Hey yall. I’ve got a whole frozen chicken that I was planning to sous vide using a roasted buttermilk chicken recipe.
I was going to just put it in the sous vide, but I didn’t get the bag to vacuum seal very well, and had to step away to tend to some things, so now it has been marinating for about 3 hours, and I thought I would reconsider some of my process.
Should I cook it with the buttermilk in the bag, or dump it out? If I should dump it out, how long do I need to marinate it? Does it being frozen change the time?
Should I wait until it thaws to cook it?
Also, should I make sure to get a really good vacuum seal? Currently, there is a bit of an air pocket in the bottom left corner
And how long do you think this will take? From frozen? From thawed?
This is where I am at currently
Thanks!
by dancingdan336
28 Comments
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I have nothing to add here. I just need to know how this turns out.
I usually put vac bag with meat/marinade in freezer before vac seal to remove more of the air. I’ve never done buttermilk so i don’t know what heat will cause.
You gotta spatch cock that bitch, it’s going to take forever for the middle to cook
I guess it’s somewhat thawed by now 🙂 I’ve never cooked with buttermilk but I have done a whole chicken. Make sure the cavity is filled w/ liquid or veggies. I stuffed mine with veggies then sealed.
Please let us know how it comes out. I can only imagine the skin will be gross unless you do something to it at the end.
Wonder if spatchcocking the chicken (next time) would help with the vac seal. Def post the final product!
I can’t speak on the buttermilk, I don’t know that I would want to have too much extra in the bag, but I don’t know why.
However I have SV’d a few turkeys and I would 100% spatchcock it if you don’t have that cavity filled with something.
Remember, if the cavity is empty there is little to no heat transfer the the meat on the inside, so to cook it through it has to heat from the outside all the way to the bone. That’s going to take some time and effect the texture on the outer meat. Or at lease I would be concerned about that.
Now if the cavity is filled, vegies or liquid, then heat can transfer to the middle and heat outward.
Spatchcocking is easier in my mind.
I would expect that is too much time in buttermilk and chicken would be way too soft. Please report back, I’m curious how this goes!
Well, by far the best way to seal a bag with liquid is to do it when it’s frozen.
How it ended?
So I would suggest at least spatchcocking the chicken, that way you don’t have a cavity where it will be unevenly heated; and it will get a more complete vacuum.
Remindme! 7 days
This is the dirtiest sous vide threat I’ve ever seen. Should almost be tagged nsfw…
Just be sure to LOCK IT UP!!!
You need to wait for it to thaw. This is wild. You can sous vide from frozen but you can’t marinate frozen food because it is frozen and won’t take on the marinate thus you get no tenderizing nor any taste changes. I’d leave it in the fridge overnight. Spatchcock it tomorrow and seal it again then sous vide it. As is, it will take a very long time, I’d say around 8-10 hours). Just a heads up, the buttermilk is probably going to look horrible after cooking. It’ll be fine but just be prepared to see a jumble of mess.
Just to add my two cents, I wouldn’t do this for no other reason than it adds very little in terms of taste or texture at the end but had variety of short comings.
This is not going to turn out well.
I don’t want to follow this post but I have to. I must.
I would marinate then dump all liquid. You can cook from frozen but I have never done a whole bird as always cook my white meat @ 142 and my dark meat at 165.
Well I think this will probably work, you really should spatchcock it, for more even results. From frozen especially, the center will cook for a significantly less period of time
May have to try this method – https://youtu.be/Gu_sCgd5sMk?si=3aoeFQI9HcD2PH–
Remindme! 7 days
I did a whole chicken last month. I have a vacuum chamber though and the entire bird got compressed. Don’t think I’ll do it again because my white meat and dark meat temp preferences were too far off when done together.
Don’t do it in the buttermilk. Thaw and marinade overnight (it wont marinade frozen), then take it out, dry, spatchcock, sous vide, and broil/roast for final browning. Doing it in the liquid will result in off putting skin and generally mushy chicken. Spatchcock is optional but will greatly reduce time and unevenness in cooking.
My prediction…mushy meat.
What are we locking up?
I use buttermilk all the time with chicken and keep it in the bag. There will be curds formed, and I usually just keep them on the chicken when they go to the grill or air fry.
NOTE: be sure to keep the chicken in the fridge uncovered for several hours, to dehydrate the skin. Makes it nice and crisp when you finish it with the high heat.
This is ridiculous