Martin, morning.... I wonder, if they make one mistake, will that be the end of the magazine ???
The sous vide method is very interesting... I have been tempted to try it... Have not been willing to face the consequence if I screw up....
It's kind of like jumping from an airplane with a parachute.... what if you didn't pack it right ???
Or eating blow fish.... what if the chef didn't clean and prepare it right ???
Or eating mushrooms picked by a guy who says, "This is my first time at picking mushrooms"....
A "black and blue steak" cooked for 3 minutes is more appealing to me than a "smoked, sous vide steak cooked for 3 1/2 days at 140 deg".....
That seems like a view that is not based that strongly on evidence. As long as the food reaches temperature relatively quickly, and in a circulating water bath it will unless it is too thick, you are comparing food that is thoroughly cooked with food that isn't and declaring it more risky.
There are risks, but there are in any method of food storage and preparation, but they are not right next door to lethal poisons like you seem to be thinking. So what is your evidence for this risk?
Turtle, morning..... I don't have any evidence that this "sous-vide" method is dangerous... It just goes against everything I learned... I did some reading when this thread started and it is pointed out the "expert of the day" who wrote the book and gets such high acclaims and accolades is a "mathematician in Colorado", or something like that...Can't remember for sure, but I was interested in his background.... Doesn't seem too noteworthy.... I was hoping this guy had worked in a food lab and conducted blind or double blind studies on bacterial formations in foods cooked that way... Maybe even with thickness testing of meats to provide definitive guidelines for idiots like myself whom want to sous-vide... So a 1" thick steak is OK... A 2" thick steak is not OK... Who knows ??? Is a 1 1/4" or 1 1/2" etc.. OK to sous-vide ???
I could not find a research that says, "This is definitely safe and that is not safe" when it comes to simple things like thickness....
OK, I'm an alarmist, some are probably saying.... I'm just pointing out a few things that ring the bell.... After working in a technical environment dealing with quality assurance for a period of time, there are certain rules that come into play... Food safety should be held to a very high standard, in my humble opinion.....
Home canning of food can be dangerous in the bacterial, pathogen department... The FDA finally determined that at temp X, for time Y, in a canning jar of Z size at an altitude of 1500 ft, at a pressure of 15 psig, for 90 minutes, "your food is safe"....
The real problem arises when this "sous-vide" method is done at home, in a home made sous-vide machine, home made recirculating system, A thick piece of meat, with a thermometer that has NOT been calibrated to a N.I.S.T. source, death can result.....
The other problem could be, calibrating at 32 deg and 212 deg depending on altitude, does not make a thermometer accurate at 140 deg...
Well I have said enough about this method.... You can eat all the meat you want cooked this way.... I think it needs further explanation as to the possible flaws of the method....
Until a reliable source tests this method and reports it's findings, with approved guidelines, I'm a little leery of trying it...
Dave