I honestly don't know, I would aim for 120°.

Considering medium done salmon is 120 to 1:30.

Are the ends tastier on your veggies?

I never understood why people like the top of broccoli. I, by far, prefer the "trunk" of the tree. So I would understand if you said yes.

Very pretty! Great presentation! I'm always sooooooooooooo impressed by your skills.

I've never sous vide anything. I'm from Texas. If it ain't grilled with a crunchy crust...it ain't fit to eat. ya all 🤠 (I'm joking around)

Dcarch, so beautiful!

I’d not sous vide salmon as I enjoy a gradient of doneness. A fat halibut fillet, perhaps. That said, unless the salmon was very dry which I doubt, I would have still enjoyed it. 132°? I say save that setting for a steak!

Nice summery looking dish!

Nice presentation.

My only introduction to sous vide is Kevin's products. After trying three I said enough.

There is something a little creepy about cooking meat in plastic.

I take it some comments are missing?

I'm curious about the sliced stems in that artfully composed platter too. Are they meant to be eaten, or just garnishes?

And I'm imagining the salmon's texture was perhaps like that of canned...?

P.S. Not too long ago, out of curiosity, I took my instant read thermometer outside and touched it to the sunny sidewalk - it registered 135F.

For me, salmon at 120°F

As usual, it's a work of art. But I don't like stuff on my plate that I'm not going to eat and I won't eat the ends of the courgettes LOL. It's JMHO.

These presentations are certainly works of art. But I always wonder whether everything has gone cold by the time it's been tweaked into position. I'm the peasant who always eats the garnish but I wouldn't eat the brown blossom end off a courgette. Btw we eat the whole of the broccoli. To cook the stems and not over cook the florets you can add the florets later in the time, cut the stems thinner so the cooking time is the same or stand the whole thing on end so the stalks boil and the florets steam. I never buy pre cut or prepped veg. I think they start lose their flavour the second they're cut into. Also a greater surface area provides a better home for bacteria.

I'm with floral on the pre-cut veg. And I usually cut broccoli stems off and start cooking them a couple minutes before the tops go in - I do the same with chard.

I cut broccoli stems into coins to cook them.

I have found that cutting the stems off and then peeling them eliminates the outer tough part, then cooking works well.

The amoeba shaped thin slices are not broccoli stems. They are the summer squash/zuccini stems. Not much flavor but have food value at that size. So much food waste, the blossom ends are perfectly edible. Just most think of it as compost. Again when small. They can get woody.

I do remove the blossom end myself unless the blossom is still attached to tiny fruit.

As for brocolli I generally prepare it one of two ways. Mostly I roast it, and there the point of it is to get the florets a bit black, So, florets and stems are ready at the same time. I do not include stalks in this preparation. The second way is basically stirfrying them. The stems are cut off and diced, so again the cooking time is pretty evened out. Here I’ll also include the stalks, well peeled and diced. I usually buy crowns, but if I buy it with stalk I’ll use the stalks for this regardless of what I do with the rest.

Incidently my daughter also hates the ”bush”. Sadly she’s overly sensitive to texture which makes all eating difficult. For example she hates any ”crust” on her proteins.

I grill salmon and cook it to 120° F if it is wild-caught, which is what I normally buy. If I bought farm raised by mistake, I would cook it to 125°. The temperatures go up slightly after I remove it from the grill. It generally takes about 3-4 minutes on a side, depending on thickness.

Like Elmer, I do not want to cook food in plastic.

I do not cook beef, but as I understand it, even when you sous vide beef, you need to sear it in a pan afterwards.

I cook broccoli the way Floral does.

Lars, I’m not a fan of cooking food in plastic as well.

I did read an article by a fellow who owns a bunch of high end restaurants and swears by sous vide.

https://www.thomaskeller.com/under-pressure

My son in law tried it a few years ago but I haven’t heard him mention it lately.

I have commented before about the artistic layouts that while quite creative, must have a consequence that the food is no longer hot.

In retirement years we both have a quick and easy simplify-it orientation when it comes to home food preparation. We have always followed a wholesome, veg-heavy diet and use healthful preparations. Neither of us wants to spend time peeling a broccoli stalk, slicing them into coins, or the equiv of same when preparing other vegetables. One exception is artichokes, worth extra preparation effort. A rinse and a bath in boiling water, a steam session, or a sojourn with olive oil in the oven, is as far as we prefer to go.

" I take it some comments are missing? "

Several were deleted by their author. I'll leave my orphaned and now not understandable comments in place.

Roxsol, Thomas Keller is more than just a fellow who owns some high end restaurants. He's one of a handful of culinary rock stars of his generation. An imaginative innovator in the rare air of the Michelin 3 star award winning world. Who's gone on to opening several more restaurants beyond his flagship French Laundry in the Napa Valley.

In that world, experimentation, new and unusual preparations, ingredients, and combinations are the order of the day. Diners expect to be surprised and amazed as much as well fed.

"When you buy broccoli most of the weight comes from the stems. Yet people are throwing their broccoli stems away or roughly cut it up such that it's too big and tough to enjoy anyway—so it just gets left behind on the plate and thrown away later. In this video Sarah shares her technique for transforming broccoli stems and getting 2 meals instead of one from your grocery store broccoli haul."

I enjoy the prep and cooking as much as i enjoy the eating of my food. Prep is for me a contemplative thing.

That is a beautiful plate of food. Beautifully prepped cooked and presented.

I personally prefer my salmon pan seared. It took years but I converted DH to a somewhat rarer internal presentation. I often coat the fillets with ground pecans and sear in butter. There is a nice contrast in the thinner parts being seared and the thick parts being very moist-not to the flakey point. Ground pine nut is also very good but can be bitter if you over cook.

If you grow your own broccoli you dont have to worry about tough stems. but I will cut stems and strip them up when they are tough. We eat a lot of broccoli.

FWIW, I was aware those stem slices in the OP are not broccoli.

And I often peel and cut broccoli stems into matchsticks too. They're so good raw and sticks are great for dipping.

Whole fruits and vegetables and many meat items come with inedible parts. The lady in the video commented that much of the weight of a purchased broccoli bunch is the stem. Sure. A not inconsequential part of the weight of a whole chicken is the bones, of an apple is the core, of an artichoke is the stem and inedible majority parts of the leaves, and on and on.

Discarding parts that are inedible, not preferred, or simply not easily handled isn't wasteful. Items are purchased for the portion that's wanted and the unwanted parts are by definition and expectation to be discarded. I'll stick with buying florets when broccoli is wanted, we have no interest or use for the stems.

Of course you don't. 🙄

Tastes and preferences vary. Do you eat orange peels, shrimp scales and tails and chicken bones?

Find someone else to play your stupid games, Fudd.

No games, you needlessly threw a rock. Can you disagree without insulting?

chicken bones

I often boil chicken bones to make a broth which I use in cooking/canning. Some delicious dishes in many different nationalities of cooking are made from the parts of animals and vegetables that need a bit more work.

Curious how much work these need:

We have "authentic" restaurants of many different Asian regions and cultures in my area and some of them serve all kinds of offal flotsam and jetsum.

No need to look at just Asian food traditions. Some of Scottish origin can get nostalgic tears in their eyes thinking of authentic haggis. I had it once in Europe, prepared at home by a Scot, and my eyes could tear too thinking of what I ate and how it tasted. For a different reason.

I wasn’t specifically singling out Asian, just happened to be at H Mart recently and noticed these.

We love salmon and that is a sweet dish in the pic. VgQn prefers to bake it at a higher temp though but I know yours is a special recipe. Speaking of broccoli, our homegrown broc is far better than any store bought as those can have a bitter taste and are tougher in texture. Probably a farmed variety for better shipping and longer storage qualities over taste just as many store bought veggies. The bitter taste may be due to pesticide residues but that's only speculation on my part. Our homegrown has both sweet and tender florets & stems. When cooked properly it doesn't even need butter.....but I'll butter up it anyways ;-)

Many Asians not only eat the shrimp with shell but they will eat chicken with the bones. Why is that not significant? No one is requiring anyone to do the same. Dont eat what you dont like. I would certainly eat the entirety of young squash and on this plate the ends are very decorative.

I don't know, vgkg. Like many others, we don't have a vegetable garden so buying it is the only option. We haven't noticed that great a difference between organic and not organic. (Yes, I know there are pesticides approved for use on organic crops) Or, with broccoli from a certified farmers market. We never use butter on any veggies except for potatoes.

Patricia, I mentioned at least once above and implied with other words, a comment or two, that I fully acknowledge tastes and preferences vary. I'm not sure what triggered your comment. We dispose in a guilt-free and dry-eyed manner items that I'm sure other people may feel obligated to find a use for. That's fine. Not picky eaters, we appreciatively eat anything prepared in any manner that a host offers us for a meal. That doesn't mean we do the same preparations with the same items in our house, if at all.

IMPE, bitter broccoli can be the result of stress to the plant - too much heat, not enough water, nutrient deficiencies, and so on. Also IMPE, broccoli is one of the easiest vegetables to grow, as long as the climate is suitable - it's a cool weather crop, so best grown in the winter here.

I also understand that the stems actually contain important nutrients - more so than the buds.

I'd probably take a pass on the squash stems and leaves, since they can be full of little prickles.

I dont understand what is meant by my comment being triggered?

I am very much interested in the pork bung and uteri. In western cuisine such things are used as casing for sausage like sheep stomach and bungs for Haggis.

Gardening doesn't interest either of us these days. It did once on a very small scale when our kids were little, long ago. So no home-grown broccoli in our future.

We eat a varied diet including saltwater fish and other seafood several times a week and very little red meat. I'm sure all essential nutrients are covered.

Anchovies and sardines are both crammed full of important nutrients. We eat both, I'm sure that more than makes up for anything missing by not eating broccoli stems. Perhaps the one veg group we don't eat at all is any of the various kinds of squash. I find they don't generally have enough flavor to warrant a place on a shopping list.

Thank you very much for everyone’s kind compliments, and thank you very much for everyone’s lively and meaningful participations on various interesting topics.

I have a very hectic schedule these days to deal with a few essential life’s items, but I do want to talk about the many topics discussed here. Please allow me the liberty to respond slowly, one at the time, whenever I get a chance.

Before I open my mouth, a disclaimer first. I am not an expert in anything related to food and cooking. Everything I say will be just my personal opinion and often wrong opinions.

Many discussions about sous vide. Sous vide is a complicated topic. Before I get into it, first let me deal with my ignorance about plastics.

· Although in 1967 Dustin Hoffman predicted Plastics (The Graduate) would be the future, actually plastics were widely in use in many things since 1950s. Today, it doesn’t matter how hard you try, you simply cannot avoid contacting plastics intimately nonstop. For instance:

· Yes, metal cans (not aluminum) used for food and beverages are lined with a plastic coating on the inside

· Plastics for milk and juice containers. Medicine bottles you take

· Fabrics, a 2024 Guardian article states that polyester and nylon alone account for 69% of all clothing materials, Shoes, Insulation in bed, sofa cushions etc.

· Entire interior of your refrigerator is plastic, year after year you keep your food in it.

· Car tires are made of synthetic rubber, which is a type of plastic. Synthetic rubber is a petroleum by-product that makes up about 24% of tires. How many cars are on the road every second? How many tires are worn out every day and turn into micro plastics that you breathe every second?

Guess what, life expectance in 1950 was 68 years old, and today in 2024 it is 79 years old. I suppose you can argue that without plastics, we might expect life expectance to be 120 years old.

Plastics has given me a great deal of convenience and I will accept the potential health harzards. I will practice sous vide food preparation using plastic bags.

dcarch

The issue is not plastics in general it's cooking food in plastic. And then there's the slightly weird texture sous vide produces. I'm glad you enjoy it, but it's a hard pass for me.

Dcarch7, well exactly. We arent often on board with our life expectancy these days.

Your plates of food are always amazing and an intense education. Thankyou for posting them here. I always learn something from them. They are a feast for the eyes.

dcarch, I said that I’m not a fan of cooking food in plastic. What I really meant is that I’m not a fan of doing something I don’t really know how to do. I’m not an adventurous cook but I do admire those who are. If I have a good set of pots and pans, an oven and stove, and an outdoor grill, I am good to go. 🙂 My husband is the opposite. He enjoys cooking and creating.

I am adventurous when I eat out and will try most things.

From what I understand, sous vide preparation is very popular with many professional chefs. I’d definitely eat a dish that was prepared using sous vide, and probably have, in their restaurants.

Your creations are always interesting.

Same as others, it's mostly cooking food in plastic that's the issue for me. Hot consumables and plastic contact is DOA, doesn't matter what or how or why. Nothing in the microwave in a plastic vessel. We store leftovers in bowls with stretch wrap over the top in a non-contact way or glass storage containers.

No plastic cups, bowls, plates, utensils, cooking implements, etc. No plastic items in the dishwasher.

Dustin Hoffman's line was simply dialog in a movie and of course not a prophecy, as we all know.

I suspect we all have our aversions, some more scientifically sound, some more stemming from assumptions made based on nuggets of truth. Pesticides, high heat cooking esp grilling, microwaves, concerns about pcb’s and mercury and farming practices with regards to seafood, teflon, nitrates and other processed foods, HFCS, GMO’s, etc, etc, etc, and yes cooking in plastic, we all mix facts with speculation, perhaps myth, and yes personal preference to decide what’s best for us

PFAS is a fascinating issue, at least to me. Yes they are everywhere and in everything.

For me, as little contact as possible between food and plastic is smart - and there is no way I am cooking food or placing hot food in contact with any plastic. Hot plastic is a big fat hard no. We all make our own choices of course and there is a sliding scale of risk. Hot plastic is over the line for me and it is also super easy to avoid so why not?

Also, I love broccoli. 😄

I have a feeling that in the US kitchens, the way many people use salt, sugar, butter, cream, etc. cause more harm to the body than plastics.

I have been doing sous vide (SV) before SV machines were available.

I use SV for food safety reasons. I can cook food at the precise safe temperature without overcooking expensive meats without constantly poking poking poking with a thermometer which can introduce lots of germs deep inside meat.

I use SV because there is no way you can control cooking temperature if the food is of irregular shape or unknown starting temperature. With SV I can cook a big roast directly from the freezer with guaranteed end result. Of course, if you season the meat in the bag, you basically have no need to marinate.

SV does not prevent you from finish with a beautiful grilling/smoking/BBQing end result.

SV can get meat done with a gradient end result, from rare inside to medium outside.

Last Christmas family steak dinner for 12 people:

1. Two 7-bone prime ribs ($$$$!!!). Enough leftovers for many to take home.

2. Each guest was asked how thick he/she likes.

3. Each guest was asked what color (blue? Red? Brownish?) he/she likes.

Every guest got exactly what he/she asked for.

I am very happy that everyone enjoyed the steaks. I am most happy about the fact that the only time I needed was 30 minutes with the grill to finish the steaks with beautiful grill marks. All the preparations were done the day before, and I got to spend time with the guests.

I have done this many times before. I have a system to get things done, including stainless steel tags to identify each steak to each guest. Please let me know if you have another way to get all guests happy, without wasting expensive steaks and have plenty of time to spend with the guests

dcarch

Sounds easy!

One question. Why do you need 30 minutes on the grill?

eta I understand the grill marks, but on a hot grill, shouldn’t that take only seconds?

roxsol , good question.

There were 20 steaks, that comes to 40 surfaces to be grilled. The BBQ could grill 4 steak at a time.

dcarch

NO sou vide for me! If I cannot cook a steak correctly without boiling it, I will not cook a steak.

FWIW - just to set the record straight 🙂

P.S. I guess I never answered the question in the OP - I've never sous vided anything - I only know what I read here on this forum 😁

Late late reply. Hectic life, plus had to deal with a historic thunder storm in our area.

About plating: All my dishes are for real dinners for many eaters, not the same as magazine plating design photos of "tasting" portions.

When I put food from a frying pan to a serving platter, it has to be quick and hot. There is no time to play with layout of ingrediencies. There is no magic in ending up with an attractive plate of food, if you pay attention consistently enough, it becomes second nature.

About keeping food hot; I always have a cup of water in the microwave. Three minutes before food is ready, the water is boiling. I pour the water on the thick ceramic platter and the platter will keep the food hot when served.

dcarch