Yes. Here's the link

Hacking Chicken Sous Vide

Easy enough and probably worth trying.

The Hack

Tosi calls this her "Bird in a
Bag." You'll need a chicken breast or boneless thigh, seasoning of your
choice (either salt and pepper or a spice blend), buttermilk (or even
bottled ranch dressing), a heavy-duty zip-top freezer bag, and a straw.

Tosi serves her Bird in a Bag with mashed potatoes and cut roasted okra seasoned with smoked paprika.
Ted Robbins/NPR

1. Butterfly the chicken breast, or pound it flat, and season.
2. Put a butterflied chicken breast in a plastic freezer bag with the buttermilk (or ranch).
3. Seal
   the bag except for one corner. Insert a straw into the remaining hole
   and slowly suck out the air with your mouth. Be careful not to suck the
   sauce into your mouth! Seal the bag to get it as air-free as possible.
4. OPTIONAL: If you are using thinner storage bags, repeat the process in a second bag, to prevent leaks.
5. Bring a pot of water nearly to a boil. Set a piece of tin foil in the pot like a hammock (with the ends crimped over the edge).
6. Plop
   the bag into the pot of hot — but not boiling — water. The foil will
   suspend the bag above the bottom of the pot so the bag doesn't burn.
7. If the chicken is thin, it will cook (poach, essentially), in five or 10 minutes. An intact chicken breast may take 20 minutes.

You can test the chicken by looking and feeling to make sure it isn't pink inside.

If
your bag appears a little unappetizing, don't be alarmed. When you're
done, Tosi says, it "looks like a bag of crazy." That's because the
buttermilk has coagulated and separated from the chicken juice, but it's
fine to eat.

And your chicken will be moist and evenly tender — sans sous vide.

Final step? Sear the chicken in a pan briefly to brown it for better presentation.

It is ridiculous how uninformed these NPR people are !!!

1. Very sophisticate sous vide appliances have been around for a long while for under $100, not $400 to $1000.

2. Straw to suck out air (and possible raw chicken juice) from a bag?!! Crazy! People have been using simple and safe water displacement method for many many many years.

3. Almost boiling water for sous vide? Has he heard of a thing called thermometer? Does he know about Googling for temperature for sous vide chicken?

dcarch

Yeah, I listened to it. As dcarch said, it was a surprisingly uninformed and, I guess, at least unusually short in its list of misinformation.

But wasn't the technique developed and explained by a professional chef?

Are any others concerned about polyethylene or other plastic in contact with food at high temperatures? I don't put any clear film wrap on hot food or in the microwave -- I cover w a plate. Also, IIRC leaching of chemicals from plastic is more pronounced w cars and oils, and of course at higher temperatures.

Oh, yeah, with "cars" -- sorry, that should have read "fats."

laceyvail, "But wasn't the technique developed and explained by a professional chef?"

Actually it's a cooking method that has been around for 50 years. That's why it makes no sense for a professional chef to know practically nothing about the technique, "Christina Tosi knows a thing or two about elaborate cooking techniques.---" and to say "-- up to 96 hours"

It is a technique used in many restaurants today.

dcarch

I meant the method the plastic bag/straw technique that she employs at home and explained on the NPR show. I know that sous vide is used at many fine restaurants and has been for some time.

Those plastic bags are special rated boil-able plastic. Beside, most sous vide cook at very low temperature.

dcarch

Thanks, dcarch7.

Water displacement is safer than the straw and easier in many ways.

Fill a small pot or large bowl with water. Put your food in your hot safe bag. Ease the bottom of the bag down into the water, keeping hold of both sides of the top edges so you don't get water in the bag. When the water is nearly at the zipper (you can slightly fold or add water as necessary), zip it closed. The pressure of the water pushes out the air. You can use a temperature regulator with any vessel of water to then cook as if under vacuum (i.e., sous vide). The vacuum is used by caterers to season and portion individual servings a day or two ahead of an event. It keeps the food safe, assists the marinade to get into the meat, etc., and doesn't come open while being chucked from box to box while counting, etc.

Nearly vacuum, with the water displacement method, is fine for home use. Vacuum might help the marinade, but isn't required. Temperature regulation is, and at a significantly lower temperature than nearly boiling. What was described in "The Hack" was old fashioned "boil in bag" cooking, which was popular for awhile decades ago, especially for vegetables, before countertop microwaves became affordable enough that everyone had one. It makes mushy food, especially chicken.

Considering all the homemade temperature regulators we've seen from people like Dcarch and Arley, made out of Radio Shack type parts, wouldn't it have been more useful if they'd told how to make your own? Rather than pretending they're doing sous vide? I guess this bothers me so much because people will try what they've said and be unhappy with the results.

Now that is strange. The water displacement method is so clean and easy. Leaving a small end of a corner on a zip-lock to allow the air out with most of the container submerged is not rocket science.

And using so much liquid is poaching. Just poach your chicken in buttermilk. So full of misguided information. Sous Vide chicken breast takes an hour at 140 does it not?. They are giving the impression it takes days. So unclear.

And not giving an actual water temp. Just under a boil is way too hot. With different stovetops i see some zip-locks melting if a gas flame is to high and touching the edge. (like a friend of mine who set the tea kettle on a high flame off set and burned the kettle handle.)

The straw thing is a head shaker. And i don't see that poaching needs to be done in a bag or would i call it a SousVide 'hack'.

And you can buy one for a buck, a hundred buck these days.

I think I got food poisoning, just reading that.