Stove-top Sous Vide

Haha, honestly, I've never cooked duck before either. I always felt it was something best left up to the pros. Few things are worse than poorly cooked duck. This was a rousing success. The duck was great, succulent & juicy, with a crispy skin. It was relatively easy to keep the temp at 135F once I got it there on the low setting on my stove. The temp dropped once during the cooking, because I turned on the ceiling fan. I don't really have any suggestions - it was pretty easy. I made a peach faux-gastrique to go with it. 1 part sherry vinegar, 2 parts peach preserves, and 3 parts chicken stock, pinch of cayenne. Delicious. Also steamed some asparagus. Pics Fresh out of the water bath: After sauteing: Closeup: Cut, before saucing: How does the doneness look? My instant read put it at 136 after crisping the skin. It looks a bit overdone in the picture, but we both thought it tasted fine. Also, apologies for the quick pictures of the done breasts. I was trying to be quick and take pics in the 2 minutes they rested. I'll probably be trying some other stuff this way soon - steak for sure, probably chicken. I saw a cool post on a blog about a sous vide hamburger, so I may try that as well.

Awesome! I actually like my duck a tad rarer than what you have there, but it looks pretty good, nonetheless. You've inspired me to try this stove-top vide vide method for myself next weekend.

Originally Posted by mm84321

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Awesome! I actually like my duck a tad rarer than what you have there, but it looks pretty good, nonetheless. You've inspired me to try this stove-top vide vide method for myself next weekend.
I think the flash lightened it up a little. It was still pretty red in natural light. I didn't feel like messing around with the lighting because it was time to eat.

That looks excellent. Good job.

Originally Posted by mm84321

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I have the same type of sous chef. The kind that just sits and stares at you the whole time you're cooking waiting for something to drop on the floor.
sounds a hell of a lot more like an executive chef in that case.

Wish it was a bit more rare than this, but still pretty good. I think a problem was I was taking the temperature mostly at the top of the water with a meat thermometor (combined with a candy thermometor to double check) while the duck breast sat on the bottom of the pot, so it was a few degrees hotter down there, a fact that I missed until the last part of cooking. Like KJT said though, it's still not as done as the pictures seem to indicate; poor lighting + Droid camera = not good at capturing color.

Oh, and I'm trying my first Crus de Beaujolais with a 2009 Georges Duboef Fleurie.

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

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sounds a hell of a lot more like an executive chef in that case.

awesome thread. Subscribed. which food sealer do people use?

I didn't use a vacuum sealer. I used just a big Ziploc freezer bag. I sealed all but the corner, submerged it until only that corner stuck out, then sealed it. Got basically all the air out.

Food saver for me.

Something like this:
http://www.foodsaver.com/Product.asp...cid=87&pid=253

What's the shotgun for? You expecting one of the little buggers to get up on those stumpy legs and run off?

Originally Posted by KJT

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How does the doneness look? My instant read put it at 136 after crisping the skin. It looks a bit overdone in the picture, but we both thought it tasted fine.
The doneness looks great. THat's the beauty of sous vide... it's a consistent color all the way through, so mid-rare doesn't mean raw center/over-cooked near the skin.. .it's just mid-rare all the way through. Plus, how did it taste? That's the true gauge.

Originally Posted by TheButler

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What's the shotgun for? You expecting one of the little buggers to get up on those stumpy legs and run off?

LMAO!

Originally Posted by TheButler

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What's the shotgun for? You expecting one of the little buggers to get up on those stumpy legs and run off?

Believe it or not, that's a photo from the foodsaver website. The machine I have is listed as the "game master" or something.