FAVORITE STUFF: Pyrex Griffen Beaker Set

I love this set of lab glassware from Pyrex. I may be a little extra nerdy with this but the set is made from borosilicate glass rather than the soda lime glass you will find in the Pyrex consumer grade glassware. Pyrex sold their consumer grade line to a separate company that uses soda lime glass unless you are lucky enough to get your Pyrex glassware in Europe (it is still made of borosilicate). I won't go into too much detail but borosilicate doesn't have has many thermal expansion issues (expanding when heating). The glass for the 1000 series (see the "1000" just below the white rectangle) is a little thin, the "heavy duty" 1003 series (pricier) is thicker. I use the above Griffen beaker set much more than I expected. It was a gift from my amazing girlfriend and I find it to be the perfect shape for using a hand mixer and the spout is fantastic for pouring into cream whippers, hot water for pour over coffee, ice cream churners etc...

1000 Series Set

27$ http://www.amazon.com/Corning-Graduated-Griffin-Beaker-Assortment/dp/B004DGIITC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424628182&sr=8-1&keywords=pyrex+griffin+beaker



1003 Series (thicker glass):

http://www.amazon.com/PYREX-Griffin-Beaker-Double-Graduated/dp/B00LORGN8Q/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1429675986&sr=8-2&keywords=pyrex+1003

http://www.amazon.com/PYREX-Griffin-Beaker-Double-Graduated/dp/B00LORGJ1C/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1429675986&sr=8-4&keywords=pyrex+1003

Sous Vide: Strip Steak

 We tried it two different ways, pre (steak 1) and post seared (steak 2). I know I should not season before hand but considering how bland the chicken was, I did it to both anyway. We seared steak 1 in butter on a pan and steak 2 went straight into the bag. Before searing steak 1, I seasoned and put it in the fridge on a rack to dry out. I removed steak 1 from the fridge and quickly seared while it was pretty cold and put it in the bag. 

Both steaks cooked at 56°C for an hour and a half.

The non seared steak (steak 2) looks a strange gray throughout cooking, expected but still strange when you see it the first time.

When the time was up, we seared steak 2 with some butter, rosemary and thyme. We also threw the pre seared steak 1 on the pan quickly to get a better crust.

Steak 1

The pre seared steak 1 was juicier. Searing the steak when it is pretty chilly, from the fridge, keeps the middle pretty raw and ready to sous vide. Searing the steak after sous vide cooking (steak 2) dried it out a little. Maybe cooking it in a lower temp bath would make searing dry it out less but I'll play around with that more later. I didn't pay attention to grain when I sliced so it's a little chewier than it should have been. still pretty juicy.

Sous Vide: Crème brûlée

Amazing. This thing is perfect for egg based stuff. 

Youtube video coming soon.

Sous Vide: Egg

Really amazing egg. Custardy white and creamy yolk. Cooked it 75°C for thirteen minutes. I can't cook chicken with it (see last post) but I can cook a pretty good egg... A $170 egg cooker in my hands. Cooking with a circulator is not as straight forward as websites suggest, it takes a lot of prep.

Sous Vide: First Attempt (one of the most disgusting chicken dishes I have ever had)

Complete Failure. I tried to sous vide some chicken breast; most sites said not to season prior to cooking and put some fat (I used olive oil) in the bag to help keep shape and for the heat to better penetrate the meat. I really can't say there were any positives. I used a ziplock bag, added olive oil and a few breast tenders. I then cooked at 60 °C for one hour.

The meat was dry and a really strange mealy texture. I'm not sure if the texture or flavor was worse.

this can't be right

 Using olive oil in the bag was a mistake, it is all I could taste. I kept adding salt but there was no fixing what I did to this chicken. I talked about my Anova Sous Vide Circulator coming in for so long and to everyone: my sister, family, girlfriend, people on the bus, random vagrants etc... I was pretty excited for my christmas gift even though it didn't have a compass in the stalk or this thing that tells time but I ended up shooting my eye out... I mean I shot my mouth... with terrible chicken breast.
My dog liked it though.

I think chicken really needs to be brined prior to cooking sous vide. From what I have read, it keeps the texture from getting too mushy and goes a long way to keep it from being bland.

IT'S IN! A few weeks early too. My dog wasn't as excited.
Over the next few months I will give a pretty extensive account on my opinion of this immersion circulator and cooking sous vide.

Favorite Dishes: The Nooner at Jonathon's (Dallas, TX)

I am starting to notice a trend of my favorite restaurant dishes being major risks for heart attach but nonetheless here is "Tha Nooner" (off menu at Jonathon's in Dallas). This is a half pound all beef patty piled high with ham, thick bacon, swiss, tomato, american cheese and topped with a sunny side up egg. The bun is soft and grilled crunchy and the fries are salty and crispy. If you have a craving for a hearty burger, this will demolish it.