Hi all. I’m quite new with this, but after doing different kind of meats a few times - one problem comes up each time: the meat gives away quite a bit of juice in the process, and so at the end of the process the meat is tender and all that - but quite dry… Is it just me - or does this sound familiar? Any ideas of how to cope with it? Thank you:-)
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What kinds of marinades are you using? Are you using the recommended temperatures? Are you cooking them for the recommended lengths of time?
I have yet to get any dry meat so I can only think that either a) your marinades are too acidic/otherwise inappropriate for meat to be in for longer periods of time or b) you’re using the wrong temperature for the cut/type of meat or c) you’re cooking them too long for that specific cut. Others may have other ideas but those are, in my experience, the most likely culprits for dry meat.
Dryness is a product of two things: First, the cut itself. Secondly, the temperature the protein was cooked to. A steak cooked to 129F via sous vide and via a grill/broiler/etc should be have a negligent difference in moisture/dryness. The meat is not in anyway giving up any more juice using sous vide than it would any other method. Some examples of what you’re cooking and what temp you are cooing them to would give us a better path to solving the problem!
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Thank you for your quick reply! Much appreciated:-) The last time I did this was when making the traditional Norwegian Christmas dinner, and that’s pork belly (sounds a bit boring, I know). I then had the meat vacuumed and had it in for 30 hrs, temp Celsius 63/F 145, before giving it some time in the oven. It was great and everything, but the vacuum bag was so full of juice… It’s great for the sauce, but the meat was quite dry…
I can assure you that cooking sous vide did not draw more moisture out. It appears that way because the juice is kept where you can see it. I wonder if the oven overcooked it? What was the internal temp when you pulled it from the oven?
Hmm, maybe you’re right, but in the plastic bag there are a lot of juice at the end of the time in the water tank, hard to remember the amount exactly, but surprisingly much. I’m aware that some moisture will come out with any technique, but the amount and the fact that it appears dry when eaten made me think it was something I did wrong…
It’s just because you can see the juice it loses, and it appears to be a lot because it’s all collected right there in the bag with nowhere to go. If you had roasted it from the start, the same (and prob more) would come out as well, but would evaporate and you wouldn’t really know it. My conclusion is that it was in the oven too long and overcooked. Next time, before going in the oven, chill the meat. This will prevent overcooking.
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