Sous Vide Sous Vide Salmon + Compressed Fruit

Unit is freshly arrived from UPS.

Canteloupe and Watermelon:

Into the chamber for evacuation

Hard peach spritzer for liquid:

Hard lemonade spritzer:

Marlbourough Savignon Blanc:

Berry flavored Ciroc:

Farmed Atlantic Salmon, fresh dill, lemon rounds, and cultured butter:


107F for 30 minutes. I think I'd go around 125F next time:

Work station, with some local art from a friend:

Fresh out of cool water bath:


Lots of EVOO, and I tried to spoon the oil back onto the top...not impressed with the results:


Plated:


I'd definitely do this differently next time. I'd leave out the dill and lemon, then make a Meunière sauce with lemon and dill to go on top. This would allow me to brown the top, and control the acidity, herbs, and richness with much more precision. Still, not a bad trip about the block for kicking the tyres on the VP112.

A good way to "poach fish" in sousvide is in clarified butter dont try and seal it after though. Its very delicate and delicous also marron tails are very nice aswell

I just do 139 for, I think it was like 11-15 minutes or so... Are you curing your salmon in a salt bath first?

ThEoRy said:

I just do 139 for, I think it was like 11-15 minutes or so... Are you curing your salmon in a salt bath first?

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Theory, can you post this recipe please.

ThEoRy said:

I just do 139 for, I think it was like 11-15 minutes or so... Are you curing your salmon in a salt bath first?

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No, never heard of curing salmon like that. Can you elaborate?

You have to make a 10 to 1 ratio water to salt bath and cure the salmon in it for like 15 minutes. Then let it form a pelical in the fridge. 30 minutes per side maybe. This cured outer layer will prevent the albumen excretion (the gross white stuff) during the cooking process.

Also of note anything touching the salmon like the lemon wheels or herbs will act as an insulator against the cooking medium.

So it won't affect the flavor/texture significantly, this is for presentation?

Will give it a try next time, thanks for the tip!

ThEoRy said:

You have to make a 10 to 1 ratio water to salt bath and cure the salmon in it for like 15 minutes. Then let it form a pelical in the fridge. 30 minutes per side maybe. This cured outer layer will prevent the albumen excretion (the gross white stuff) during the cooking process.

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I edited my post above. Also yes, it will effect the flavor as you have effectively seasoned the fish. Don't use pepper in the bag either but season with it after it comes out.

ThEoRy said:

You have to make a 10 to 1 ratio water to salt bath and cure the salmon in it for like 15 minutes. Then let it form a pelical in the fridge. 30 minutes per side maybe. This cured outer layer will prevent the albumen excretion (the gross white stuff) during the cooking process.

Also of note anything touching the salmon like the lemon wheels or herbs will act as an insulator against the cooking medium.

Click to expand...

ThEoRy said:

I edited my post above. Also yes, it will effect the flavor as you have effectively seasoned the fish. Don't use pepper in the bag either but season with it after it comes out.

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Yes, I was going to just put salmon + butter in the bag next time, put the other stuff in a sauce to go on top. Too many constraints with having that stuff there throughout prep.

Also, I was doing some reading about pellicles, and see that it helps with smoke absorption if you are going to smoke it (hot or cold).

Thanks again Rick!

Ok, so let me summarize so I get this right.

Cure salmon in salt water
Form pellicle
Sous vide in clarified butter with herbs 139 for 11 to 15 minutes
Brown outside in searing pan

Anything important I missed?

Sauce Meunière

I've seen 3 different time/temps for this:

30 min @ 107F
20 min @ 125F
15 min @ 139F

probably down to how much protein denaturing you want (how pink/orange vs white).

Ucmd said:

Ok, so let me summarize so I get this right.

Cure salmon in salt water
Form pellicle
Sous vide in clarified butter with herbs 139 for 11 to 15 minutes
Brown outside in searing pan

Anything important I missed?

Click to expand...

For protein (and keep in mind that I've only done low temp water baths the old fashioned way, with a pot and ice cubes and a lot of time on my hands, or in coolers with pre-heated water), I prefer longer times and lower temps. I have a very nice rib-eye in a cooler surrounded with 125*-ish water, as we speak. I should probably buy one of the new circulators.

That salmon would have been beautiful if it had been transferred from the bags (and the other stuff scraped off) into a very hot and very well seasoned cast iron or carbon steal pan for a brief sear on each side. That's how I do it.

I only seared it on the bottom, due to having the lemon/dill on the top. Definitely do that differently next time.

EdipisReks said:

For protein (and keep in mind that I've only done low temp water baths the old fashioned way, with a pot and ice cubes and a lot of time on my hands, or in coolers with pre-heated water), I prefer longer times and lower temps. I have a very nice rib-eye in a cooler surrounded with 125*-ish water, as we speak. I should probably buy one of the new circulators.

That salmon would have been beautiful if it had been transferred from the bags (and the other stuff scraped off) into a very hot and very well seasoned cast iron or carbon steal pan for a brief sear on each side. That's how I do it.

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That makes sense, then.

I just bought a PolyScience Sous Vide Creative from overstock.com. After reading a bunch of reviews, I think it's worth the extra $100, but we'll see. I'm happy with the cooler method for cooking, but this is going to be really handy, I'm sure.

I don't use clarified butter for sous vide. Either whole butter or evoo. Maybe a beurre Monte. I'll throw some herbs and sliced shallot in there too. I've also used thyme and garlic infused milk for halibut.

Just make sure any solid aromatics aren't touching the protein directly during the cook.

ThEoRy said:

Just make sure any solid aromatics aren't touching the protein directly during the cook.

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why?

Zwiefel said:

why?

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My question too. I've done it many times, and seen it in many, many recipes. Almost any protein I cook in a water bath is going to be hit with an extremely hot pan (I'd rather braise things like short ribs, typically, though there are exceptions), so I don't see why it matters.

EdipisReks said:

My question too. I've done it many times, and seen it in many, many recipes. Almost any protein I cook in a water bath is going to be hit with an extremely hot pan (I'd rather braise things like short ribs, typically, though there are exceptions), so I don't see why it matters.

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Several reasons actually. Any aromatics you vacuum in the bag will have their flavors infused into the protein regardless since the flavors are being pressurized into the flesh. Secondly, the surface of the protein needs direct contact with the cooking medium for proper temperature control, cook time and doneness. A nicely cooked piece of fish with a big round raw spot where the lemon wheel sat up against it is not a good thing to have happen. Let's also mention items like rosemary, thyme, shallot etc can actually puncture and damage the product. Also lemon or other citrus directly against the fish will have the cerviche effect essentially cooking it with the acic. This will change the texture of the fish and prevent it from getting a proper sear if you chose to do so.

My question for you Edipis is what restaurant do you work at currently or have worked at where you learned your methods? I think experience can be the best teacher. I'm happy to offer my own experiences for you to learn from.

I see what you're trying to do, Theory: I've seen some of your knives. Let's just leave it at that.

It's not really a cure.... More a brine. Take the skin off if you're going to sous vide......you can crisp the skin separate and add as garnish. Sous vide than trying to crisp is harder.

139 is high if you're looking for that perfect rare-ish center.

EdipisReks said:

I see what you're trying to do, Theory: I've seen some of your knives. Let's just leave it at that.

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I'm pretty sure we are talking cooking techniques, not knives.

We don't circulate with any acids....it's very easy to create an over powering taste.

You can easily change vac pressures regarding compression vs. bag seal on quality chamber vacs. I agree that products shouldn't necessarily be touching but thyme / rosemary puncturing bags? Not if using good 3 mil sous vide bags and proper vac pressure given ingredient.

NotSwedishChef said:

We don't circulate with any acids....it's very easy to create an over powering taste.

You can easily change vac pressures regarding compression vs. bag seal on quality chamber vacs. I agree that products shouldn't necessarily be touching but thyme / rosemary puncturing bags? Not if using good 3 mil sous vide bags and proper vac pressure given ingredient.

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Not puncturing the bag, puncturing the product.

And well, everyone has seen my knives by this point.

+1 on not adding stuff besides the protein + liquid when using vac seal bags, it tastes funny and texture gets weird. for salmon tho, salt brine/pan sear is the way to go man!

panda said:

+1 on not adding stuff besides the protein + liquid when using vac seal bags, it tastes funny and texture gets weird. for salmon tho, salt brine/pan sear is the way to go man!

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I hope I'm not being misunderstood again. I'm not saying don't put stuff in the bag. You can certainly put stuff in the bag. Just put it in the back corner where it isn't touching or covering the product.

I get what you're saying, we avoid it.....different strokes for different folks

I would agree on no lemons in the bag...particularly not on the fish itself.

Having said that, and this is just my 2 cents, I'm not sure sous vide would be high on my list of salmon methods. If you're after a really clean flavor, I'd poach in Court Bouillon. More intense flavor, salmon is great poached in EVOO. Either way, use the salt bath first.....nothing worse than salmon coated in white.