the sake of sous vide, rather than to actually improve things. I mean, can you really improve on plain old fried bacon? What could possibly be the point of cooking bacon at 147°F overnight?
Still, I trust them enough that I decided to give it a spin.
I just don’t understand how you can take the time to comment but not spend that same few seconds to read the first paragraph and get your answer.
Yes, but most that I’ve seen only heat and don’t circulate. Immersion circulator type sous vide “sticks” do both and thus give more even heat. I haven’t tried the sous vide function on my instant pot so I can’t speak to how well it does. I imagine the difference is negligible because of the small area, but if I was wanting to do a large volume of water, I would want something that circulates the water.
But I would definitely recommend if you already have a slow cooker or pressure cooker or other device that also has a sous vide function, use it if you’re not ready to get an immersion circulator. I’m not a huge fan of most multi function devices because in my experience, they do one thing great, and the rest mediocre. I’d usually rather have an appliance that is made for a specific function. But this is mostly with appliances and not necessarily utensils or tools.
It’s great for more than cooking even. Heating cooked foods from the freezer is great and heats evenly. It just is more involved than the microwave and takes longer but if you have like a soup or chili in bags in the freezer, just throw them in the sous vide at about 130 F or 54 C.
I deal with a bunch of physical issues recently and sometimes I’ll sous vide some thing but then not really feel up to preparing the rest of the meal so it goes into the freezer for use later. And since it’s already vacuum sealed, I can just throw it in the freezer and back into the sous vide at a later date
Have you heard of Onsen Tamago (also known as Hot Springs Eggs)? They’re kinda like poached eggs… but not exactly, and they’re much easier. It makes a custard-like yolk with a jello-like white, and they’re delicious dropped into soups, put onto rice or pasta, or just eaten straight, maybe with a sauce.
I’ve become quite attached to the things, and sous vide is actually the best way to make them. The link I used above says 65 degrees C, but I find 63 works a little better for my personal tastes (or maybe my sous vide thermometer is running a little hotter than it displays). Put the eggs, still in the shell, straight in the cold water (no bag needed), use the sous vide to bring the water (and egg) up to temperature, and you’re pretty much done. You can futz with the exact consistency of the end result by leaving it in at temperature a little longer, but you shouldn’t need much more.
You can kill off salmonella in an egg via sous vide (57.5-58C for ~90 min) and keep it “raw” enough to still work it into the cookie dough since eggs really start to change texture around 60C.
Can create the perfect puddings, cheesecake, mouse, etc.
Any type of “temper to perfect temp” recipe works.
Most of the time you can sous vide it fine in mason jars too, so you just pop the top amd it’s ready to eat.
Custard, cake, pudding, you mame it. Prep it in the mason jar, lock the lid on tight and then loosen off the lid about half a turn. You should see a tiny trail of smol bubbles slowly trickle out as it pressurizes in the bath.
I will sous vide just about anything. Sausages, fresh or frozen Salmon/chicken, frozen veg, prepackaged meals, bags of soup, anything I can get into a vacuum sealed bag. It gets you up to edible temp with almost no effort, and you can start it way ahead of time and pull the food out when you’re ready. Any meats, just throw into a hot skillet after for color, anything with a sauce add to a sauce pan with sous vide whatever and stir till sauce is hot. Aldo great for thawing frozen shit.
It's great for soft eggs like those used in onsen tamago (Japanese hot spring eggs). I consider fish to be meat, but I understand a lot of people don't, so also: fish.
Eggs of any doneness are reason enough for one. Sometimes I separate them and sous vide the yolks in a jar to get a jammy consistency and fry the whites hard.
I’ve had a nomiku green one. Great device, later many years years, these days I wouldn’t trust it for a long cook. A nomiku Gen 2, lasted virtually not at all.
Today I use a Joule. It works, the app interface is annoying, but also nice? The heating is great and the flow rates are awesome in comparison to earlier made devices.
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