This is the perfect application for a sous-vide. If you place a wire rack below the water line you can make a very accurate bain marie. You can easily maintain +/- 1 degree. I've been using mason jars to make individual yogurt servings, puddings, and custards. I might have to add this to the mix.
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I've been meaning to try mason jar custards. Any other good vegetarian sous vide applications? I was gifted a Joule, but I pretty much only use it the four or five times a year I treat myself to a good steak or some such.
Sous vide carrots weren't as revelatory to me as they were to others. Like many other veggie recipes they also need rather high temperatures, and a vaccuum machine instead of zip loc bags.
There are some amazing vegetable terrines that are baked in a bain marie. Most use gelatin as a binder, but with some experimentation it should be easy to sub in agar. I bet that there are some vegetable combinations that will self-set sans gelling agents. I've been meaning to experiment by making smaller test batches and dialing in the temp and duration. Ideally, I would like to find a low and slow method that minimizes the breakdown of the flavors. A properly made veg terrine loaf is the ideal showcase for fresh vegetables as well as a gorgeous centerpiece for all those dinner parties we are having at the moment.
I have never had luck with sous vide vegetables. The high temperatures required also raise concerns about the stability of the plastic bags.
A mason jar or similar is a great alternative. Glass will certainly not leech any nasty stuff into your food and there's no need to create a vacuum.
I'm not talking from experience but it's easy to find information on that kind of cooking on the internet:
https://anovaculinary.com/5-tips-for-precision-cooking-in-ca...
I do recommend reusable silicone Sous Vide bags. You cannot vacuum seal them directly, but you can submerge them in water to drive the air out. You can also place them inside a vac bag, pump down, press the seal close, and then remove them from the vac bag.
I don't. At least the ones I got gifted[1] fight you every step of the way.
The silicone is very thick and stiff. It's hard to remove air by submerging them, depending on what you put in there, there are always some pockets of air remaining. And the way they seal is very fiddly. One of the sealing clips broke after a few uses. Maybe it gets easier with experience, but some things just shouldn't be that aggravating.
On the other hand, a cursory search shows that there are many other products available that may be more sensibly designed.
[1] PureSiliconeWare is the brand name
Thanks, do you have a recommended product?
I agree! I am not going to eat food cooked in plastic bags, for any reason.
Perhaps some sous vide pickles?
Sous vide creme brulee too.
I have tried this sous-vide thinking about it as a normal custard ie make mixture, fill pot, circulate. It didn't work. My theory is that the proteases had already degraded by the time the milk got up to temp.
The recipe explicitly calls for the milk being hot, which I naively didn't do. I was doing it for a dinner so instead of doing some more tests sous vide I just did it old school since that had worked. If you try it with preheated milk please share the results!
Yep. Combined with the requirement for fresh ginger juice it would seem the best protocol would be to dissolve sugar in warm (for easier dissolving) milk in a jar, let it cool to room temp, squeeze the ginger directly in the milk, stir, seal, put in a 62.5C sous vide.