Trying Sous Vide Chicken for the first time

[EaOutlaw1969]

I got a email from Miya @ Inkbird on this forum asking if I would be interested in a InkBird Sous Vide device for 50 percent off of 85 bucks shipped to my door.
I couldn't answer the email fast enough with a big fat yes. ( I couldn't pass the deal up on a new gadget LOL )
We had a couple 3/4 inch thick ribeyes that I was going to needle tenderize then Grill.
Instead we tried out our new toy vacuum sealing them with our food saver in food saver stock non sous vide roll bags ( I am glad the seal held up ) I guess because of the low time and temperature is why the seals held up.
Anyways for our first go at Sous Vide cooking then pan sear these steaks came out great ( nice and juicy plus melt in your mouth good )with more practice with time and temperature I am sure they will only get better especially when finished on the grill.
Today we are trying out Chicken since my Wife has a busy day and I like to help when I can around the house with chores and cooking when my back allows me.
I am not sure if we are doing this right, yet it is just a cheap whole cut up chicken so if it goes south I will just order out LOL.
My wife seasoned the pieces with just salt pepper and garlic salt.
We tossed one piece of each section, breast thigh, leg and wing in one bag and did the same for the second bag then sealed them up. These bags are better factory sealed bags on three sides the at home sealed end is out of the water pinned under the Sous Vide plastic tub lid that we purchased. So hopefully the factory seals will hold up to the time and temperature.
We have it set for 5 hours at 150F, however I am unsure if this is OK or not since not once single recipe online shows cooking a whole chicken cut into sections.
I did find a recipe for a chicken cut in half and one for a whole chicken which is how I came up with 5 hours at 150F
I set the pieces where they are laying flat and touching but not bundled up in a mass of meat.
I know it would be better if we had separated the pieces and cooked the individual type of pieces separately in there own bag. for the time and temperature for each section
however it was either this or just toss the bird since she defrosted it and did not have time to cook it herself and My back is hurting too bad to smoke or grill them.
Once they are done I plan on cooling them down and my Wife will finish them off by searing them an serving them or adding them to a sauce of some sort then serving them, she hasn't decided yet.
Really I had no issue eating left overs tonight or just ordering out I just did not want to waste the chicken and I really just wanted to test our new toy out.
BTW here is the link for the Sous Vide device we got a great deal on. It seems well made and came nicely packaged with a nice but thin plastic storage insert in the box for when it is not in use.


I will say this thing is massive and so far was a great deal for what I payed for it, If anyone else got this email and discount offer and are on the fence about it I would jump on it since I have not seen a better unit for a better price.
One negative to use all the functions of this device you have to be connected to an app. which requires a 2.4GHZ wifi network only of your have a dual router that provides 2.4GHZ or 5GHZ you will have to rename the 5GHZ and the 2.4GHZ with different names and only connect your mobile device to the 2.4GHZ network.
otherwise you could disable the 5GHZ in the router while your using the device which seems to be a hassle.
I chose to just disable the 5GHZ since none of my Mobil devices need the higher speed anything that needs a high speed is wired anyways.
If you try and pair the device with the 5GHZ enabled it will not connect and it will not work even if you disabled the the 5GHZ later. to fix it if you do this it requires uninstalling the app then reinstall ( do not ask how I know this Arrrgg LOL )
I am thinking now that I have typed this up that it may be better posted as a review, I posted it under chicken because I could use some insight on the time and temperature for what I am doing while I still have a chance to adjust either.
Thanks for reading this and any help you may provide . As always I will post pictures just give me a little time since my back is acting up today.

 

[EaOutlaw1969]

 

[EaOutlaw1969]

I used foil to keep some of the heat and steam in around the opening on the lid since it is not a perfect fit also I put the plate on the lid to help hold it down better since I have the bags sticking out.

 

[BuckeyeSteve]

Looks like you are off to a good start.
If you haven't done this yet, go to this site. It has a wealth of information on food safety and cooking times/temperatures.
http://www.douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html

 

[BuckeyeSteve]

I'm doing my first 24 hr. cook on a chuck roast today, to add to chili I'm making tomorrow. Before that I've only gone a few hours.

 

[EaOutlaw1969]

Looks like you are off to a good start.
If you haven't done this yet, go to this site. It has a wealth of information on food safety and cooking times/temperatures.
http://www.douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html

Thank you

 

[sandyut]

Looks like you are off to a good start.
If you haven't done this yet, go to this site. It has a wealth of information on food safety and cooking times/temperatures.
http://www.douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html

Thanks for me as well. I have been interested in sous vide for a while. I will read up a bit fro this site.

 

[EaOutlaw1969]

Two bags Sous Vide chicken parts completed after 5 hours then cooled down fast with a Ice water bath. One bag will be used tomorrow the other bag was cut open the bag lip cleaned then resealed to make up for the shrinkage that occurred during cooking. We will use the second bag within three weeks.
I will post pictures and review each bag of chicken on this thread. We are thinking about breading and frying the first bag

 

[EaOutlaw1969]

Well as promised here is an update after our first Chicken attempt.
We waded through tons of information about Temperature and time. But we should have just stuck with
what our device called for and only cooked what is had listed for our first attempt.
anyways 5 hours at 150 will result in under cooked chicken.
My Wife was right you cannot cook below the desired temperature and get a good result.
I guess I should have read more information.
the Inkbird device called for 8 hours at 167 I think had we done that I am guessing from what we seen That may have worked.
Through magic The InkBird Suis Vide device did in a way turn our under cooked chicken into
a meal that was served hot and fast. LOL

 

[zwiller]

Hmmm. Running chicken today for first time (boneless skinless breasts) and researched extensively. 1-4hrs at 150F is pretty typical for all chicken. I think your chicken was cooked but just a little pink. I've read that happens for bone in dark meat areas and part of the SV learning curve. I admit I would be leery too but admit I know better. My wife would have fainted watching me try it...

 

[sandyut]

I think your chicken was cooked but just a little pink. I've read that happens for bone in dark meat areas a

I read that as well... Watching this thread closely. SV interests me alot.

 

[EaOutlaw1969]

Well it cut like butter and seemed very tender ( we did not try cutting into any of the other pieces).
I still have the other bag that we froze. I am thinking about just tossing that bag as well and trying it again with breast at whatever time and temperature the Inkbird app suggest.

 

[EaOutlaw1969]

Looking at another site they also suggest dark meat chicken to be cooked at 167 which is why that leg looked under cooked.
I guess to get chicken right with sous Vide it is best to only do dark or white meat but not both. unless you pull the white meat before pulling the dark.

 

[zwiller]

167F is higher than anything I've seen. This one from Anova is 145F for 1:45... https://recipes.anovaculinary.com/recipe/easy-sous-vide-chicken-legs
That being said, when smoking I take legs, drums much higher to 200F so they breakdown better so it makes some sense to do that. You might be onto something about not mixing white and dark. Like all things, I think experience might be the key here.

 

[EaOutlaw1969]

167F is higher than anything I've seen. This one from Anova is 145F for 1:45... https://recipes.anovaculinary.com/recipe/easy-sous-vide-chicken-legs
That being said, when smoking I take legs, drums much higher to 200F so they breakdown better so it makes some sense to do that. You might be onto something about not mixing white and dark. Like all things, I think experience might be the key here.

The InkBird Sous vide app called for higher temps and longer times because of the dark meat, also this site shows the same. https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/sous-vide-time-and-temperature-guide

Not to mention the results of my failed experiment. I made sure to clamp the lid down on my Suse Vide container down and seal off any gaps with foil plus the container was insulated and the temperature was verified with a known good and calibrated temperature probe. during the entire cook session I did not lose any significant amount of water.

What the Wife and I decided if we want to cook both white and dark meat we will cook both at 167 but in separate bags and pull the white meat first then check to see if they are done.

 

[SGMan]

Once you have had your chicken cooked SV you will never go back.

BY FAR my favorite way to cook my chicken (breast) nowdays.
Keep in mind, thighs (and other dark meats) will be cooked at a higher temp.

But its still amazing

 

[EaOutlaw1969]

Once you have had your chicken cooked SV you will never go back.

BY FAR my favorite way to cook my chicken (breast) nowdays.
Keep in mind, thighs (and other dark meats) will be cooked at a higher temp.

But its still amazing

Yeah I am looking forward to it. The steaks I did were amazing.

 

[zwiller]

SGMan what temp and times you like for breast and dark?

 

[sandyut]

Once you have had your chicken cooked SV you will never go back.

Stoked to try this out!

 

[SGMan]

SGMan what temp and times you like for breast and dark?

Personally, I have found that for my boneless/skinless breast (my fave) Usually 146.5 for an hour or two does me quite well. For the thighs, depending on how you like them anywhere from 152 up to 165 (max)

A huge part of the appeal is the post searing of said chicken. I have a special torch setup for this that makes it banging.