How to Sous Vide Beef Sweetbreads

About Sweetbreads

Sweetbread is a miscellaneous beef cut from the cow's throat (the thymus gland) or the heart or the stomach (pancreas gland). The cut can be taken from a cow but it is most coveted from the young calf. It has a mild taste and is extremely soft. The sweetbread easily absorbs the flavors from different ingredients and sauces.

The sweetbread from the throat is symmetrical in shape while the one from the heart is spherical in shape. You need to clean it well before cooking it. Part of the cleaning requires that you remove a slimy membrane that covers the glands. A technique of removing the membrane is to slowly simmer it and then remove it from the stove when it is barely cooked. Then either with your fingers or a knife, peel away the membrane slowly from the gland. You can also leave it in cold salted water and then parboil it. This way the sweetbread will firm up so you can remove the membrane without trouble.

Sweetbreads are much easier to cook using sous vide as they will rarely turn chewy or tough. Sometime sweetbreads are also added in different types of salads because its crispy texture and soft inside complements the ingredients in the salad.

Typical Cooking Methods for Sweetbreads

Sous Vide, BBQ, andPan Fry

Other Names for Sweetbreads

Ris

Good Substitutes for Sweetbreads

Traditional Dishes for Sweetbreads

Asado (Argentine dish), and stuffing for pates

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