Planning help - 18 veal chops

SAL1924

I hardly post here, but I check the forum daily. I have been tasked with cooking veal rib chops for 18 at my parents 50th anniversary party this weekend. At my disposal are a large egg with a plate setter, a Weber gasser, Anova sous vide, and a somewhat poorly stocked kitchen.  Chops are topped with a brown butter mushroom sauce made separately.  My plan is to sous vide the chops in the morning, stick in fridge, rewarm in bath, and finish in batches on the egg. Does this make sense? I considered a reverse sear, but I’m worried about space and timing. Chops are about 1.5-2 inches thick. Thanks for any advice you might have. 

Foghorn

Your plan sounds great. 

I'm just curious, why the refrigerator?  Why not just use the sous vide a little later in the day and go from the sous vide to the grill?  Is there a timing/space issue that I'm not grasping?

And sous vide first followed by a sear is a form of "reverse sear".  With that said, I assume that you were referring to using the grills to warm and then sear the chops.  I'd probably use the gas grill to warm and the egg to sear because even though I have a sous vide, I generally prefer cooking outdoors and using fire - but for 18 of them I think the sous vide probably gives you more control and will likely end up with a better outcome.

SAL1924

I’m worried about the sous vide capacity and thought I might have to do it in 2 batches. My concern with reverse searing on the egg is it doesn’t give me a lot of wiggle room time wise. Thanks for the feedback. 

Langner91

Do you have a cooler available that will hold all of your chops?  Maybe use that to sous-vide all at once?  Even if you don't modify / ruin the lid, you can still insulate the top with towels / etc. and expand the capacity of the Anova.

caliking

I would consider doing the sous vide part of the business 1-2 days prior, and stick them in the fridge. You'll have more time on the day of the event, to focus on getting those chops done right, and enjoying time with your fam and friends. 

If you have a single SV unit, then there's only so much water its good for circulating. With 18 large-ish chops to cook, you'd need a sizable cooler to do them all at once, and a single SV unit may not be up to the task. If you do them in batches, that's doubling your SV time. 

Mark_B_Good

Sounds good, but I like to see those sear marks on the chops ... any chance you can fire up the Weber gaser, take it to 600F and throw them on for 20 seconds a side? You should be able to whip through all 18 in 2 minutes (assuming you can fit 9 on your grill at a time) ... and if you do that right before serving, it will help serve the chops hot.

SAL1924

Thanks for the advise everyone, I’ll post pictures after the party tomorrow. I have a cooler that will fit all the chops, and I think I’m going to do them all in one batch and hope for the best. We are using the egg for some other apps, so I will probably just stick with that. The egg is on the other side of the house from where the festivities will be, giving me the luxury of sneaking away. Thanks again.

Canugghead

If you have an aquarium pump, throw it in to help with circulation.

SAL1924

I’m going to make my kids stir with paddles the whole time to keep them busy. 

SAL1924

The veal turned out great, but my plan went to hell almost immediately. This might get wordy.

I was aiming for a bath of 137-138 degrees. Hot water was coming out of the kitchen faucet at 128. I figured a few pots of boiling water and I could get to my target before even turning on the SV.  Then I was told I would have to set up outside. No problem. They have an outdoor shower with hot water. Start filling up the cooler outside, check the temp and it’s 95 or so.

I should mention the kitchen is on the 2nd floor and the outdoor shower is on the first. All the veal is seasoned and bagged, and I gave myself some buffer time. I cracked a beer, started boiling water in every pot I could find on the stove, and lit the egg. My phone said I made 70 trips on the steps at the end of the day. I also covered the whole SV set up in towels. Somehow I get the SV reading 140 and I start adding the veal a few at a time. Got it stabilized at about my target and I’m feeling pretty good. Then I stuck a thermapen in the cooler and it showed like 123. Not great and time is becoming an issue. 

Open my nth beer and throw the plate setter on the egg. My dads egg defies the laws of thermodynamics and wants to go nuclear even though I have the vent open only about 1/8 of an inch. Start throwing the chops on a few at a time, moved them around, pile them on each other if they start to char, take them off when they hit 135, and add more on. I figure at this point I half-assed my way to a pretty good reverse searing and have 15 minutes until dinner. 

Take off the plate setter, egg goes to 700 immediately. Start searing the chops in batches and they came out wonderful. Served with a mushroom sauce, roasted potatoes, and a broccoli salad. I only got one picture, but it was a great night celebrating my parents and no one got sick. Thanks for reading.

lkapigian

Great audible and outcome ....I stoped preheating SV water as the unit does it quick enough and just fine

StillH2OEgger

No one gets sick is the most important, but it sounds like you far exceeded that. Congrats on pulling it off! I'm sure a great time was had by all.