Gravy's Cooking Thread

My understanding if you want to sous-vide turkey/chicken, the white meat parts and the dark meat parts need to cook for different times. That is why sous-viding a whole bird turns out like crap. Sounds like a_skeleton_03 has that covered by planning on deconstructing the turkey first.

I've done a couple of deep-fried turkeys now and they are pretty damn delicious. I'd say they are the best turkeys I've had. But dealing with the oil is a pain in the ass. First of all the oil is expensive, then you have to either properly store it for reuse or figure out how to dispose of the oil. I picked up an infrared-cooker and I won't go back to deep frying. Pretty much the same short cook time, still makes a high-quality, juicy, comparable bird and there is virtually no clean up. It can be a little tricky to cook the turkey w/o burning the skin but if you follow the instructions (cook w/ lid open if skin is crisping too fast) and utilize some foil the skin should be perfect. Also great for cooking whole chickens and stuff as well.

I bought that cooker early this year because I didn't want to start a charcoal fire for just the wife and I. I can't believe I'm saying this about a propane grill, but I love this thing.

The gas ring is around the outside of the cooking area, so there is no chance of propane flare taste. I do chicken and burgers on it all the time.

I do keep the charcoal grill handy for steaks and long smoking.

Soygen_sl said:

Is that thing an infrared cooker? I've never used one.

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Yes.Here is an Amazon linkto the one I bought.

It is actually a very versatile little cooker. Infrared roasting inside, has a top you can grill on (like burgers and dogs), and you can even supposedly do some smoking in it, although I've never tried straight up smoking things and have only used that feature when I wanted to add a little smoke flavor to something I was roasting (like a turkey). It seemed like an actual smoker would be a better option for straight-up smoking. You'd be swapping out wood chips way more often with the roaster.

Soygen_sl said:

Is that thing an infrared cooker? I've never used one.

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It's called The Big Easy. Like your momma.

Seriously though, am I missing the way infrared is supposed to be at work here? It looks all convection and conduction to me. But I'm ignorant.

Gravy_sl said:

It's called The Big Easy. Like your momma.

Seriously though, am I missing the way infrared is supposed to be at work here? It looks all convection and conduction to me. But I'm ignorant.

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It's the exact opposite of convection. It uses radiant heat to cook your food, which means less air/gas going around your food which leads to less drying out.


*edit: More infos on radiant heat:GrillJunkie Gas Grill Reviews: Char-Broil TRU Infrared

mkopec_sl said:

This shit is such a farce. Weve been fed a whole bunch of lies about fat, saturated fat, red meat, etc. All the while they keep on pushing sugars and starches that turn into sugars in a millisecond in your stomach. But hey, its low fat, right? Think about it, men have eaten animals and fucking nuts and berries for 5 million years, and now were supposed to eat cereal and white bread to make us healthy in the last 100? LOL.

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whenever i get someone tell me what i am eating is poison and full of glutens and neutrons or whatever. i just think that of that old henny youngman line.

Q: why do men live shorter lives than women?

A: we want to

You guys are losing me. It all sounds like nonsense.

chaos_sl said:

I do chicken breasts for lunch at work because they are cheap and easy and healthy. Mostly I do them in the pan, but I had sous vided(ed) them for a few weeks because I was lazy and they were frozen, it was easier. The past two weeks I went back to the pan, and the results are testably inferior. Sous vide ftw.

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what are you cooking them with?

My girlfriend made Gobdol Bibimbap (without a hot plate, because we're buying a house soon - can't afford that shit!) and it was insanely good. Sesame oil makes everything better.

I really wish there was a good Asian market somewhere near me. All the "Asian" markets are really just Indian markets and their produce is haggard and disgusting.

I feel racist doing it but I just want to start walking up to random asian people and saying "Where do you buy your food?!"

chaos_sl said:

Salt and pepper, I am a simple man.

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So sous vide chicken breasts with salt and pepper, refridgerated - then eaten cold or microwaved? I've tried batch cooking chicken breast sous vide but I can't eat it plain the next day, I usually make a budget curry with coconut milk and curry paste