Tried a pork loin that had been well marinated. Cooked it at 140 for 3 hours. Was very tender and did not have any character and no taste of marinade.
Next try was chicken tenders. Cooked at 140 for almost 2 hours. Used it for Orange Chicken. It was very tender and kind of like eating tofu with orange sauce.
Third try was a marbled beef chuck roast. Put salt, pepper and onion powder on before vacuum bagging it. Cooked for 48 hours at 135. Seared in oil in cast iron pan on all sides. Was very tender but not falling apart. Did not taste like a roast.
My wife thinks I wasted money on sous vide. Everything I read raves about everything cooked this way, but we have not experienced that.. What am I doing wrong?
New to sous vide and not having any luck
sous-vide
Best Answer
Sous vide is a great method for getting tender meat but it doesn't impart flavor to anything. Marinades only go so far adding flavor, you need your meat to have flavor in the first place. Other than from marinade flavor in cooked meat comes from:
The simple truth is you won't get a tasty result in cooking unless you start with good ingredients, and this is especially true in sous vide cooking, or any slow cooking method really. Sous vide is not a magic bullet which transforms mediocre steak into amazing steak, it's got to be amazing steak in the first place. Good restaurants use the best quality meats they can get their hands on, so if you want to get similar results you will too.