Got a two-three-pound bit of veal in a cryovac-type thick close-fitting bag.
Pretty lean, and I feel like experimenting.

There's something called "sous vide" cooking, used by both extremes of cooking:
very high-end fancy cooking, and emergency food for masses of people. You
vacuum-seal food in a bag with spices, and throw them into
temperature-controlled water for a time, and presto -- done.

One the one hand, fancy cooks do interesting things with the way meat reacts to
different times (hours, up into double figures) at different temperatures. I
found (and lost, so don't ask) pictures of pork belly, different bits held at
temperatures from 120°F to 170°F or so, for long times. The collagen does
different things, texture changes. The meat will not look very appetizing, so it
gets seared on the outside to give it touch of color.

(The other use is to freeze food for emergency use, lots of it, and store it.
Sealed bags of frozen food from get dumped into huge stainless-steel baths of
temperature-controlled water, pumps to move the water and stuff. These are
hauled out, opened and served after time X according to directions. This means
that there is a minimum of skill needed, rapid rollout, very small chance of
contamination -- perfect for feeding hurricane cleanup crews. And probably
pretty good quality, too, considering.)

Dropping anything but thin slice of meat on a grill or in the heat
refrigerator-cold seems to me to be making it harder than it needs to be. I'm
going to try to preheat the meat so the internal temperature comes up a lot
closer to where it should end up. (I'm doing this for myself and willing
volunteers, this might be tricky if you are liable to comply with food-safe
regulations, I guess.)

So, here my bag of veal. I trim a corner of the bag, added a cup or so of a
marinade of McCormick something-or-other mix with water, oil and vinegar
according to directions, and sealed it again with a freezer clip. (Picked tat
idea up here, btw, thanks to whomever...) Toss the bag in my
temperature-controlled water bath. (To the uninitiated it looks just like a
cooler with hot water in it.)

Started the water at about 122°F, which dropped to 115°F within an hour or so
(needs more water, I guess). Around that time, I'm getting impatient, and take
it out. External and internal temp match. I put the roast on the grill, high
heat, and brown it nicely all round. The internal hasn't come up nearly enough.
(Mind, I've got friend who wants his steaks grilled "English", that is, still
cold on the inside. Not "rare", but still fridge-cold, just with sear marks on
the outside... )

I've got a grill that I can put stuff underneath, where it can rest but still
keep hot, so I do that while I do the sausages for the kids. Veal still not warm
enough: I trim off the thinner ends, cut it into thick slices, and grill those
just until they look nice, and back to rest in the heat.

Ok, the result: Meat OK, good enough for a first try. More evenly done than I
had feared. And the marinade did it's job really well, as well as if it had been
sitting overnight or longer in the fridge. Chemical reactions go faster when
warm, "half the time for 10K more" is the rule of thumb I recall, so that makes
sense.

Will there by a next time? Well, probably. I'd try higher temperatures and
longer times. And the "hot" marinade definitely is interesting...


Thomas Prufer

On 2-May-2014, Thomas Prufer > wrote:

> Got a two-three-pound bit of veal in a cryovac-type thick close-fitting
> bag.
> Pretty lean, and I feel like experimenting.
>
> There's something called "sous vide" cooking, used by both extremes of
> cooking:
> very high-end fancy cooking, and emergency food for masses of people. You
> vacuum-seal food in a bag with spices, and throw them into
> temperature-controlled water for a time, and presto -- done.
>
> One the one hand, fancy cooks do interesting things with the way meat
> reacts to
> different times (hours, up into double figures) at different temperatures.
> I
> found (and lost, so don't ask) pictures of pork belly, different bits held
> at
> temperatures from 120°F to 170°F or so, for long times. The collagen
> does
> different things, texture changes. The meat will not look very appetizing,
> so it
> gets seared on the outside to give it touch of color.
>
> (The other use is to freeze food for emergency use, lots of it, and store
> it.
> Sealed bags of frozen food from get dumped into huge stainless-steel baths
> of
> temperature-controlled water, pumps to move the water and stuff. These are
> hauled out, opened and served after time X according to directions. This
> means
> that there is a minimum of skill needed, rapid rollout, very small chance
> of
> contamination -- perfect for feeding hurricane cleanup crews. And probably
> pretty good quality, too, considering.)
>
> Dropping anything but thin slice of meat on a grill or in the heat
> refrigerator-cold seems to me to be making it harder than it needs to be.
> I'm
> going to try to preheat the meat so the internal temperature comes up a
> lot
> closer to where it should end up. (I'm doing this for myself and willing
> volunteers, this might be tricky if you are liable to comply with
> food-safe
> regulations, I guess.)
>
> So, here my bag of veal. I trim a corner of the bag, added a cup or so of
> a
> marinade of McCormick something-or-other mix with water, oil and vinegar
> according to directions, and sealed it again with a freezer clip. (Picked
> tat
> idea up here, btw, thanks to whomever...) Toss the bag in my
> temperature-controlled water bath. (To the uninitiated it looks just like
> a
> cooler with hot water in it.)
>
> Started the water at about 122°F, which dropped to 115°F within an hour
> or so
> (needs more water, I guess). Around that time, I'm getting impatient, and
> take
> it out. External and internal temp match. I put the roast on the grill,
> high
> heat, and brown it nicely all round. The internal hasn't come up nearly
> enough.
> (Mind, I've got friend who wants his steaks grilled "English", that is,
> still
> cold on the inside. Not "rare", but still fridge-cold, just with sear
> marks on
> the outside... )
>
> I've got a grill that I can put stuff underneath, where it can rest but
> still
> keep hot, so I do that while I do the sausages for the kids. Veal still
> not warm
> enough: I trim off the thinner ends, cut it into thick slices, and grill
> those
> just until they look nice, and back to rest in the heat.
>
> Ok, the result: Meat OK, good enough for a first try. More evenly done
> than I
> had feared. And the marinade did it's job really well, as well as if it
> had been
> sitting overnight or longer in the fridge. Chemical reactions go faster
> when
> warm, "half the time for 10K more" is the rule of thumb I recall, so that
> makes
> sense.
>
> Will there by a next time? Well, probably. I'd try higher temperatures
> and
> longer times. And the "hot" marinade definitely is interesting...
>
>
> Thomas Prufer

Mind you, I don't have a sous vide setup "yet", but I've been kind of
following along with everything I read and view on the subject. One
particular "process' I saw was to sear a nice steak on a very hot
grill and then finish it sous vide style to a 135F finish. To work right,
this requires a very hot grill, like Marty's infrared grill so you can get
a serious sear on the meat without cooking it deeper then about
1/8 inch on each side. Then you finish it sous vide to the final
temperature. I have done fairly well with a very hot charcoal grill
followed by a moderate oven to reach final.

I don't recommend it as a normal thing, because it's a real PIA
to put the whole process together for a single piece of meat.

Brick said that