Sous Vide Chicken Questions

I haven't tried SV chicken > smoker, but I have beef ribs and pork ribs. I didn't think it was worth the effort. The smoke flavor was so light that I felt I'd wasted the fuel. I've also tried the inverse (cold smoke then SV) and that ended up tasting like the thing had never been smoked.

The grill could get some nice marks if the bird is dried out but I wouldn't expect much in the way of smoke flavor.

As for temp that'd be tricky as usually the breast and thigh/leg are cooked at two different temps (and times). In the past a breast at 140 for 2 hours has worked for me and thigh 150 for 1 hour.

Not whole. White and dark pieces I take to different temps. Easy to achieve on the grill but would need to separate for sous vide. We like breasts at 150 for two hours. Thigh and legs we prefer at higher temp, 165 to 170. Really quit doing any dark meat sous vide. Keep a freezer of sous vide breasts for daughter to make a quick snack or meal.

I S V turkey breast last Thanksgiving to 150- very juicy you do need to spice it up some

I SV chicken breasts at 148 for a couple hours, 2 to a bag. They'll keep like that in the refrigerator safely for quite a while...a couple weeks at least. Then I'll take a couple out and either sear in a pan or throw on a hot grill for color/flavor. I've been dry brining them with Naturiffic Harvest Brine before SV and they've been a big hit. They're easy and convenient to have on hand for quick lunches.

I think you'll have to either spatchcock the whole chicken or fill its cavity with some sort of liquid that can come up to the same temp as the SV water. Most things I've read say to avoid SV for whole (intact) chicken because the air void in the middle will cause it to not safely come up to temp. And if you spatchcock you may run the risk of the bones poking through the bag.

You could debone the bird and turn it into a roll - that would eliminate the air cavity. I wonder if you filled the bag it was in with a court-bouillon what would turn out like.

sv just not optimal for a whole bird.

I would spatch it, dry brine it uncovered for a couple days, and cook it hot indirect for nice crispy skin and juicy meat. But hey that's me.

I like the reference above for a whole deboned bird rolled and tied. I would slather butter and fresh herbs prior to rolling. Try 155 for 3 to 4 hours.

Here's the way this guy did it:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTHMtm06spU


If you wanted color on the skin, use lower heat to sear. A heat gun is great for this. If you use high heat it will burn the outside of the skin and not melt the fat on the inside of the skin. A slow even sear will get you to the desired color.


Good Luck!

You can confit the legs. Vaccum pack with a few tablespoons of any type of fat you want. duck is classic but bacon fat, olive oil, butter all work too.

I like 158 for 24 hours, but have done a few degrees hotter for 8 hours and that works as well.

Shock in an ice bath.

Whenever you want to eat just pull out a bag, throw it in warm water for a few minutes to melt the fat.

Heat and crisp the skin however you want.