Slight side question... but as a guy that randomly decided to drink Old Fashioneds tonight due to boredom... (and by this I mean that I would usually just drink bourbon or rye on the rocks, but because I am SOOOO bored at home alone and listening to music that I wanted to "make something" just to DO SOMETHING)...

anyway, i have the bourbon, bitters, and bakers sugar on hand and have made myself a mighty fine OF... but I don't have any citrus lying around. So, if your being technical, I haven't made a "fully complete" OF... (mind you, i'm using small small batch Four Roses, so it's effing fantastic)...

But this got me thinking, what are the best bourbon/rye cocktails that are made with ONLY long lasting ingredients (e.g., bitters, sugar, water, etc). Stuff that you can keep in your bar or fridge for months or years...

Again, I realize that the citrus in an OF is generally just a garnish, but it does add SOME flavor if you are being 100% technical.

Kenji, what do you think about "higher smoke point" oils? Grapeseed, soy bean, safflower, avacado... are any of these preferable? or is just plain old canola or vegetable best? (Natural Blend vegetable, right?)

Kenji - a follow up to sous vide-ing the wings during Phase 1:

First, can you explain why any oil would be necessary in the sous vide bag? I only ask because it seems to me that cooking without or at least with LESS added fat is one of the things that has drawn me to sous vide cooking in the first place. I'd love to know why it wouldn't work to just sous vide wings by themselves.

Despite my reservations, i followed your instructions. I used a Sous Vide Supreme vacuum sealer and 6x10 inch bags, putting 4 wing pieces in each bag & then double-bagging because of the difficulty with my vacuum sealer and liquids. I also added 1/2 cup Crisco Natural Blend oil (America's Test Kitchen #1 rated) to each bag, which is 2 tablespoons per piece (double your suggestion for chamber vac). I cooked at 150* for about 3 hours. I then rested the pieces for 45 minutes on paper towel-lined 1/2 sheet pan. EVERYTHING about this process went well. The chicken was cooked perfectly and moist.

The problems started with the next step. I reused the oil from the bags without straining. And added another several cups into a 6.5 quart Tramontina cast iron dutch oven - it ended up being around 3 inches deep. i heated this oil over high for at least 30 minutes to try to get it to 400*. HIghest temp i registered with my Thermapen was ~350*. But by that time the oil looked black. After inspecting the pot a bit, it seemed like it was just that the pot was lined with burnt bits. Running out of time before kickoff, I dropped in 8 of my 16 pieces anyway. I left them in for 3-4 minutes (1/3 - 1/2 of the time you said was necessary for Phase 2). The pieces where practically black themselves so i took them out.

Upon tasting, they were still perfectly cooked inside, but just had a burnt, crunchy (not golden, crispy) exterior. They looked very unappetizing.

I know that I screwed this up somehow, but i don't know exactly how. Can you help me narrow this down?

I assume that reusing the oil with chicken bits and liquid without straining was probably a bad idea. So maybe just use all new oil for Phase 2 next time? Also, was the oil I used bad for deep frying? again, it was Crisco Natural Blend.

I'm kind of thinking that maybe my whole process would have worked if I had only left the pieces in the oil for like 30 seconds to 1 minute? (the thought being similar to sous vide-ing a steak or chicken breast and then searing it quickly (~30 seconds) on a hot pan...)

I'd love to hear your thoughts! Thanks again for all you do

THANKS!