Interim: SV Hainanese Chicken

I. Make Gordon Ramsay Chicken stock
1 carcass chicken (used 2 thigh pieces and fat from thigh instead)
1 red onion, 1 leek (out of stock), 1 carrot, 1 garlic bulb, cut in 2 halves
2 bay leaves, 2 celery stalks, 2 parsley sprigs, 1 fresh thyme sprig
1 ts black pepper - lightly crushed under pan
Boil fast, simmer 30-45 min max. Let cool for 5 min Done!

II. Sous Vide Cooking 05-06-12
2. Put cleaned chicken thighs for 15 sec in stock.
3. Cool in ice water.
4. Put in rice cooker and fill with stock. Set SV Temperature controller to 60°C and 90 min.
5. Remove thigh pieces after 80 min and carve.

III Thoughts:
Taste-wise, seems the juices are missing, so no trace of blood around bone area. So the sweetness and succulence factor is absent.
Texture, tender and easy to eat, not stringy at all - excellent! Take into consideration these are medium-sized thigh pieces, not whole chicken. So timing will be different! Though the SV chart didn't indicate times were for whole birds or parts, I can infer parts were used because the SV recipe following the article has a recipe for 4 skin-on chicken breasts.

NEXT Test: 25-30 min at 145°F i.e. 63°C. Test with a skewer! The SV chart indicates safe consumption after about 13-14 min cooking time as 145°F. Note also western palates is different (they probably have never tasted Hainanese Chicken)from Asian palates, hence though 90 min maybe just right for their taste, it is too long and missing the unami for me!°

Test Metrics
a. Set up SV Controller and Rice Cooker at 70°C and test with skewer at 10 min timing. Test every 5 min i.e. 15 min, 20 min, 25 min, 30 min. The idea is to see which timing the meat - cooked according to time chart 70%C (158°F), LESS THAN 5 MIN! - but hopefully still tastes juicy. Wow, the temp dropped from 95°C to 80° in like 15 sec! After that the drop was gradual.

b. Remove the chicken piece, set the temperature to 63.0°C (145.4°F) and put in a new thigh meat. Tested with a skewer after 15 min - seemed cooked but decided to wait and test in another 5 min, as the thigh is cooked at 145°F. According to the chart, the meat should be cooked at approx 16-17 min@145°F. Final: 145F@ 30 min - texture was teeny bit chewy, but not stringy and can go down my throat without problem - given my impaired throat which has been narrowed due to a recent illness. Decided to add another 10 min@145°F, for a total of 40 min.

Add'l Info: Served AJ cold meat pieces cut into bite-sized pieces slathered skin-side with sesame oil-light soya sauce condiment. Asked for his verdict, he said he preferred this SV-chicken over the Hainanese Chicken style! Maybe due to the dipping sauce - ABC Kecap Manis mixed with FP Chilli Sauce?

Third thigh piece 07-06-2012 : Cooked at 63°C for 60 min. Skewer still met a bit resistance, but decided enough cooking time. Maybe left in fridge 3 days made the raw meat tougher? Will taste test tomorrow, it's time for bed!

From boiling, flame off->allow 11 min to cool down->reached 85°C min. Put thigh into WMF No:2 pot filled 1-inch from the brim->set timer 15-min->temp was 69°c->test for texture->easily poke through, cut meat, showed no bloody color -> probably over-cooked!