Sous Vide

The sous-vide dish which I prepare most often is actually fillet of beef for a Sunday lunch… Most of my children are addicted to rare beef, but heaven forbid you get it anywhere beyond that and they’ll turn into the biggest critics on the planet. Given that I’m cooking for six, and that they usually also demand chicken too, or salmon, it’s actually very easy to end up going over by five minutes! Consequently one of the first things I learnt to do with my water bath was rare beef…

At the time I first start cooking sous vide, practically the only guide on-line was Douglas Baldwin’s website. Every owner of a water bath at that time bought his Sous Vide for the Home Cook book, which breaks down the process of cooking sous vide… It’s very useful, but has been superseded by many more accessible books and websites, some of which are listed below.

In his book, Baldwin gives a medium-rare temperature for fillet (or tenderloin) of 55ºC, though I note that these days the plethora of sous-vide sides tend to go for 56.5ºC for medium-rare. Personally I’ve found that delivers rare beef for me, though I’ve found Baldwin’s medium-rare temperature resulted in a texture that was a little too raw-like for the children, so I’ve usually gone for 56ºC, which still comes out as rare for me.

The other number on the sliding-scale of cooking sous vide is actually the time you’ll be cooking for/the thickness of the meat you’ll be cooking… If you’re going to cook for longer periods of time, you can afford to drop the temperature a little, but if you’re going for a fillet of beef you can serve in 2 hours, you’d be better sticking to that higher number – the meat must have an internal temperature of 55-56ºC by the time you’ve finished cooking it. It can however be held for almost as long as you wish in the water.

It’s still essential to brown your meat once it’s been cooked, as the browning process (the Maillard reaction) adds flavour, aroma and a better texture to your finished joint. Some people sear their meat before putting it into the vac-pac, but I’ve never found that as successful as searing it post the water bath.

You can put any flavours you like into your vac-pac, but bear in mind that they’ll be more intense than just marinading. I like to cover mine in porcini oil – because you’re only using a little in reality, the expense is justified for me. Porcini oil has an additional level of umami’ness that I think works well with the seared beef – even if the texture is still quite soft, the extra meaty flavour and aroma work well with the joint. Today I’ve also added about a tablespoon of worcestershire sauce – hey – it was right next to the pepper and salt, and I thought it would add even more depth to the crust when I sear it.

So. My beef was cooked for 4 hours, at 56ºC. The internal temperature was correct when it emerged, and it was seared for just a few minutes on each side. The beef doesn’t need to be rested in the manner of a conventional joint, so you can slice it as soon as the rest of your meal is ready* :0) Simples. Rare beef on demand…

In case rare is not your thing, here are the other (most commonly agreed) temperatures. Please do play around to find the right temperature for you! As I said, 56ºC should give me closer to medium-rare, but it usually doesn’t.

Rare: 49°C (120°F)
Medium Rare: 56.5°C (134°F)
Medium: 60°C (140°F)
Medium Well: 65.5°C (150°F)
Well Done: 71°C (160°F)

Notes:

I use a chamber vacuum machine, though I find it doesn’t entirely expel air compared to a commercial machine, even at 9 Bar! You can seal your bag having expelled the air using the Archimedes method, or sealing with a normal bag sealer, though again you won’t expel all the air.
Trust me, when they say you should wind back your bag to prevent cross-contamination – you actually should fold it back at least twice if you can – the number of times I’ve put a little drop of oil etc on the first fold is ridiculous. If anything is spilt on the upper edges of the bag, it will result in a substandard seal, and you may find your joint ‘swimming with the fishes’
You can’t really do your vegetables at the same temperature, they really do require something closer to 80ºC to cook properly, however you can cook them lightly on the hob, then hold them in a vac pac bag in the water bath – I’ve done some carrots that way today to demonstrate… If you’re going to make baby carrots, do scrape down the top of the root, you don’t want grit in your vac pac. I suppose if I was super-organised I could have done the veg at a higher temperature first, and then held them at the lower temperature…

Rare, but consistent throughout

Fillet of beef, sealed with porcini oil, worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper

The beef really does take seconds to sear, don’t leave it in unattended for too long

The other side

Par-boiled baby carrots, packed with carrot tops, butter and orange juice

Carrots, stil al dente, though held in water for over an hour

The day has finally arrived, my kitchen finally has a chamber vacuum packer! This immediately means that I can sous vide items which contain marinades, or confit them in olive oil. My first thought was a piece of salmon, though today I have watermelon compressed with pink salt and basil oil in my fridge, and the Sunday beef sitting in my Grant waterbath! In a moment I will be sealing the soused raw vegetables I made to accompany the salmon, which will mean they remain fresh until next weekend – what a difference this machine is going to make to my kitchen. Having said that – it’s flipping enormous! I was assured this new machine had been specifically designed for the home cook, but given the size and weight of it. I’m going to have to find a permanent home for it in my back kitchen…

Anyway, back to the salmon – the recipe I chose is based on one that Raymond Blanc did on his show, Kitchen Secrets. I didn’t use the whole recipe, but I did brine the salmon as per his recipe. Raymond also suggests cooking it at 42°C, but checking my copy of Modernist Cuisine at Home, it gave me 45°C for rare, 48°C for medium, and 52°C for firm. Knowing that my 11 year old would baulk at the texture of rare salmon even if cooked, I plumped for the 48°C range. The cure stops the fish from leaching its albumen during cooking, and ensures a firmer texture to the fish too. The full recipe can be found here, and includes a rather lovely lemon verbena and apple jelly!

Ingredients:
large pinch fresh lemon verbena, finely chopped
10g sea salt
2 pinches freshly ground white pepper
large pinch caster sugar
1 tsp finely chopped fresh dill
1 x 280g salmon fillet, preferably organic, pin bones removed, skin removed
200ml extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon, zest peeled off in one strip

Preparation method:

Mix together the lemon verbena, salt, pepper, sugar and dill in a bowl until well combined. Sprinkle half of the mixture onto a baking tray, then place the salmon fillet on top and press to coat it in the marinade mixture. Press the remaining marinade on top of the salmon. Cover the tray with cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. [I usually pop mine into one of those sealed food bags – less mess]When the salmon has marinated, remove it from the fridge and wash off the marinade. Pat dry, then cut lengthways in half and widthways in half again, to make four portions.
Seal the salmon fillets in a bag and sous vide at 48°C for 25 minutes (though I found this a little tepid for my taste, adjust the cooking time accordingly to taste). [I’ve now cooked it again at 50°C, and much prefer the texture]
I served the salmon with new potatoes and a lightly soused raw vegetable salad, made of radishes, mooli, fennel, roscoff pink onions and cucumber, as a nod to the Scandinavian cure. (And please ignore the rather incongruous placing of the potatoes :0) You know my lot, they’re always too hungry to wait while I fiddle…)
The texture is absolutely delicious, silky, luscious, dense – even the 11yo polished it off, and she hates the texture of smoked salmon (though does eat raw salmon, oddly).

You can find more recipes from Raymond Blanc in his books, and I’d recommend the Modernist Cuisine for those interested in sous-vide cooking. I have the bigger collection too, but this is more accessible…

Sous Vide Fillet of Beef

Cured Confit of Salmon, cooked sous-vide