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My understanding is that a lot of the technical knowledge around sous vide was developed in the prepared foods industry by Bruno Goussault of Cuisine Solutions. This makes me wonder whether some of these techniques might be used with a home sous vide setup.

I'm a novice at sous vide, but chicken breast is easy and has been a definite crowd-pleaser. Unfortunately, it adds another 45 minutes to an hour to preparing the meal, which we don't have.

I was thinking I could make my own chicken nugget/finger things without all the salt and sugar and other junk. Is there any resource I can use for techniques around this, assuming its feasible?

I could just prepare them, and then do a reverse sous vide in an ice bath and then into the freezer, but I'm just guessing. I can also imagine them being a soggy nasty mess. I'm wondering if some of the sous vide techniques that are used in industrial food preparation. For example, I know how to sous vide and brown chicken for immediate consumption but I'm looking for how that might differ if wanted to have the food finish in the oven with similar results.

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  • No problem making chicken nuggets in advance, there are recipes on the net. Can you clarify "reverse sous vide?" I'm not sure what that means. Pretty much any sous vide item can be chilled and/or frozen, then reheated. If using sous vide, the reheating really doesn't save you any time. Really, not sure what you are asking.
    – moscafj
    Apr 16, 2018 at 23:31
  • @moscafj The other night I took chicken breast right from the sous vide to a ice bath without taking it out of the bag. So while still "under vacuum" I cooled it. That's what I mean by 'reverse' sous vide. I then put it in the fridge and browned it the next night. It worked better than I expected, really, but I'm wondering if it's possible to do the browning/breading step and freeze without ending up with soggy breading.
    – JimmyJames
    Apr 17, 2018 at 13:29

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You'll want to do some research on sous vide. That way you can use the correct process and terminology. Cook and chill is common practice in sous vide cooking. Vacuum is not necessarily required. To make a chicken nugget, you'll want to bread the chicken after the sous vide step. For example, you could cook the chicken pieces, allow to cool a bit, blot dry, coat, then brown/crisp the coating. Your best methods would be to deep fry, pan fry, or heat in oven. If using right away, this will allow you to achieve perfectly cooked chicken with a crust that you like. You could sous vide a degree or two lower, with the realization that the browning step will finish the cooking. The challenge is to avoid overcooking the chicken when browning the coating, especially if cooking from frozen. Since chicken nuggets cook relatively quickly, in the end, sous vide may not be the best tool for the job here, as you could easily achieve the same result, more quickly, using traditional methods.

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  • I think you are missing the point a little. If you look into the history of sous vide, a lot of the technical details were worked for creating prepared foods. I'm guessing that some of the sous vide techniques use for preparing food for later consumption are different than "just cook the food the way you normally would and then freeze it." As I noted, I am already able to cook chicken with sous vide.
    – JimmyJames
    Apr 17, 2018 at 16:42
  • @JimmyJames what is your goal?
    – moscafj
    Apr 17, 2018 at 16:43
  • @JimmyJames There are lots of recipes online for homemade chicken nuggets. Even advice on freezing them for use later. I've given some advice above. Sure, you can use sous vide. Industrial applications are often not the best solution for the home cook. I'm just not sure what advantage it provides in this application. If you can clarify your point beyond that, perhaps the community can be more helpful.
    – moscafj
    Apr 17, 2018 at 16:50
  • I'm not sure how to elaborate any more. What part of what I have asked is not clear?
    – JimmyJames
    Apr 17, 2018 at 16:51
  • I guess I'm not really looking for anyone to tell me if there are advantages. I'm looking for information so I can determine that myself.
    – JimmyJames
    Apr 17, 2018 at 16:53

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