How to know temp and time to SV and what's the goal temp after ice bath

[backpacker048]

I'm new at this SV game. What I have done is to SV a rack of Baby Backs for 9 hours at 150*. Pulled them and put them into an 50-50 ice bath for 40 min and then into the fridge for about 5 hours. Now they are on the smoker at 225* and have been cooking for almost 2 hours. The internal temps are about 125*. How do I know when they are done so's I don't under/over cook them? How do I know when anything is done when I SV something and then put it on the smoker? Do you still take them up to the same temp as without the SV. I wound up pulling them when the IT was 150-155*
The result was that I felt like they sould have cooked about an hour more, plus they were a tad dry.
My overall question is how do you know when to pull the meat after SV and having been in the fridge for some time.

Thanks for your help,
Backpacker

 

[SmokinEdge]

Tenderizing with SV takes minimum 30 hours, with beef like a chuck it may take 40-50 hours. Doing ribs SV 9 hours at 150 then ice bath and fridge, serves little purpose. If you want to start with SV then finish with smoke then go straight from water bath to smoker and cook to probe tender, when a skewer will push in and pull out with little to no resistance. The SV serves better as a reheating tool in bbq than an actual bbq cooker. It’s great for some things, but not great for everything.

 

[backpacker048]

Thanks, SmokinEdge for the reply - most informative!

Are you saying then that I should have gone 30 hours in the SV, and then flipped them on the grill until they were "probe tender"? And then 30 min or so before we're ready to eat, put them back in the SV to warm them up to about 150*? In between the "probe tender" stage and dinner, I need to give them an ice bath and then into the fridge.
Is 30 min a decent time for how long it would take to reheat them? I assume on a steak, I would reheat it back to the person's desired degree of doneness?

 

[SmokinEdge]

Here is some reading for you on SV. Time, temp and cook time.

https://douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html#Equipment

 

[SmokinEdge]

In my experience, ribs are really not a good choice in SV, it works fine to cook them but 176* for 12 hours or 155* for 24 hrs will yield a tender rib with no smoke flavor or bark, but about 5 hours is just right on the smoker with full bbq flavor, so why SV?

I like the SV for steak or Tri-tip primary and I really like it to finish temps on sausages, but ribs and chicken are not my favorite SV cooks.

 

[backpacker048]

Yeah, I've got Dr. Baldwin's book here on my desk. I've done some reading in it but not much. If I'm going to do much SV cooking I'd better read it along with Meathead's book on SV Cooking.

You've got a point there about bark and smoke. So it sounds like the primary benefit of SV cooking is when you're not looking for bark and maybe min smoke flavor. I was hoping to get some help on cooking steaks as I tend to over cook them and to run late on the timing for dinner. But that may not be the application for SV/

Thanks for the help and taking time for me.

Backpacker.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Steak is where the SV really shines. Cook at the doneness you like your steaks IT wise. I run them at 131* about 1 hour for 3/4” but 2 or 3 hours is fine as the steak never over cooks. I then sear in a CI pan either in duck fat or I just hit them with a hand held torch. It’s fantastic and very forgiving but always edge to edge pink.

 

[backpacker048]

Is that duck fat the spray kind - which is all that I've seen. I'd like to try it.

In the searing, from what I've read the CI temp should be around 350-500*. In order to get a good sear, I've seen the temp climb 15*. So I must be doing something wrong. I've also read where brushing with corn syrup will help with the searing. I don't know if that is just in the flavoring or in the appearance.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Duck fat I use is in a jar, it’s like bacon fat.
Yes hot skillet and just sear the two sides, lay it in then flip about 15 seconds or so. I really prefer the hand held torch, less messy. But the sear is not a cooking step just a caramelization of the surface. For steak you can cook at 125* then sear if you like more rare than medium. It’s also fantastic on pork chops. Cook at 145* then sear. Always juicy.

 

[chopsaw]

B backpacker048
What brand of SV do you have ? It should have a recipe guide with it .
Check out Food Lab or serious eats with Kenji Lopez . He has test results you can look at and see the different results . You can certainly over cook food with a SV . Be careful of opinions stated as fact .

 

[backpacker048]

W

B backpacker048
What brand of SV do you have ? It should have a recipe guide with it .
Check out Food Lab or serious eats with Kenji Lopez . He has test results you can look at and see the different results . You can certainly over cook food with a SV . Be careful of opinions stated as fact .

i have the Anova

 

[SmokinEdge]

Be careful of opinions stated as fact .

By all means expand on this.

 

[chopsaw]

People state opinions as fact , when in reality they are opinions .
Tends to confuse people .

 

[sandyut]

Steak is where the SV really shines. Cook at the doneness you like your steaks IT wise. I run them at 131* about 1 hour for 3/4” but 2 or 3 hours is fine as the steak never over cooks. I then sear in a CI pan either in duck fat or I just hit them with a hand held torch. It’s fantastic and very forgiving but always edge to edge pink.

I would agree here 100%. SV is great fun, but I have not had the best experience with all cuts/meats. Love a good SV steak seared with a torch tho. Really hard to beat!

 

[SmokinEdge]

People state opinions as fact , when in reality they are opinions .
Tends to confuse people .

I agree, just asking which people, exactly?

 

[chopsaw]

Tenderizing with SV takes minimum 30 hours,

 

[backpacker048]

Thanks guys. I’ve learned a lot - mainly that I need to read and Study the books I have on SVing.

 

[chopsaw]

B backpacker048
Serious eats has a good write up on ribs . Looks like you were right there on his recommended temp , just a couple hours short on the time . So your thoughts and method were going in the right direction .

 

[backpacker048]

We’ll, I’m glad I got something right. Anxious to try the new recipe

 

[chopsaw]

Remember , you can always cross cut the slab in half . Use the same temp , and let one go longer and see which one you like .