Slow cooker hack - sous vide
Posted: Mon 20 Feb 2017 7:31 am
I've been experimenting with the use of a slow cooker as a sous vide cooking device... and guess what. It could not be simpler.
Why? You may ask... well restaurants have been using this method for many years to perfectly cook rare, medium rare, and medium steaks that you just don't seem to be able to replicate with total reliability, often because steak thickness varies and cooking temperatures fluctuate.
Using my Russell Hobbs slow cooker I have developed a fool-proof method to re-create the perfect steak.
All you need is some seal-able plastic bags of the food-use variety... preferably with a double zip... I bought some in Ikea and they are perfect for the job. I also have a meat temperature probe which I use to check the temperature of the sous vide bath... see below. You don't really need this but I have used mine to confirm I'm not getting temperatures in excess of the desired one just for peace of mind.
I put the steak (only one per bag -so if you want to cook two do two bags) with a generous seasoning of ground salt and black pepper, some thyme a sprig of fresh or a good pinch of dried, a table spoon of oil (I prefer to use rapeseed oil but you could use a knob of butter if that is your preference) and a peeled and squashed but not minced clove of garlic e.g. keeping it whole so that it can easily be removed later. Fill a pan or the slow cooker with with tap water and immerse the bag making sure to keep the open edge just above the water... this will drive all the air out of the bag and give the vacuum effect you are after... Then carefully seal the bag's zipper and check that it is sealed and nearly all air has been driven out. Basic physics but it works wonders.
Leave to marinate for a couple of hours in the fridge...
My slow cooker has three settings
1 Low,
2 Hot and thirdly
'{{' two wiggly lines that means 'Warm'
This third setting it turns out is pretty much perfect for sous vide use, 60 - 63 degrees and here's the hack - if you prop the lid open slightly it keeps the temperature stable at 63 degrees during the cooking time...
Cooking times in pre-heated water (I add boiled water and cold to get the basic temp to about 70 degrees and then adding the steaks brings it back down to the desired temperature... I use the probe to confirm we are good to go.
I prop open the lid of the slow cooker with a chopstick
So far I have found that the following cooking times give the results I want
40 mins gives a medium-well finish
35 mins gives a medium-rare finish
so I'm guessing 30 will provide a rare result.
These might seem like long cooking times but remember these are low temperatures and the slow cooker uses very little electricity so this is a cost effective method too.
Once your steak has bathed for the time needed remove the bag contents and sear in a hot frying pan with the contents of the bag to get that lovely exterior you need to make your steak perfect.
Many articles I have read on this process advocate the use of a thermocouple and other gadgetry to do this... They have an agenda to sell you stuff you don't need.
Why? You may ask... well restaurants have been using this method for many years to perfectly cook rare, medium rare, and medium steaks that you just don't seem to be able to replicate with total reliability, often because steak thickness varies and cooking temperatures fluctuate.
Using my Russell Hobbs slow cooker I have developed a fool-proof method to re-create the perfect steak.
All you need is some seal-able plastic bags of the food-use variety... preferably with a double zip... I bought some in Ikea and they are perfect for the job. I also have a meat temperature probe which I use to check the temperature of the sous vide bath... see below. You don't really need this but I have used mine to confirm I'm not getting temperatures in excess of the desired one just for peace of mind.
I put the steak (only one per bag -so if you want to cook two do two bags) with a generous seasoning of ground salt and black pepper, some thyme a sprig of fresh or a good pinch of dried, a table spoon of oil (I prefer to use rapeseed oil but you could use a knob of butter if that is your preference) and a peeled and squashed but not minced clove of garlic e.g. keeping it whole so that it can easily be removed later. Fill a pan or the slow cooker with with tap water and immerse the bag making sure to keep the open edge just above the water... this will drive all the air out of the bag and give the vacuum effect you are after... Then carefully seal the bag's zipper and check that it is sealed and nearly all air has been driven out. Basic physics but it works wonders.
Leave to marinate for a couple of hours in the fridge...
My slow cooker has three settings
1 Low,
2 Hot and thirdly
'{{' two wiggly lines that means 'Warm'
This third setting it turns out is pretty much perfect for sous vide use, 60 - 63 degrees and here's the hack - if you prop the lid open slightly it keeps the temperature stable at 63 degrees during the cooking time...
Cooking times in pre-heated water (I add boiled water and cold to get the basic temp to about 70 degrees and then adding the steaks brings it back down to the desired temperature... I use the probe to confirm we are good to go.
I prop open the lid of the slow cooker with a chopstick
So far I have found that the following cooking times give the results I want
40 mins gives a medium-well finish
35 mins gives a medium-rare finish
so I'm guessing 30 will provide a rare result.
These might seem like long cooking times but remember these are low temperatures and the slow cooker uses very little electricity so this is a cost effective method too.
Once your steak has bathed for the time needed remove the bag contents and sear in a hot frying pan with the contents of the bag to get that lovely exterior you need to make your steak perfect.
Many articles I have read on this process advocate the use of a thermocouple and other gadgetry to do this... They have an agenda to sell you stuff you don't need.