Comments on: Sous vide at home – Chicken legs at 64°C during 60 minutes

By: bart

bart — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:06:19 +0000

Just started with the sous-vide cooking, preparing menu for the suummer. I would like to do a chickenleg, served along the lines of a confit duck leg. So far I haven`t got a proper result yet, luckily I am still in the testing phase. I udes to cook them for 3-4 hrs at 65C, resulting in tender meat but still red around the bones, last ones I did were for 6 hrs still at 65c, still not satisfied. I`ll keep trying and update later.
Cheers, congratz with the blog

By: Laika

Laika — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 17:23:30 +0000

I am looking at Baldwin’s book now, and he recommends cooking the legs at 80c for 8-12 hours. I have done this twice, and the results are fantastic. The question is whether I need to cook it that long. He says also that if you cook at 70c you should do it for 24 hours.

By: walter

walter — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 19:27:59 +0000

hello:
great site with a lot of interesting details. i upgraded my equipment and now use the bubbler /heater from the CDN supplier (freshmeat). it works very well!

i tried this recipe, though the taste was fine, my guests(without sous vide experience) found the texture to be a bit rubbery. i tend to agree. should the time be decreased a bit or possibly a different time/temp combination?

By: Frisper, the vacuum machine from Oliso – Vous vide chicken legs at 66°C during 75 minutes | Sous Vide Cooking

Sun, 09 May 2010 11:30:24 +0000

[...] Last time I cooked chicken legs sous vide (30 mm thick) I decided to comply with Douglas Baldwin time and temperature table (64°C during 60 minutes). The result was good but a little bit bloody on some parts. Click here to read the post mentioning that point. [...]

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 05 May 2010 15:43:48 +0000

To be honest I’ve found Baldwin useful only as a starting point for cooking chicken and I agree there are some errors in the tables. Having cross referenced with other sources (like Keller, Blumenthal etc) I use the following,
• Chicken breast, boned with skin on or off, packed with butter and seasoning, 64oC for 1 hour
• Chicken thigh, boned and flattened out, packed with butter and seasoning, 64oC for 1 hour
• Chicken leg, whole, packed with butter and seasoning, 75oC for 8 hours
• In each case the skin crisps up nicely in a frying pan before serving
• You can do whole or chicken crowns at something like 64oC for 8 hours before roasting to colour but I’ve not been happy with the results yet!

Cheers!

Chris

By: Ed

Ed — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:31:05 +0000

There’s a very dangerous error in Table 4.7. The temperatures at the top are wrong, where “57.5 degrees F” and “63.5 degrees F” appear, I believe those should read CELSIUS. I doubt anyone would try to cook chicken at those temperatures but it definitely would not result in cooked chicken.

By: jean-francois

jean-francois — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:51:34 +0000

Brian,

You are right, the difference in temperature and time is huge. I recommend reading Baldwing “A Practical Guide to Sous Vide” http://amath.colorado.edu/~baldwind/sous-vide.html which explains why, cooking certain pieces of meet after a certain time, is useless. The temperature is a question of choice “Traditionally, light poultry meat is cooked well-done (160°F/70°C to 175°F/80°C) for “food safety” reasons. When cooking chicken and turkey breasts sous vide, they can be cooked to a medium doneness (140°F/60°C to 150°F/65°C) while still being pasteurized for safety.”

Jean-François

By: Brian

Brian — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:11:50 +0000

I found this recipe for sous vide chicken leg that is cooked for 8 hours at 84C. What would account for the large discrepancy in both cooking time and temperature btw this recipe and your’s at 64C for only 1 hour? I’m confused.

http://www.britishlarder.co.uk/coq-au-vin-with-parsnip-cream/

By: Allpax

Allpax — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:00:32 +0000

Thank you, I am always interested in new recipes for vacuum bags.

By: Einar

Einar — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:38:19 +0000

Pedro:
Thanks for your response on this important health aspect of sous vide cooking. I am not sure your egullet-link was correct as I am unable to find anything on plastics there. Can you please verify?

Also, the wikipedia link discusses LDPE. I would guess the plastic typically used in SV-bags is HDPE, although it is purely a guess. Do you know if the PE used in SV-bags is pure PE (carbon + hydrogen?)

If I can find or be directed to a reference which says that the PE used in SV-bags is pure PE and contains no toxins of any kind, then I will order a Lava vacuum machine within minutes.