Yay carrots! I got a family bag for AU$2. The intent was to split into 4 or 5 single serves, with different spices and other treatments per bag so I could document results and preferences. Your sharpie is your friend. Peeling is for losers
More on the carrot bagging at the bottom of this post.
6pm, no mucking about. The fish tank is great for lower temperature cooks but for vegetables I need to roll out the esky.
Instead of the long slow wait for the fish tank to come up to temperature (thin glass walls, cling-film ālidā), the esky rocketed up to the correct temperature in minutes. I was able to add hot tap water from the start without risking seal failure and floor flooding. Is that a real risk? Perhaps Iām paranoid, but until it happens I will never know. Perhaps a destruction test is in order.
Anyway, itās just a shame the esky is not transparent. I mean, if Scotty could make transparent aluminium, why canāt Esky make a see-through cooler? But I digress.The insulated esky means significantly less energy used to achieve and maintain the desired temperature, plus less thermal leakage into the kitchen which is an important consideration in this part of the world. Please note the disgraced fish tank to the right.
Please, manufacturers such as Cambro, Tupperware et al, please consider making double-walled clear polycarbonate vessels with tight-fitting double-wall lids with cutouts to suit these amazing devices.
Carrots Yay!
I saw a SV carrot recipe that mentioned cinnamon and I got curious, so my first bag had cinnamon added. Unfortunately the cap of the cinnamon jar came off and dumped a whole load in to the first bag, so rather than waste it I ended up using it for 3 of the 5 bags. I hope I like the recipe! To add variation I added brown sugar to one bag and honey to another, for the sticky sweet glaze, and went mad from there. Please note the large wodge of butter (salt reduced, if you please) in some of the bags.
Carrots were one of the first things I tried. I too had a large bag of them and they were a hit. The ones with brown sugar and butter were especially good. After the water bath I reduced the sauce to concentrate the flavor. They were delicious.
We just tried some carrots the other day. Serious Eats/Food Lab had a little glazed carrot writeup (adaptable to other similar vegs) and ChefSteps has covered it as well. Couple facts and things I really liked:
Pectin doesnāt break down until 183. So hit that temp and softening GO. (Bit higher, and soften faster.) You also likely want real vacuum seal bags for this, or very high quality zip-loc style bags. IIRC 190 is the death point for them (especially in longer sous vide cooking).
Pre-cut for serving, also smaller allows shorter cook times, etc.
Particular recipe I used was just a bit of sugar, salt, butter in the bag, then opened and tossed into skillet for reduction to serve. Little salt/pepper/fresh parsley (I cheat and use freeze dried) to taste.
BONUS: You could make a couple batches of these, (probably eat one that day) but quick chill and throw the rest in the fridge for eating within a week or so. Just empty into large skillet for reduction and warming. Going to do this and see how well it works. Nice way to have some high quality vegs ready for company, not have yet another boiling pot or whatever heating the kitchen that day, etc etc.
Learn from my fail. DO NOT ADD SALT TO THE BAG! Of the batch of four carrot servings I made when first writing this post, I put some salt in one of them. Last night it was that bagās turn to shine in the spotlight, but sadly it was like eating orange carrot-shaped salt chunks. Ew! I mean seriously, it was like biting into a chunk of concentrated salt that just happened to be orange and carrot shaped. Please make this a rule: salt after cooking, otherwise itās too late to fix and the product of your hour plus worth of anticipation is destined for the bin.Ā
@Simon_C Were the salty carrots refrigerated after cooking for some time? I bet all of the salt in the sauce was absorbed into the carrots much like if you were brining a piece of meat. Were the ones you ate right away OK? It is good to know though as making these in several bags and saving some is what I do as well.Ā
