In the spirit of slowing down (which is very challenging for me), my family has out voted me and we decided to stay home and relax again.
My husband has taken up a new hobby that is requiring us to stay home, so this is good I think. He loves to BBQ meats and to smoke them too. This week he took up an even slower process of cooking meats, called Sous-Vide which is French for “under vacuum.” Basically you season and vacuum seal your meat of choice and then stick them in a large pot filled with hot water. Then you manage the temperature of the water and cook the meat for longer than normal cooking hours at an accurately regulated temperature that maintains the moisture levels of the meat. This is done by using a sous vide immersion circulator that maintains the flow and temperature of the water.
Jeff had fun researching this new method and coming up with a marinade for the pork shoulder we purchased. Juliana and I helped him by vacuum sealing the bags and before we went to bed last night, we started cooking our dinner for tonight. It took 20 hours for the meat to perfectly cook.
Jeff took the cooked pieces and placed them on the smoker for just minutes to transfer the smoked flavoring as the finishing touches to the meat.
When it was done, no forks were necessary to shred the pork because it was that moist and tender.
I had fun watching him enjoy this new project and seeing his joy as he tasted his creation. I loved that he was so happy. We all enjoyed the benefits from his new hobby and the delicious dinner he prepared for us.
Life is good.
here i am 
I lived seeing Jeff get the gloves on & take the meat all apart. I had my gloves on tonight & last night as I made Bread & Butter pickles & tonight put up some yellow tomatoes-lots of work. XO PH
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Hope you had fun though!! I bet they all taste so fresh and delicious!
Wow,that looks delicious! I love pulled pork that is so tender that it falls off the bone! Great job Jeff, I will be right over!!!
Come on over!!
I love sous-vide and have used it all the time for almost four years now. At what temperature did you cook the pork shoulder? I like to cook it for 48 hours at 57C/135F or 62C/143F depending on what type of texture I am looking for (the higher temperature is more flaky).
Hey there – thanks for stopping by. I think he cooked 15 pounds for 20 hours and I think it was at the higher temp – 62/143. It fell apart in his hands and was so moist and delicious. We are having fun with it! What’s your favorite thing to make sous-vide style?
That’s a difficult question. My favorites include fish (e.g. salmon at 43C or European sea bass at 48C and then pan seared on the skin), or beef that is usually stewed but now tender and served medium rare such as beef short ribs or brisket for 48 hours at 57C.
I forgot to add that after it was done cooking, he put the meat on the smoker with apple wood for 45 minutes to add an extra layer of flavoring. Hungry?
I just had dinner, but it sounds great. As a suggestion for a future experiment, try smoking first (15 minutes should do it) and then cooking sous-vide. This will allow the smoky flavor to penetrate all the way to the core of the meat.