We are offering a 10% discount on the sous vide bags is the discount code -SOUSVIDE is used. Enjoy!

Also, use the basic home setup of sous vide magic controller + crock pot. It’s worked pretty well.

I’ve been playing around with freezing various seasonings and flavorings – about 20 different things — mustard, a bunch of different oils, bbq sauce, molasses, soy sauce, etc.

Since the basic consumer vacuum sealer doesn’t like liquids and most of the literature suggests freezing your seasoning in ice cube trays, I figured I’d see what freezes and how long it takes.

Most but not all of the seasonings freeze or gel up, but some do not, no matter how long you freeze them. I document the whole experiment and all 20 seasonings I tried here:

http://www.sousvidesimple.com/profiles/blogs/freezing-liquids-for-sous-vide

Love to hear if anyone else has looked at this issue and what you’ve found??

-Jeff

P.S. I know the commercial vacuum seal units don’t have this issue, but as long as I’m using my consumer vacuum sealer I’ve got to deal with this. Unless someone has a better idea?

Just saw Keller and you at the Astor Center. Regarding health, it is worth reminding people that the more we label everything dangerous and cancerous the harder it is for people to make educated decisions about it. We used to be convinced that cooking with microwave ovens was incredibly dangerous. Now there is one in almost every home. Also, grilling causes cancer. I haven’t see much behavioral change in whether we grill foods or not.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t think or talk about it, but lets also put it into context and use moderation with a side order of common sense.

The use of plastic is a problem for me, however. There is real reason for the fuss. PVC based films were standard until a few years ago in home wraps(Saran changed their formulation to LDPE in 2004) and PVC is STILL the standard film in the food service industry because of its superior protective qualities. PVC films contain plasticizers which have been shown to leach into fatty foods. These plasticizers are suspected carcinogens.
LDPE in theory does not require such plasticizers, but other chemicals are added to increase clinginess of the films. (In bags this may not be a problem as clinginess is not required.) The risks of these chemicals are not known. Bags made of layers which include PVC will have plasticizers. Even if the contact layer is not PVC the plasticizers can migrate through the layers.

As far as tested safe, it is a good they are tested for storage, not for cooking. (Except maybe those marketed as “microwaveable”.) And frankly, when you test something, you are only likely to find those things you know to look for. I am not convinced. Until 2004 every time a chef told me to put plastic wrap on the surface of a hot custard to prevent skin formation, they were telling me to put suspected carcinogens in my food. No thanks.

Anyway, I still might try the Sous vide. Maybe I can wrap in aluminum or parchment before I put it in the plastic.

A while ago I tried the basic principle on something I thought was harmless.

Reheating pizza.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/boxthor/sets/72157603916310808/detail/

As a former Chicagoan that saw you speak with Grant Achatz at the Steppenwolf a couple of years ago, I was pining for tickets to see you at the Astor Center with Chef Keller. However, I couldn’t seem to come up with 125$.

THANK YOU SO MUCH for coming to the Free Library in Philly, my adoptive hometown.

I’m so thrilled, I can barely breathe!
It’s wonderful of you both!

There’s also a large black warning box in the instruction book that says:

“Food poisoning hazard. Do not cook food in slow cooker using “Buffet” (that’s the 165) setting or if buF shows on the cooking time display. Doing so can result in food poisoning or sickness.”

Hmmm. That label ranks up there with “Do not iron clothes on body”, right?

Regarding Sous Vide cooking again with a nice caramel thermometer and a dutch oven it can be done perfectly on the stove top. Specially since the cooking times are so short, you can ice down the water if you need to keep lowest temp.
My new Hamilton Beach slow cooker with gasket and probe can bring something to safe internal cooking temp and then alert me. What the actual diff it makes from true immersion blender… my guess is NO DIFF. Anyone here but Ruhlman and Keller might discern. Even then in a blind study my guess is neither would be able to tell the diff. It’s a doable experiment.
The trouble is most cooks and writers of cookbooks are extremelly imprecise and inexact about writing down the exact processes.
Case in point is the brining information that’s out there. The recipes don’t work for the most part producing a very salty product because the brining times given are mostly if not all way way too long. After many months of working on this problem I recently learned a four lb chicken takes 1 hr to brine at recipe sodium concentrations. I achieved the same result by cutting way down on the salt but keeping very long brining times which may not be as safe. Again with the brine… Just making a point of my observations regarding the imprecise cooking information out there.
I think chefs take artistic license and overlook the fine details of the craft. Which is why most of my bookshelf is useless without carefull anotation and improvement of the results.

Sous Vide is many things but one thing it’s not is a TV dinner!

—–SWAIN:::——–