Chicken breasts Sous Vide with a Raging Sear!

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addertooth

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
This post is about a fusion of styles.  The primary cook of the chicken is in the classic Sous Vide style.  This method produces extremely tender and juicy meat, with a wonderful bite texture.  However, the most objectionable part of chicken prepared that way is the pale-white earthworm color the chicken finishes with.  A quick mopping with sauce, or glaze, and a raging hot two-sided sear after the cook, and you produce a beautiful bronze colored filet of chicken breast that everyone will look forward to eating!

Step 1.  The preparation of the breast meat.

   Five chicken breasts trimmed of any major lumps of fat or non-meat.  Each breast is very lightly salted, peppered, and some short sprigs of rosemary distributed across the surface.  A single small pat of butter is placed upon each breast.  The seasoned breasts are moved inside of vacuum bags, all air is removed, then sealed. 

   A few short notes about what practices used, which may bother others.  There are many people who believe seasoning the meat prior to cooking sous vide is a mistake.  Salt can change the texture of the meat to have a more ham-like texture.  The key to all seasoning is use about one quarter of the amount you would use if you were going to cook the meat by any other method.  A very small amount of seasoning fully suffuses the meat with the flavor through and through. 

Step 2.  Prepare the water bath.

  A pot of at least 7 inches of depth is filled three fourths full of water.  The Anova sous vide heater is installed in the water.  The unit is turned on, and the flow of water is observed.  If the flow is not circulating well, remove and rotate the bottom piece to ensure a nice uniform flow of water around the pot.  Temperature is set to 140 degrees F.  Once the water is up to temperature, the vacuum sealed bags of chicken breast are added to the hot water in the pot. 

Step 3.  Prepare the Grill.

  Load charcoal into the grill and light it.  Spray non-stick coating on the grill.  For the time being, adjust for 400 degrees. 

Step 4.  Final ready for the grill.

After the chicken has been cooking for one and a half hours, start opening the vents and working the grill towards 600 to 650 degrees.

Step 5.  Final chicken prep.

After the chicken has been cooking for two hours, pull them from the pot.  Rest them in the bags for ten minutes.  Cut the bags open and apply the sauce/glaze to the breasts liberally on both sides.

Step 6.  The Sear.

Ensure the grill is at 600 to 650 degrees.  Place the chicken breasts on the raging hot grill surface, close the lid of the grill.  45 to 60 seconds later, lift the lid and rotate the chicken on the grill to get the crossed hatch marks on the meat. Close the lid.  45 seconds later, flip the meat and close the lid for 60 seconds.  Finally rotate the meat 90ish degrees and close the lid for 45 seconds.  Pull the meat, rest for 5 minutes and serve. 

A note on the sear.  You are shooting for nice grill marks, caramelization of the sauce, and bronzing of the overall color. 




 
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