SV - Newbe question

[floridasteve]

I’ve been reading a lot and watching a lot of videos on SV. I getting the concept of pasteurization , and that temp affect doneness and time affects tenderness. But my problems so far has been too dry. What controls juiciness?

 

[Sven Svensson]

What’s too dry? Just wondering what you’re cooking?

 

[Sven Svensson]

Sorry, I just saw your other post. It’s pork chops.

 

[floridasteve]

What’s too dry? Just wondering what you’re cooking?

My first attempt was chicken breasts. They weren’t bad, but were a bit dry and and a little chewy. My second attempt was eye or round steaks. They were so dry I cut them into chunks and stuck them into the freezer to use in my next batch of pressure cooked stew.

I'm really just wanting to know the basics, so I can correct things that go wrong.

 

[dr k]

I do more SV in the cooler months and mostly chucky's 130/48. EOR is more hit and miss, being so lean even at 130/24-30. I have done strip and ribeye steaks at 130 to pasteurize for the thickness but then searing iit is a little less juicy so I just stuck with long soaks with cuts that have a lot of connective tissue to turn to gelatin and get super tender. I'm going to try the heating tables and select the slab, cylinder or sphere shapes for tender steaks A slab shaped 2" strip/ribeye takes 3.5 hours to get within 1° of bath temp when bath is 110-175. So I'm going to try 120 bath to allow for a longer sear. Maybe rest after SV in freezer 15 min before searing to eliminate over cooked gray band under the sear.

 

[floridasteve]

Thanks for the tip, Kurt!

 

[SmokinEdge]

Your time and temps seem fine. Pork chop/loin can be finicky piece to piece, some chops are just better than others as far as tenderness and dryness goes. As mentioned brining can help a lot, but you may also try doing a sear first then into SV. I recently did this with some bottom round roast I did for sammich meat. I did the sear first partly to have a base for building au-jus but also because some say it helps with moisture retention, I also threw a little butter in the bag. The results were very good. I’ve not used this method enough to say for certain it will work on chops or chicken but it sure works good on lean beef. In fact I may just do some chops tonight this way to see for myself.

 

[floridasteve]

Thanks for the tip!

 

[thirdeye]

Give brining a try. I know the experts say it's not needed but I brine all chicken and high-on-the-hog cuts like chops or a loin roast. I don't brine tenderloin.

 

[JckDanls 07]

Steve.... see if anything in here will help...

 

[floridasteve]

Steve.... see if anything in here will help...

Keith - I’ve read this twice and have it bookmarked. I’m ready to accept that meat cooked below FDA recommended temps are safe (perhaps safer?) that FDA recommendations. But I’m still struggling to make sense of the time/temp effect on outcome. I understand it in terms of pasteurization, but am confused by the affect on tenderness and juiciness, which I’m gathering is a trade off in the time. ??

 

[JckDanls 07]

Steve... I've only done 2 cooks with my SV ... hell.. I can't' even tell ya what brand I have. That's how much I don't use it ...

I've not been impressed with results....

 

[floridasteve]

Steve... I've only done 2 cooks with my SV ... hell.. I can't' even tell ya what brand I have. That's how much I don't use it ...

I've not been impressed with results....

I made my own :-) I took the temp controller off my mini that controlled the fan and plugged my camping hot plate into it. Set my extra instant pot on top of in and bought a $6 aquarium circulating pump from Amazon. Works like a champ! Us DIYers rule!