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Question for sous viders

9 years ago

What are you using for racks? One of my frustrations has been how to cook say 4 to 6 chunks of protein, keeping them separated enough for good circulation, without using a huge tub or cooler. My preference is to use a large stock pot, stove top. I saw this expanding lid rack mentioned on Serious Eats, looks like it has possibilities, but wondering if anyone else has any creative ideas.

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Comments (9)

plllog
9 years ago
I think that's a great idea! I don't do steaks, but I did use the sous vide to reheat a lot of packets of meatballs for a party last year, in a big roaster. It worked fine, but a rack like that would have been better.
sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
9 years ago
I have a cheesy rib rack for the grill that i have used. Binder clips to hold things down to the rack metal ribbing under water.

That one would work better being adjustable to accommodate thick/thin. I rarely do big amounts but having that would be nice. I recall seeing something like that at Ikea a while back.

I've been wanting to try some new things like wrapping some grape leaves around thick boneless pork chops and something else (olives?)...found a frozen stack of grape leaves in the freezer from the garden.
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Oy. I'll have to check. Dcarch, do you have suggestions? ETA: In the preamble to his basic techniques chapter, he compares a convection steam oven's lack of consistent enough temperature (stated to be insufficient for using his tables) to water bath, and, in the next paragraph, explicitly states his converse, in the topic sentence, as "circulating water baths heat very uniformly". From that one may infer that he does, indeed, mean circulating. I was trained at a young age to read Engineer, and this is a prime example of the lingo. Sigh. And I'm grateful to FOAS for the link. There may well be some trial and error going on here... That's another great thing about starting with cooked. Not going to poison people with the experiments. :) But mostly, there's no point in partially cooking meatballs, and they'd squish too much if they were raw. I did one bag of turkey balls which weren't frozen enough before I vacuumed and they sort of squished too. Not big wet squishy, just not as solid as the ones that were frozen hard through. If they come out a little funny shaped, no one will care...but me. :( Much better booboo than undercooked!
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I was planning on pounding out a turkey breast to flatten it and roll it up into a log and then wrap it with bacon and sous vide it at 145 degrees for 3 hours. Question: Is it safe to put some stuffing in the center since I will only be cooking to 145? I know I will maintain an internal temp of around 143 degrees for 30 minutes. With the other breast I was going to wrap a cooked smoke sausage which I believe I wouldn't have any problems there since it's cooked.
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foodonastump
Original Author
9 years ago
Yes that's actually from Ikea! Please report back on those pork chops when you figure out what to do - pork is the meat I've found most "worth" sous viding.
sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
9 years ago
Or something with more than one use perhaps?

Pasta cutter and sousVide separater and holder-downer. lol. (I was kinda kidding but if i owned this i sure could have used it for the holding down of some multiple bags)

I'm always running around and searching for a gadget to solve another need...
Islay Corbel
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I don't have anything to separate the bags - am looking.

I've been doing thick pork chops - I take themoff the bone the cut a pocket for stuffing. One good one has been chestnuts/mushrooms/parsley/garlic - nice and seasonal. 62°C, 144°F 1 hour. Then browned in butter. I agree that pork is one of the best meats I've tried so far.

What are you hoping the grape leaves to add? DH grows grapes - should I be pinching their leaves? LOL

I've had gésier de canard sous vide which have been really good so I want to try that.
party_music50
9 years ago
Did you do an Amazon search?
foodonastump
Original Author
9 years ago
Yes, some of those specifically intended for SV look good, but a little pricey. That's why I though I'd ask what others are using. I had put together a setup with quarter sheet cooling racks but they were chrome and began rusting.
jakkom
9 years ago
I have this http://www.perfect-sousvide.com/racks from Perfect-SousVide as part of their kit. It doesn't work perfectly - really best for large containers. The included plastic strip to hold down the bags is a great idea but much too long to fit PSV's smaller 3-gall sous-vide container, although it will fit the 6-gall container. PSV's containers are both rectangular, so if you're using a round pan or a Coleman cooler you'd probably have enough room.

BUT, the rack is all stainless, very sturdy, and expandable. Plus, you can unscrew every other pin (foam caps are included to prevent the exposed screws from tearing sous-vide bags) to expand the width between pins. This gives you 4 wider slots instead of 6 narrower ones.

You can buy the rack separately, which is cheaper than the kit price.
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
9 years ago
I do this in a simpler way.

I just hang the bags. This makes it possible to space the bags with flexibility and this also allows me to use open bags without sealing. The bags can be re-used and they are not that cheap.

dcarch

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