Sous Vide Help?

11 years ago

last modified: 11 years ago

Having made my foray into poultry sous vide last week, I'm ready to start talking turkey. Specifically, I want to make turkey breast roulades for Seder, but I was thinking that sous vide might work better than the combi-steam oven, especially as I wouldn't have to obsess over timing. The problem is that I can't find a recipe close to what I want to cook and I don't have enough experience to wing it. I did get a practice piece of turkey, but hoped you all could help me figure out temperature, time and technique.

If I were doing it in the combi-steam, I'd the fillet lightly to flatten, fill with chopped pistachios and dates and a little matzah meal, roll and tie, then wrap, chill and set. Betimes, I'd paint the roll lightly with plum sauce, and put it on a bed of herbs, carrots, golf ball potatoes and prunes to make a tzimmis. Cook at 320° F, 100% moisture, for about an hour.

If I were doing it sous vide, I'd make the tzimmis vegetarian, and possibly ahead of time.

A) Any guesses for temperature and time for the sous vide?

B) Would I be able to decorate it with plum sauce and let it rest for five minutes, or would it need to be browned first? The chicken I did came out very white, and did brown up nicely, but the surface was "normal" enough that I think I could have just painted it. Would you find that unappealing? When I roast a whole turkey, I get gorgeous brown skin that comes off in the slicing, leaving white meat, so I don't think the company is expecting brown. There's the flavor, too, of course. I could put the turkey in the oven while the lamb is resting, if 10 minutes would brown it sufficiently. I'm not doing it in a pan for three roulades with all the rest to get out while directing many willing but clueless helpers.

C) Any other advice before I get started on my experiment?

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plllog
Original Author

11 years ago

I did my test today. Couldn't find my fancy pounder so used a mallet. It could have been flatter, but I didn't want to make it into mush. The pieces looked so pretty on the platter, but I forgot to take the picture. I was careful to try it less than perfectly hot since that inevitably happens along the line. It was great! But I'm going to rethink the plum sauce. I don't think it did anything for the meat, and it couldn't compete with the stuffing for flavor. The stuffing is unsulphured apricots, a few medjool dates, pistachios, a crisp white wine and Spanish varietal EVOO. And matzah. Just run through the FP easy peasy. The roulades might have been prettier tied with string but I used silicone bands because they're so hugely much easier.

This was 145° F for about 3.5 hrs. The meat is slightly pink, but not "IT'S RAW!" pink, and the texture is cooked. It sliced really easily with a granton edged slicer (except when I got distracted).

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Comments (10)

dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
11 years ago
I think it is difficult to recommend sous vide temperature and time for turkey, or most meat.

What I suggest is to start low, let's say turkey thigh at 145F for two hours, take it out and cut a little piece for taste. If it is too "juicy", put it back in the bag and into the bath and up the temperature to 150F, try it again in 30 minutes, Still too "raw"? up the temperature another 5F ----until it gets to a texture you like.

Here is one I did, turkey breast sous vide at 145F,

dcarch
plllog
Original Author
11 years ago
Hm.. Well, that's not going to happen, but I understand the point behind the advice.

Anyone else? Any suggestions for method? Finishing? Time and temp?
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Jennifer, very good information/tips. Thanks for sharing. Very different cooking physics and chemistry take place inside a sous vide cooker. Many normal ways of cooking food does not apply. The use of seasonings like what you said about garlic is important to know. The way I use garlic in sous vide is simple. I fry garlic paste in oil or butter first before I use it for sous vide. Mostly all seasonings in the sous vide method give more intense flavor, rosemary for instance, infuses the scent deep into the meat. dcarch
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Very interesting post, FOAS. Thank you for taking the time to do the experimentations/investigations. Your efforts definitely will further everyone's knowledge in this Forum. Ultimately that is a very important part for the participation here. It is interesting that you have had mixed results. Let's look at it this way; at least it was not a total lost for you. Obviously your experience is not the same as mine. That is not to say that you have done anything wrong or you don't have good taste. Eating experience is very subjective and details for preparation can be unpredictable. I have been luckier. I have sous vided many kinds of foods. As I can remember, the biggest failure I had was with squid. My timing was wrong and the squid turned into mush. Otherwise all meats, all seafood; lobsters, clams, fish, scallops --- all were from good to fantastic. Unlike you, I had great results with shrimps, but I did my shrimps at 138 F for 25 minutes, and I was able to get very fresh shrimps, not the chemically treated ones you now find in stores. I can only suggest to you, given that fact that if you search the WEB you will realize the practice of sous vide cooking is more than just a fashion trend, that you may want to play with it a few time times before giving up. I am not going to discredit Jonathan Gold's opinion about sous vide, after all he is a Pulitzer-price winning writer. However, I do humbly disagree that a perfectly cooked piece of meat is by definition boring. No one eats a steak directly as it comes out from the cooker, there are other preparation steps before the steak is to be served. Off-topic, I noticed that Costco is now selling sous vide cookers. I must point out again that sous vide only guarantees that you will not overcook or undercook your food, but it cannot guarantee that your food will taste good. It is like having a fancy grill will not automatically give you great BBQ. I might also add that sous vide cooking for chefs is not necessarily easier than regular cooking, but that's another topic all together. dcarch
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plllog
Original Author
11 years ago
Well, this is turnabout. It didn't come up when I searched, but I was poking around the Anova site looking for the table, and found a plain turkey breast roulade recipe that looks very adaptable! Something most of their recipes are not! Now I just have to pull myself together enough to go bang on some turkey. :)
foodonastump
11 years ago
The only comment/advice is that Modernist Cuisine recommends 133 for breast, but warns that it'll be a bit pink which might be off-putting to some, in which case 142 is good. (I might be off by a degree on both counts, but not more; I don't have the book in front of me.) I think Douglas Baldwin recommends 145 in his basic recipe, and that's probably what I'd go for as I tend to find MC's guidelines a bit raw to my taste.
plllog
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks, FOAS! I really don't get the whole raw/rawish trend. That matches what the chef had for the recipe I found. 145. The breast temp for my chicken experiment was slightly under at 148°. I guess I'll do what Dcarch said, after all, and try it at 145° and see how it does.
plllog
Original Author
11 years ago
Next round: I'll be doing four of these for the festive meal. Are there any changes to be made in time and temperature for more? I don't think so, but I haven't thoroughly assimilated everything.

Today was in an 8 qt. stock pot with the one half breast.

In April, it'll likely be in a Graniteware roaster of similar depth for the four half breasts.
arley_gw
11 years ago
Those turkey roulades have inspired me; I'm gonna try some. I bet figs would be good as a basis for a stuffing; I'm thinking dried figs, almonds and maybe a nice Reisling.

Having experimented a bit with sous vide, the one item I really was surprised with was chicken breast; it came out nice and juicy at 145, and not at all pink. Much tastier than any other chicken breast I've eaten. What's nice is that you can sous vide the chicken breast in the pouch, then refrigerate it; it'll stay good for several days so you can make a chicken salad, or heat it up if you desire.
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
11 years ago
plllog, Very nice turkey!

Arley, yes, chicken breast sous vided is amazing, because you are basically marinating at the same time you are cooking, the flavor gets to be part of the meat.

Also, not having to worry about overcooking is so nice and not having to worry about "has the inside reached safe temperature?"

dcarch
plllog
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks for the kind words! Especially with the stacked in the container presentation. :)

Arley, the only thing about using dried figs is the sweetness. I used the apricots because they're sour and the few dates to sweeten it up a bit. Maybe add an herb or chevre or something to counter the sugar a bit?

I'm doing this for the same kind of reason you guys mentioned. I can prepare them a couple days ahead of serving, then just dump them in the circulator and forget them, and if I don't need the fourth one, I can freeze it as is in the bag. :) No carcass staring at me begging to be stock when I'm too tired to wash the stemware. :) (I'd probably feel different if I liked turkey stock more...)

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