IAH-OIL-TRASH

The beef brisket KOA-LAX was the toughest piece of meat I've ever had. UA has no clue about brisket. There's a reason brisket is slow-cooked for half-a-day at low temp. Sure, it's a Kirby-priced cut, but ya gotta cook it right. BBQ sauce on the brisket was OK and they didn't screw up the spinach. Mashed sweet potatoes were good. No frozen dessert or salad. Two small Laughing Cow cheese wedges and a cracker I guess were the dessert and salad substitute. No bread roll. Did get the cookie before landing. Road in coach back to Maui, so don't know if Hawaii-West Coast menu has been downgraded or if there was a catering hiccup at LAX for my flight.

exerda

I've had a few tough cuts on UA as well, but it's always surprising given the caterers likely cooked it sous vide then frozen it and could have turned it to mush if they wanted. Why leave it so tough when they could just leave it in the big industrial cooking bath for a couple more hours?

IAH-OIL-TRASH

You made me look up "sous vide".
UA shouldn't cook it that way either. No way to get the crust and smoke halo. I should've taken a picture at IAH's "Q" the other morning as they were pulling about 10 of the whole-brisket crusted beauties out of the pit. I could barely restrain myself from grabbing one to gnaw on caveman-like for breakfast to SFO.

Wikipedia for the culinary ignoramuses (like me):

Sous-vide (/suːˈviːd/; French for "under vacuum")[1] is a method of cooking in which food is placed in a plastic pouch or a glass jar and cooked in a water bath or steam environment for longer than normal cooking times (usually 1 to 7 hours, up to 48 or more in some cases) at an accurately regulated temperature. The temperature is much lower than normally used for cooking, typically around 55 to 60 °C (131 to 140 °F) for meat, higher for vegetables. The intent is to cook the item evenly, ensuring that the inside is properly cooked without overcooking the outside, and to retain moisture.

exerda

It's actually a pretty commonly-used method in catering; you can cook the food to the desired doneness, then chill or flash-freeze it and simply reheat it when ready to serve. You can even get a crust to it, albeit post-bath, though it's harder to get and maintain a sear in airplane galley ovens.

I cook sous vide a lot at home; used properly, it results in delicious, tender meats that are fully cooked yet medium-rare to rare in doneness, then you finish on a high heat source for the sear. Or you can do a brisket or ribs and move to the smoker afterwards.

DELee

No. That's the standard meal for KOA/LIH/OGG-LAX flights in domestic F since they are double catered out of LAX - their beef tends to be tough after being kept warm for 6-7 hours and there's no fresh anything on the return F meal since fresh items kept in the "cooler" refrigeration using ice/dry ice are discarded after arrival in the islands.

David

IAH-OIL-TRASH

DELee

True but if you're not paying attention to how lean the cuts of beef are (or are not really short rib) just keeping the meat warm is going to toughen it up.

David

UAinAUS

markedcw

Meals aren't kept warm for hours. They are initially cooked on the ground, blast-chilled, and loaded into carts with dry ice. Then they get heated about 20 minutes before being served. For flights with a single service and the initial meal on longer routes, heating can start during taxi. The return segment meal on a double-catered route might spend less time on dry ice than the second meal on a 10+ hour international flight.

I took the CDG-SFO morning nonstop last month and wanted to sleep right after takeoff so asked that my initial meal be delayed. The FA said she'd put my choice aside and to let her know when I wanted to eat. After sleeping five hours, I let the FA know I was ready. She explained it would take 20 minutes for the food to "cook." When the brunch (french toast with vanilla sauce and berries) arrived, it was exactly as if I'd had it right after takeoff. The FA had even put aside ice cream so I could have a sundae. It too was still in ideal condition.

Hammer0425

kirkwoodj

IAH-OIL-TRASH

Give me the chorizo/egg/cheese sandwich from coach (and my emergency salsa packet). At least that approaches SBUX quality.

DELee

Ah. Then I missed that. Thanks for the clarification.

David

pnutbutrsangwich

SvenB1414