Have you thought about trying the stuffed burgers with high temperature cheese, like what is used for some sausages, or using cheeses that don't melt as readily?
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I had made my own cheese slices, following a recipe similar to this one but with a few different types of cheese as ingredients, I made it about 2-3x the thickness of normal cheese slices and I think the consistency was good. I wouldn't want it too hard so that it isn't oozy, but I haven't looked further into what types. I think the cheese was good, I just didnt seal all the seams perfectly. I made them using 2x 4oz patties each, I think if I just added an ounce to each there would be enough surface area on the edges to seal better. If I get around to trying again soon I'll post back with any changes in the outcome
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Well today decided to try doing a pork belly in the sousvide. Will see how it turns out.

Cross cut both sides of the belly and seasoned it well, put it in for 7 hrs at 160. Once complete it says reseason and cut into strips and crisp up the edges. Will know how it turns out later today.

Look froward to it.

Anyone else done pork belly in the sous vide yet
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If you have a large stock pot, you can cook for your family in one.
Now if you're cooking for a herf or other large get together, that's a different story.
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I've been using my stock pot more than my SV tub, especially like that I can put the pot on the stove to get the initial temp up if in a hurry thanks to Peter's advice. glad I have both in case I'm doing a bigger cook
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Exactly. I just bought the 26 qt. tub and lid. Haven't used it yet.
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That makes sense.

Tell me about the cheese slices. What's the consistency? Guessing kind of like an american cheese or even velveeta slice, just minus the chemicals?
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Depends on how long you want to cook for. I've done some 5 day long cooks and I used an insulated chest just so that the SV unit didn't have to work that hard to hold temp.
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5days!?!?!??
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:-)
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You have my attention.
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Yeah, beef shank. Unreal richness. But too tender, should have lowered the temp or gone shorter.

Just bought a whole lamb with 2 friends, when we divvy it up, if I grab a shank cut, I'm going to try it again.
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160 for 10 hours is done. I cut a slice off and quick sear after reseason and wow! I added a little BBQ sauce to the next slice and even better. Now i reseason the pork belly and letting it rest in the fridge till Sunday (if I don't keep cutting pieces). Then will seat the whole piece.

If I keep cutting I have another piece just started and will be going thru till Sunday morning on it at 135.00 till Saturday night then bring it to 145 till Sunday and then finish it in oven for crunch following the other recipe I found!
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So I did my first one last night, I call it Kitty Litter Chicken :-)

Didn't turn out quite as I had hoped. The boneless chicken breasts were great for me, but I know I like my chicken a little drier than most, which tells me others probably thought it was dry......even though they were kind and told me it wasn't.

I will say it had great flavor! Just not as juicy as the instructions made it out to seem.

I did it at 160 for 2.5 hours. I was only going to do it for 90-120 minutes but the guests arrived late.

I put it in before about 30 minutes before the water hit 160 because it was taking so long to get to temp. I was scared I wouldn't have enough time....Not sure if that was the culprit? There was a lot of juice in the bags in the end and they seemed very moist when I took them out. I only had them on the charcoal for about 4-5 minutes to brown up. I hope that wasn't too long.

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I looks really good!

Did you have any salt on them? Salt can dry meats out on longer ( > 1 hour) cooks.

If you cut back on (not eliminate) the salt during the bath and add it before the sear, they should come out ok.
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Here's a well written article on how time and temp relate to texture, juiciness, bag juices, gelling and so forth for chicken.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/07/t...en-breast.html

I ice bath the bags to bring the temp down, then open them and thoroughly dry off the meat before searing. Two things happen here: 1) you bring the temperature of the meat down so that when it heats up due to the sear, you don't go past your original target temp and over cook the meat. 2) if you don't dry them, you aren't searing, you're steaming them (which continues the cooking) until the moisture evaporates, then once that happens you get a sear.

Past that, make sure your grill is blazing hot, sear as quickly as possible as to not heat up the meat too much.

Oh, and save those bag juices, they are great for making sauces once they are strained. It's basically concentrated stock.
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I usually do chicken breast at 142-145...moist and delicious
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Funny this rarely comes up in discussions with my friends ...:-)
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I managed to avoid opening this thread for a year and a half....but now that I have (due in part to some gimmicky appliance on Shark Tank)...I have a couple questions....and I'm too lazy to do real reading and research....I haven't even read through much of this thread, but I may yet :-)

-Do I need anything other than one of those stick heater/circulator things (~$100), a $35 Sealameal, and some bags?

-Do most things require a pre-sear or post-sear or some other type of before or after cooking?

-I like food....but not enough to work very hard at it...I like grilling and pressure cooking and crock-potting....but if I decide this is like work, I probably won't get near it...is it work?

-I absolutely hate the fn name....prolly why I never opened this thread....Sous Vide????....really....wtf is that?...isn't it about time we say f*** the pretentious froggy gourmet stuff...and call it something American-y...like boilinabag or something? I'd probably have been all over it years ago, if it weren't for the name
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