A question for the sous vidiacs

albula

albula

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Finally said what the heck I need one of those. Planning on doing a pork loin roast tomorrow and after careful research discovered that I need to cook it in the sous vide at between 135 and 165 for 2-6 hours. Can anyone help me pin it down a bit more than that? Also read conflicting opinions on use of a heavy duty ziplock instead of a vacuum pack bag. Is this process really that complex? Thanks in advance for your expertise.
 
albula said:
Finally said what the heck I need one of those. Planning on doing a pork loin roast tomorrow and after careful research discovered that I need to cook it in the sous vide at between 135 and 165 for 2-6 hours. Can anyone help me pin it down a bit more than that? Also read conflicting opinions on use of a heavy duty ziplock instead of a vacuum pack bag. Is this process really that complex? Thanks in advance for your expertise.
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@clarkman ^
 
I've never done pork roast, but I have done pork tenderloin (totally different, I know). I really love that at 138-145 for 3-4 hrs (too long and the consistency gets more 'mushy', but depends on the cut). Then chill, pull out of the bag, pat relatively dry and finish on the grill. This gives me a really nice and juicy med looking pork (something that is rarely going to happen with standard cooking of pork due to it drying out) with a really nice crust on it. If I were doing a pork loin roast, I'd probably do the same temp that I listed above, 4 hrs, and just pat dry prior to finishing on the grill (you're not going to overcook the middle....can be a concern with thinner cuts, hence the chilling prior to finishing). That gives me almost more of a steak like finish to it, which I really like.

For beef, I'm a bit more precise with temps that I cook it at based on what I want my finished product to be like. Same with chicken. Veggies depend on the veggie....super easy to over do it.

I really hate using ziplocks. sure, they work ok, but vacuum sealing works better....imo

Finally, there's a nice graph somewhere....below is just a generic one for poultry. But, point being, you can go lower temps with this method of cooking for safety, but you've gotta go for a longer time. Low temp/long time can be important in breaking down connective tissue/fat, etc. For example, for my Tri-tip, I'll do it for 6-7 hrs at 133, chill, then finish on the grill, adding the juices (with whatever spices I used for a rub) to the au jus.
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mcswny said:
@clarkman ^
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How do you like your pork? I'm a 138 guy with a hard sear after it comes out. Comes out to roughly medium. I would never at any point consider 165 for a pork loin, but it each their own.

I find that ziplocs work fine for cooking, just suck all the air out and clip it to the side of your water container. However if trying to infuse flavor to your meat, vac sealing will add pressure to increase uptake of flavor.
 
Yeah, 165 would be pretty close to pork jerky! Around 140 is a good place to start and like everything else, there is a learning curve. Don't expect perfection on your first attempt but apply what you learn to the next one and so on. I am doing a pork tenderloin tomorrow and will vacuum seal it to infuse more flavor. Time and temp becomes a matter of personal preference, information you gain from experience. It's a lot like baking biscuits in that the process is deceptively simple. Given the small number of ingredients in biscuits you would think they would be simple but some people can't bake a good biscuit to save their ass. I'm sure some folks have similar problems with sous vide but it is very forgiving and you will probably recognize what it takes to make corrections.

I would think that a temp between 140 and 145 would work and not more than 3 hours in the tub. I'm curious to hear how it turned out.
 
I can’t remember the last time I did pork loin in a soup vide, but have always use serious eats as a starting point when dialing in a time/temp for a new protein. Based on what I see from their page on pork loin - Serious Eats pork tenderloin, I would be at ~137-140 for 1:15-1:45. A little warmer depending on your preferred cook temp.
When I first dabbled in this cooking style I learned that I prefer to be on the shorter side of the cooking windows for most meat I do. After a couple of over sous vide’d items, I have considered the additional time available in the cooking windows to be for convenience instead of cooking recommendations.
 
Didn't take any pictures but I cooked the 3 lb roast at 140 for 3 1/2 hours and finished it on the outside grill with a homemade char sui sauce. I considered it a success for an initial attempt but next time I think I will turn it down to 135 for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
 
Something to keep in mind while employing the sous vide....

The point of slow cooking meat is to render tough, hard to digest collagen into juicy, lip smacky gelatin. This process begins at 131° farenheit and from that point on works on a temp/time/total collagen matrix. Raise the heat and the total collagen will render into gelatin faster than at a lower heat. Conversely, keeping the heat low and allowing to go for more time will eventually produce the desired effect on the collagen with different effects on the meat itself.

For instance, years ago while I ran my BBQ restaurant I did a whole brisket in a sous vide at 135 for 56 hours. It was completely tender and the meat was medium rare. I don't reccomend doing it, as it's not as good as it sounds and is really kind of a turn off to have pink meat falling apart like that. But it is possible.

Why all this? A pork tenderloin has limited collagen and is best served in the medium rare-medium range (this chefs opinion.) After about an hour, all the cooking you want to do the pork loin is done, but at 135 for additional hours you may be breaking down the limited collagen holding the pork loin together, leading to a slightly mushy texture where something more toothy may be preferred.
 
Pink Nighty said:
Something to keep in mind while employing the sous vide....

The point of slow cooking meat is to render tough, hard to digest collagen into juicy, lip smacky gelatin. This process begins at 131° farenheit and from that point on works on a temp/time/total collagen matrix. Raise the heat and the total collagen will render into gelatin faster than at a lower heat. Conversely, keeping the heat low and allowing to go for more time will eventually produce the desired effect on the collagen with different effects on the meat itself.

For instance, years ago while I ran my BBQ restaurant I did a whole brisket in a sous vide at 135 for 56 hours. It was completely tender and the meat was medium rare. I don't reccomend doing it, as it's not as good as it sounds and is really kind of a turn off to have pink meat falling apart like that. But it is possible.

Why all this? A pork tenderloin has limited collagen and is best served in the medium rare-medium range (this chefs opinion.) After about an hour, all the cooking you want to do the pork loin is done, but at 135 for additional hours you may be breaking down the limited collagen holding the pork loin together, leading to a slightly mushy texture where something more toothy may be preferred.
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Am I correct in assuming from this that the internal temp of the roast would have gotten to 135-140 after only an hour in the sous vid? If so that would sure make meal timing and prep much more user friendly.
 
I went back to check my notes, and the last piece of pork I did (tenderloin, not roast), was indeed only in for about an hour and a half (I think we had limited time) at 138. we really liked it....but I have done them up to 3 in the past and meat consistency was still very good & not mushy at all....
 
albula said:
Am I correct in assuming from this that the internal temp of the roast would have gotten to 135-140 after only an hour in the sous vid? If so that would sure make meal timing and prep much more user friendly.
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Yes, 1 hour is plenty to bring your temp up to the set temperature.
 
clarkman said:
I went back to check my notes, and the last piece of pork I did (tenderloin, not roast), was indeed only in for about an hour and a half (I think we had limited time) at 138. we really liked it....but I have done them up to 3 in the past and meat consistency was still very good & not mushy at all....
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so, i bought some thick pork chops from local meat market in pdx, gartners,. maybe 2 hrs in the sous vide at 150 deg?
 
personally, I wouldn't go with 150. But I like a little more of a steak like chew to it. Then again, I also have not really experimented a ton with pork chops either, so hopefully someone else who has will chime in.
 
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