Cooking in the Bag

[digitS']

I watched one of those chefs on teevee the other day, Hubert Keller. He made some sausage. I wasn't watching real close until he put the uncooked sausage meat in plastic wrap and lowered it into boiling water! It was one of those: "Oh!" moments!

We went thru learning to use the microwave and cooking in plastic containers. Or, covering our glass bowl with plastic wrap and being sure that it didn't touch the food or it might melt.

DW likes to put a roast in the oven in those plastic oven bags. I don't. I have refused to use a bag when I roast the Thanksgiving turkey and am often in charge of beef roasts but she still sneaks a roast into a bag & the oven now and then. It's okaaaay . . .

DD has shown up with the boiling bags now and then. I know nothing about those but was somewhat intrigued :/.

Anyway, I did some exploring online about this sausage-cooking idea and came across this fairly old LATimes article: Wrap It Up and Poach It, A restaurant trick: plastic wrap roulade.

I didn't like the oven bag roast because it kind of blends the flavors altogether. But, this article is about blending kind of dishes. We often don't want to just boil our veggies. And, I'm kind of tired of trying to do a good job cooking things in the microwave without incinerating or boiling-over or exploding whatever I'm attempting to cook. Yes, there's steaming.

What about this idea of "poaching?" Have you tried it?

Steve

 

[digitS']

There are some concerns . . .

Barfblog, Kansas State University

You might think that the concerns are the plastic. Yeah, after 10 years - that's still out there. I can't find much definitive about the plastics made for food storage and cooking. There is still some chatter and there are people selling their books . . .

This kind of cooking falls into what the French call Sus Vide, I've learned. But, it doesn't just have to do with using plastic. Low temperature is part of the technique - really, quite low temperature for some of it. The LATimes food editors continue to promote it - as recently as 2011.

I was hoping that NOT using meat might make things safer but I can't honestly come up with that. Higher temperature might take some of the value and usefulness out of the method, even while increasing safety. What I was particularly curious about was using bags of veggies in a steamer . . . oh well, maybe experts will consider this a good research project but I haven't been able to find that they have.

BTW - don't be toooo turned-off by the name of that KSU blog. That guy is very knowledgeable and the information is helpful. I've gone there now and then quite a few times and never come away with anything .

Steve

 

[ducks4you]

I searched for articles to back this up BUT the thought that cooking with plastic ESEPECIALLY in the microwave isn't healthy is being revisited after cropping up many years ago. Just like marjarine made from who-knows-what that won't even attract bugs isn't healthy to eat, I've stopped using that in lieu of butter and I've stopped heating up in plastic in MY microwave. I now use exclusively glass or stoneware to heat in the microwave.
You know about the fumes when plastic is burning. I don't want that to leach into my food. I realize that oven bags withstand the heat, but I've changed my mind about using them, too. Just MHO.

 

[thistlebloom]

I didn't want to rain ( snow? ) on your parade Steve, and I found the poaching idea very intriguing, but there's that plastic thing that makes me uncomfortable.

I not only no longer use plastic in the microwave, last year I got rid of the microwave as well.

My son showed me evidence that I found compelling enough to ditch it. If microwaves can cause mutations in the molecules of food then I think it's a convenience I can live without.

 

[grow_my_own]

Same here about using plastic in the microwave. BPA is not your friend.

ETA: We would get rid of our microwave, too, if it wasn't built into our house, but it doesn't get as much use as it used to. I mostly use it for reheating my coffee because I have a tendency to let my cups of coffee get cold while I'm puttering around the house in the morning.

 

[ducks4you]

YOU need to get a different coffeemaker. lol