I need a low-temperature thickener

In the Sous Vide Recipes Forum
I would like to try making a simple beef strogenoff using sous vide technique, but I think I need a thickening agent that will work without boiling.

The basic idea is:
-- pan fry onions, mushrooms, and garlic, then let cool
-- Slice beef tenderloin into strips
-- Vacuum bag the fried mixture, beef, seasoning, butter, and sour cream.
-- Cook at 138F

With the normal recipe, after slicing the beef, it is gently cooked and flour is added to thicken the juices given off by the beef. So I need a thickener that will work at 138F. This eliminates traditional thickeners like flour, corn starch, and the like.

Is anyone familiar with using Xanthan Gum or perhaps another thickener that might work in this situation?


3 Replies So Far

Using Xanthan Gum sounds perfect to me, although you will have to run some tests to get the right thickening. Xanthan Gum will work fine at that temperature and most important, will give no off flavor. Please post your results.
Gellan works quite well and has a variety other uses such as making ice cream that can be set on fire without melting
For my first attempt, I decided to go retro. I just made a roux with butter and flour. It turned out good. The only difficulty is knowing how much flour is needed since you are adding it before you start cooking. As a first shot, I used about three tablespoons used with about 1.8 pounds of beef tenderloin.



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