Sous-Vide Lamb Rack in a Travel Buddy oven

May 12, 2021

Let's start with pies and sausage rolls. Come on, guys, we can do better than that!

What about a lamb rack sous vide (Sue Vee) in a Travel Buddy? Yep, that's right! Let's get a bit more into the low temperature this thing can sit on.

When you turn on the temperature knob, as soon as the red light comes on, STOP! Pete's Travel Buddy sat at a constant 51°C which is the perfect match for a lamb rack and 4 hr drive to camp.

To brine or not to brine

To start the cook, if you like, you can brine the lamb 24hrs before vacuum packing it ready to go. The brine consists of, you guessed it, salt and water. Here's the most remarkable (coolest) thing about brining. Any other ingredients you put into the brine, their flavours will soak into the meat. It's like a subtle marinade that slowly sneaks in. During this wizardry, the cells of the meat swell by, I think, osmosis due to the high salt content. We use a couple of heaped tablespoons of salt to 1-2 litres of water.

Our go-to seasoning at the moment is CharBro Lemon #1, and it works well with so many meats. We used about two tablespoons of the CharBro for this cook in the brine to add lemon and herb flavour.

Vac pack and hit the road.

If you want to add to the bag some more flavours, now is the time. Some sliced garlic and crushed rosemary leaves will nail it every time.

Vacuum bag the rack, but before you do, check your Travel Buddy size, so it fits. Pete has the marine model, and we did a rack of 6 chops but probably could have done 7. Make sure you remove as much air from the bag as you can.

The next step is easy. We placed the lamb on a stainless steel trivet to stop the bag from melting as we were not quite sure where the heating element was, i.e. top, bottom or sides. Pete did smell a little bit "bag" for the 1st half-hour of the trip, but after that, it was all good.

Fire preparation, seasoning and reverse sear

Our lamb rack had quite a thick layer of fat which we trimmed, keeping a nice layer to crisp up over the fire. We seasoned with CharBro Lemon #1 all over for the final cook. Reverse sear is easy using an Oz Braai, which allows different heights and a vertical cooking option.

* Remember the lamb is already cooked, so it's just the crisping and charing of the fat we are after and introduce some smokey flavours.

Mashed potato and cauliflower

Lamb goes well a range of sides, and we wanted something quick and easy. We partnered the lamb rack with a basic potato mash but used homemade herb butter. The water was then strained from the potato pot into a Campers Pantry cauliflower pack to rehydrate it. We had an easy white sauce packet which we heated up in the Travel Buddy with the lamb.

The Vid - WA Camping Adventures

To watch the full episode on Pete's Youtube channel, click here.

Your next trip

So next time you are planning a trip, get the creative juices flowing and try something different in the Travel Buddy.

How about pork, fennel and cheese snags cooked to perfect temperature then quickly finished in a smoking hot skillet with sage and butter, or slow-cooked chicken wings dripping with juices and torched in the Oz Braai over the coals?

We'd love to hear what you've slow cooked in your Travel Buddy, so flick me an email.

Cheers