Thanks to everyone who gave feedback on my Oxtail question from yesterday.
For some background: after running across several recipes, forum comments, and tiktoks about sous vide oxtail 100+ hours at 140, I decided to try the experiment because it sounded bonkers that multiple people would swear by it.
The good: After cooking for the prescribed time, everything had broken down and turned to gelatin so the oxtail was super tender without being mushy. It had a really nice texture and mouth feel which was surprising given The length of time. The gelatin laced throughout so there were no chewy bits, and it had the texture and flavor of a really tender corned beef. I also chose to Sous vide in coconut milk to see if that added any extra flavor, and it did quite nicely.
The not so great?: Per my question/issue yesterday, the 140 was not a high enough temperature to make it fall off the bone, so it was still an effort to dig it off the bone for the rewards, and in some cases the extra gelatiny goodness almost acted as a glue.
So at your guys advice I bumped up the heat for a little bit until it did fall off the bone, it did impact the texture a little but not too much.
Overall: It was an interesting and positive experience tasting oxtail that way. I can imagine it working really well in a ragu or burgundy wine sauce, with maybe some elderberry or something. While Thai curry may not have been the best application, it's transition vegetable season here in California and so I had a lot of curry vegetables to use up.
I'm glad I tried it, once. But will happily pressure cooking or doing a 24-48hr sous vide. I might be able to agree with them that it's "the best" in some applications, but not by much. If you're trying to make your oxtail into short rib, just use short rib.
by beliefinphilosophy