Darkroom cooking

In case you're interested in using your darkroom for preparing large meals.....

I'm expecting some 20 relatives coming over to my place next week for our traditional Xmas family dinner. I decided to prepare some nice lamb but was challenged how to do so for such a big number. I would need some 4 whole lamb shoulders....
So I thought of the following method, that I'm now piloting with 1 lamb shoulder.

Prepare the lamb shoulder with your favourite herbs and spices; I used garlic, salt, pepper, lemon juice, extra virgine olive oil and lots of fresh mint.
Put the lamb shoulder in a strong frying bag,

Suck out the air as much as possible - goes fine with the vacuum cleaner. Close the bag tightly.

In my darkroom I have a large wet table with 3 basins, one one them with heating, controlled by a PID industrial controller.
I fill up that basin with water.
Put the bag with the lamb in a developing tray; for 1 lamb shoulder a 12x16 (30x40cm) tray is just fine. Add some water.
Let the tray float in the basin, heated to 60 degree C.
Cover it with a larger developing tray, floating upside down.
Cover the entire basin with some isolating material; I used bubble-wrap.

Now let it sit there at 60 C for 48 - 72 hours. You should have perfect lamb by then. One may put it under a grill for a few minutes to give it some colour.

I'll keep you informed how this turns out!

That IS alternative processing in the darkroom.

lol

I think this is a wonderful idea, however I would baulk at your cooking temperature, especially over that time period. Perhaps a few degrees more, may make it a bit of a safer eating experience.

http://www.foodsafety.asn.au/resources/temperature-danger-zone-keep-hot-food-hot-and-cold-food-cold/

Mick.

Hi Mick.... the temperatures mentioned at the website you reference have some safety margin. The challenge with sous-vide cooking is to stay on the safe side but use low temperatures to retain optimal taste and structure. If you look at Dead Link Removed
you'll see:
"Almost all potentially harmful organisms will be killed at 130F/54.5C given sufficient time to heat the food completely to that temperature. Since most sous vide cooking is done between 130F/54.5C and 195F/95C, the food will be safe."
For lamb and most types of meat an extended cooking period at 60 C will ensure meat that is safe. For beef I often did 56 C, for lamb I prefer 60 C.
It is key to really control the temperature within a margin less then 1 degree over a long period of time; that is why I use an industrial PID controller. Ordinary cooking appliances won't achieve this constant level of accuracy.

Ron, I see, good to know you are working safely.

I myself invested in one of these some years ago, been very accurate and more importantly, I can re-calibrate it correctly at home.

http://thermapen.co.uk/

Mick.

Ron, so your heating installation seemingly is original, except for that controller.
Did you install the controller in a cardboard box ??

After 48 hours, the lamb shoulder came out just perfect! While lamb shoulder is a fairly simple and cheap cut of meat, preparing it this way results in the most tasty, juicy and tender lamb meat you can imagine!
Only 1 thing I need to improve: next time I will turn it around a few times during preparation; there was one small piece that apparently had not been fully submersed and as a result it was rare rather than medium.

AgX said:

Ron, so your heating installation seemingly is original, except for that controller.
Did you install the controller in a cardboard box ??

Click to expand...

You're right: the temperature control of the original installation was way off, so I bypassed that using the external PID controller. I built it into a wine box, reinforced and isolated on the inside. I have another one built into a wooden box from a luxury bottle of Dutch jenever.