First Use

So friends are coming for dinner and I'm dying to use the machine. But at the same time would you have your very first use for the main course with guests? I didn't feel that brave nor did I have 48 hours to cook a brisket. So I cooked butternut squash, glazed chestnuts and brussels sprouts which is a recipe from the Keller intro guide.

The recipe essentially goes like this.
Peel 12 chestnuts. [They recommend scoring an x in the shell and cooking them in hot oil for a few seconds to get them to open up. This was the most painful part of the recipe and left my fingers with little bits of chestnuts lodged in them.] Cool the chestnuts [very important for food safety reasons] and them mix them in a bowl with some salt and sugar. Seal them in the cryo-bag with a pat of butter.

Cut the butternut squash into 1" cubes. Salt and sugar them like the chestnuts and seal in a different bag with another pat of butter. These two steps can be done ahead which is great since the prepped food is all sealed and ready for the next day.

Cooking: Set the water temp to 185°. I still haven't figured out how long
'preheating' the 20qt pot takes but it seems like it's over an hour to get to this temp. Add chestnuts and cook for 1 hour 20 mins. Add the Squash and cook for 30 mins. It seems you can add the squash after 50 mins of cooking the chestnuts so they will come out at the same time.

I'm gathering that most sous vide cooking has some kind of finishing in a hot pan for some color and crunch as well as to reheat and add flavor. This is no exception. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a frying pan and crisp some sage and remove. Add the chestnuts and squash to the butter and turn as you heat and cover in the sauce.

Verdict: The squash was clean and fresh. It tasted more like pure squash rather than the roasted and caramelized version I usually serve from the oven. It took a back seat to the meat, but was wonderfully subtle. The brussels sprouts were cooked conventionally according to their recipe and were stellar.

Did anyone at the dinner notice anything different? Not really. My wife commented that cooking to preserve the essential flavor of the vegetable would require us to season more heavily once it's out of the bag to provide some richness and depth to the flavor. I'd make the squash again for its simplicity. The chestnuts were just too much work!