sous vide escapades, vol. 3: pork roast

While it may seem like heresy to put a roast in a plastic bag and cook it in water, well... it is. But I did it any way.

The Joule chefstep instructions were fine, with one caveat. The pork squeezes as it cooks, so I believe it takes longer than stated. Because you have such a big window with the sous vide machine, I recommend overestimating the time in the pot.

Once done, I recommend the broiler to brown it. This will cook it to 145 degrees internally (assuming you come out of the oven at about 135) while giving you a beautiful brown crust.

sous vide escapes, vol. 2: duck breast

I have never cooked duck before. Finally tried it--duck breast. This seemed like a natural fit for sous vide.

The recipe came direct from Chefsteps and I did not vary it in any way.

There was a slightly elaborate preparation ritual that took place.

Score the skin.
Heat iron skillet, no oil.
Sear, skin side down, for three minutes.
Add garlic and thyme to iron skillet.
Sear, breast side, one minute.

Put duck and thyme and garlic into sous vide bag.
Cook at 136 degrees for about an hour (whatever the recipe says)

Reserve duck fat from pan.
Heat iron skillet. Very hot.
Sear, skin side down, for two minutes to three minutes, until brown and crispy.

It worked like a charm. I could have cooked at a lower temperature. The re-sear will cook the duck a hair more. But quite tasty.