Our Chef Director Chris Holland worked as Head Chef at the prestigious Alderley Edge hotel before joining us. He has a passion for using the best produce and never compromises on quality. Author of our best selling book Sous Vide The Art of Precision Cooking, Chris is a expert on the sous vide technique.During the later part of my school days at Wardle High School Rochdale I always wanted to be a chef . I knew from the very start that my path to work was never going to be academic it was always going to be something practical and hands on.
As a young boy growing up I was inspired to cook with my Grandma who was and still is an inspiration to me . I have memories of helping make the cakes that she always had made for visitors and family alike . She made the most amazing cakes and I loved nothing more than eating the sweet raw cake batter straight from the bowl . We used to fight over who got to lick the bowl/spoon after the cakes were made. My grandma’s philosophy for cooking even on a shoe string budget was always to use fresh and seasonal ingredients either home grown or bought from the market.
School was somewhat of a drag for me as I was itching to learn to become a chef.
I started at Hopwood Hall college as a chef and instantly fell in love with it .To me it was the only real time I excelled in something and this inspired me to really get my head down and put in the hard work. College was the first time I really excelled in something and gave me the opportunity to laugh at the teachers who said I would never make something of my life!!!!
During the three years at college I also took on a part time position in a local hotel working the bar and restaurant first and then the kitchen. These were great days and gave me the opportunity to see how the industry ticks. I learnt a lot from those days both good and bad !! But I have to say I was itching to work only in the kitchen but it was a good insight into the catering world .
After completing college I moved away from Rochdale for a full time roll at one of Cheshire’s most talked about Hotel restaurants The Stanneylands Hotel.This was the school of hard knocks for me as I quickly realised that although excelling at college meant nothing in “The Real World”.
I loved every minute of the 18 hour days 6 days a week on minimum wage . Although difficult I feel that without this grounding I wouldn’t have achieved what I have today. After 18 months of hard graft I left Stanneylands and went with the Head chef to open a fine dining restaurant at Mere Golf and Country Club. The opportunity to work alongside Matthew Barrett was too good to turn down. I learnt so much from the ex-Ritz chef and working in a much slower paced role helped me develop a much better understanding of how to organise and run a kitchen. We were a very small team and teamwork was and still is the only way to go for me.
After 2 years at Mere I got the opportunity to go into The Alderley Edge Hotel as Junior Souschef. The Early days at the Edge were all about learning new styles of cuising which is invaluable in any role as a chef. I got the opportunity to grow and learn all aspects of every section which was inspiring . I was offered the opportunity at the age of 29 (2004) to take the role of head chef. For me this was when I really started to develop my own style of food.
After 9 years at the top winning Cheshire restaurant of the year , Chef of the Year and appearing on GBM amongst many highlights including cooking for many celebrities and famous people I decided to move on into development with Sousvidetools.
The main inspiration for this was to train and educate people . I always had a great passion for education but could never really see myself at a college . The job is super rewarding and I am proud to say we have become the leading light in sous-vide education in the UK . This is something I am very proud of . Food is my biggest passion and this is what keeps me interested the most . I love to travel and try out other countries cuisines. I am constantly inspired by ingredients and the pursuit of getting the best out of them without destroying their natural flavour .It is super important to me to continue to try and be at the forefront of the food scene this is what inspire me and the team to keep driving forward .
Technology is now widely used in the industry and I am super proud to say we have been a big part of spreading that message.
I am very lucky to be in the position I am and the drive to constantly improve our training and links to the next generation of young budding hospitality chefs.
TI feel that my experience over the last 25 years really enables me to get close and educate the “next generation” of chefs .
The industry which I love is really struggling to bring through new recruits and if I can help that process I will be immensely proud.
The food seen in the Uk has improved dramatically over the last ten years and I feel this will continue with the correct education. What happens next only fate will tell us...
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FAQs
Add ribs to the water bath and cover it with a lid, aluminum foil, or table tennis balls. Cook for 36 hours at 145°F or 12 hours at 165°F. Transfer cooked ribs to a large bowl of water filled with ice to chill thoroughly. Ribs can be stored in the refrigerator at this stage for up to 5 days before finishing.
What is the best temperature for sous vide short ribs? ›
Season the short ribs generously with salt and pepper. Place a few garlic cloves and fresh thyme sprigs in the vacuum-sealed bag with the ribs. Cook the short ribs sous vide at 144°F (62°C) for 24 hours. After sous vide cooking, sear the ribs in a hot skillet with butter until they develop a beautiful crust.
Can you sous vide ribs for 48 hours? ›
There's no limit to cooking ribs sous vide for 36 hours or more. When I bite into a good barbecued rib, there are a few things I look for. First is texture. Ribs should be tender, never greasy, and the meat should still have a definite bite.
What temperature are pork ribs most tender? ›
Most ribs hit their sweet spot for doneness around 198 degrees F, but some take until 203 degrees F to be perfectly tender. This spread in final temperature is one reason why thermometers are a great jumping off-point for rib perfection, but not the be-all-end-all indicator.
What is the best temperature to sous vide pork? ›
Temperature and Timing for Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin
| Recommended Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin Temperatures |
|---|
| 130°F/54°C for 1 to 4 hours | Medium-rare |
| 140°F/60°C for 1 to 4 hours | Medium |
| 150°F/66°C for 1 to 4 hours | Medium-well |
| 160°F/71°C for 1 to 4 hours | Well-done |
1 more rowSous Vide Settings
Set your sous vide machine to 165 degrees F. Place the ribs into your water bath and cook for 9 hours. If you don't want your ribs to be fall off the bone tender, then you can try cooking them 6 to 7 hours. Your mileage may vary but experiment with the cooking time.
What temperature do you cook ribs fast? ›
If wrapped in foil, the ribs can go for up to 3 hours at 300 degrees, or crank the oven up to 400 degrees for a briefer baking time—1 1/2 to 2 hours.
What is a safe internal temp for short ribs? ›
Using a leave-in probe thermometer like ChefAlarm® will help us know when to take the meat from the oven. Ribs like these won't be done until they hit a temperature of about 203°F (95°C), so stick the probe into the thickest part of the largest rib and set the high-temp alarm.
Should you smoke meat before sous vide? ›
Let it smoke for around two hours or more to absorb maximum flavor. After that, remove the meat from the smoker and insert it into the sous vide machine at 165 °F (74 °C). You can improvise and prepare a water bath if you don't have a machine. You can cook the meat for anywhere between 24 and 48 hours.
What side do you put down first when smoking ribs? ›
Place ribs bone-side down in smoker at 225 F /110 C and cook for three hours. Remove ribs from the smoker and wrap tightly in aluminum foil to form an airtight seal. Return to the smoker bone-side up and smoke for two hours. Unwrap the ribs and return to the smoker bone-side down for one more hour.
Do Ribs Need To Be Rinsed? Carr says ribs do not need to be rinsed. “Rinsing fresh meat or poultry is unnecessary as the bacteria causing possible foodborne illnesses will be terminated with proper endpoint cooking temperature and time combination,” explains Carr.
What happens if you sous vide meat too long? ›
Longer is not always better You don't always get better results by keeping food in the sous vide machine for longer. For example, many chefs recommend that sous vide steak should not be cooked for longer than four hours because the connective tissue begins to break down and the steak can become mushy.
What temperature is 3 hours ribs done? ›
Set the grill temperature to 180℉. Preheat with the lid closed, for 15 minutes. Then, place the ribs meat-side up on the grill and smoke them for three hours (or when your MEATER wireless thermometer tells you that the internal temperature of the ribs has reached 165℉).
Are pork ribs done at 165? ›
The accepted finished temperature of pork is 145°F, however, this has not given the collagen inside your ribs time to become gelatin for that perfect bite. That begins to happen when temperatures inside the meat reach 165°F. Continue cooking ribs until they reach around 195°F to 203°F for maximum render.
Can you eat pork ribs at 145 degrees? ›
The USDA-recommended safe serving temperature for pork ribs is 145 degrees Fahrenheit. But (again) our grilling experts recommend you aim for a hotter temperature to make sure you melt down all the connective tissue into sweet, meaty goodness.
Can you eat ribs at 140 degrees? ›
The USDA says ribs are safe to eat when the internal temperature is 145F.
Are pork ribs done at 180 degrees? ›
Baby Back Ribs may be safe to eat at 145°F but they won't be tender or as flavorful as they should be. The collagen and fat have not yet melted into the meat. Connective tissues will be inedibly tough. It is widely agreed that ribs are done between 180°F and 195°F.
