Sous Vide Mega Thread - Fine Dining for Dummies

[Swayze11]

Originally Posted by TurdFerguson

Packaged gravy? Boiled roast? what is this cheaters world you live in? Do you even type your own posts or is this a bot.

Get out of here you oven cooker

[fundmark19]

Originally Posted by DionTheDman

I could be wrong here, but I don't think chicken wings are the best protein to use with sous vide. They're so small that by broiling them long enough to get the skin nice and crispy, you'll pretty much just cook them all the way through anyway.

Sorry they were actually chicken drumsticks not wings. (there are lots of sous vide chicken wing recipes though) They turned out really well. Probably wasn't necessary to do them this way but we had a short turn around from getting home and needing to leave again so it was perfect.

Cooked the chicken for 2 hours in the morning. Tossed in the fridge to cool down. Popped them into the over for 7 mins a side on high broil and boom dinner was ready! The flavors made it all the way through the meat where normally drumsticks only get what is on the skin. I was quite pleased

[me_dennis]

I sous vide'd some ribeyes this weekend. 1 hour at 129F.

One of the steaks was quite a bit thicker than the other (1.5"), so it came out more rare than I wanted it to, but it was evenly cooked throughout, and the fat was all rendered out. The thinner of the steaks was perfectly done, and super tender. The cap part of the ribeye was pretty much falling apart when I was searing it off in the pan. Probably could've cut through the steak with a butter knife.

Next time, I will go a smidge higher in temperature, and I'll buy steaks that are more uniform in thickness.

Pics (please ignore the soother. We have an infant so there's baby crap everywhere)

Spoiler!

[fundmark19]

I also don't use steak knives anymore on my steaks butter knives cut easily through anything I have done so far

[calf]

Originally Posted by Swayze11

Get out of here you oven cooker

This might be the best CP insult since yop gobbler.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by DatSOOKin

How would this setup work exactly? Water goes into the container with the sou vide machine, but how does the lid fit into this? Cut out a notch for the sou vide?

This thread won me over so I ordered an anova for Christmas. Now I'm trying to figure out what I may need/want to make this work.

Water in the container, organizer to keep bags from moving around, lid to reduce evaporation/just keep it looking tidy. An old board or bamboo chopping board underneath to protect whatever is under the set up from excess heat.

Is it a necessary set up? No, not really. TBH, it feels like Gale's coffee set up in Breaking Bad. Pretty much a departure from form follows function and instead a journey towards ornamentation (conversation piece).

I had actually intended this thing to be a somewhat permanent set up in a corner of my kitchen so that I would not have to constantly tie up my stock pot. My Aeropress would likely join the Sous Vide in a triumphant declaration of futuristic food preparation, of which I would pretend to know a few things about.

Or perhaps it was more catered towards the idea that I believe the stove area would be too crowded and congested if I had a sous Vide set up that I'd have to take down prior to searing my cooked foods. I actually did not own a stock pot prior to obtaining this set up. A stock pot was approximately the same price as the set up.

But more plausibly, I probably just wanted to spend money on the Black Friday weekend.

[PostandIn]

nm

[PostandIn]

nm. Again.

[Swayze11]

Originally Posted by Flames89

Is the wifi-enabled Anova worth it?

I don't really see the point? I suppose you could start it remotely or just start it in the morning. It is not like you can overcook anything.

[GP_Matt]

I picked this up as a Christmas present. I went with the wifi model because it was the more powerful unit. It claims to feed a few extra people.

[Diemenz]

Originally Posted by GP_Matt

I picked this up as a Christmas present. I went with the wifi model because it was the more powerful unit. It claims to feed a few extra people.

I went with the Bluetooth model as i hear the 2.4ghz channel degrades the flavour of meat and has been know to download episodes of Ellen which kills your bandwidth.

[calgarygeologist]

I haven't looked through the entire thread but how does the operating cost of sous vide compare to traditional methods of grilling, pan frying and oven roasting foods?

[Kjesse]

nm

[Canehdianman]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

I haven't looked through the entire thread but how does the operating cost of sous vide compare to traditional methods of grilling, pan frying and oven roasting foods?

If the pennies it costs is worth counting then you probably shouldn't be buying meat.

[Smartcar]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

I haven't looked through the entire thread but how does the operating cost of sous vide compare to traditional methods of grilling, pan frying and oven roasting foods?

Lot of calculations here but basically it's very cheap to operate for hours at a time:
https://forums.egullet.org/topic/139...ing-sous-vide/

Traditional methods will use more energy but for shorter periods, I'd expect it's about even.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by BigNumbers

Apparently this rack: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B002QCNYCG/...ing=UTF8&psc=1

No longer fits in the reocmmended rubbermaid container: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Has anyone got a recommendation on a rack that will fit?

My container arrived yesterday and the rack does fit. I haven't attached the Anova to see how the unit fits with the rack inside yet. All the components I purchased are outlined in post 81 of this thread if you want to check which components I purchased. If something goes sideways and the pieces don't fit chat with the seller, last resort, there's always Amazon's A to Z guarantee whom are very pleasant to deal with.

For size:

Spoiler!

Things I noted:

- I received the 12 qt with the red and blue measurements. Most individuals who were complaining claimed they received one with black measurements and as a result, the Seville rack wasn't fitting.

- There are some angled manufacturing lines around the handles. Looks like cracks, but are not cracks.

- The rack sits about 1 cm off the bottom of the container and about 5-7 cm from the top. This is probably more perfect for circulation rather than being completely flat on the bottom of the container.

- The lid fits great. But Amazon had originally suggested the wrong lid to me (the one quoted in post 81 is the correct one). After looking at more Sous vide set up pics, I am not convinced I will prefer using a foil or saran wrap covering set up.


I am hoping to test out this rig in the next few days. I will make a few more observations and post my thoughts on the rig at that time.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

So Anova calls for 2 hours at 130f just to cook a single striploin steak (or two, there's no difference in the recipe). Is 2 hours really necessary? How long do people cook them for?

Second, what do people do with their steak generally, just a bit of salt and pepper, or actual steak spice blends? I went with some montreal steak spice for the maiden voyage here, along with a teaspoon of butter.

I went and bought a bunch of different meat (pork, lamb, chicken, tuna steaks, various beef cuts) and a vacuum sealer at Costco. I suspect this is what I'll be doing for the next two weeks to try them all out. Going to try both the pan sear method and the torch method (my torch is actually a dessert torch for creme brulee, but it should work).

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

So Anova calls for 2 hours at 130f just to cook a single striploin steak (or two, there's no difference in the recipe). Is 2 hours really necessary? How long do people cook them for?

Where are you finding 2 hours? I'm looking at the app right now and for a 1.5 - 2 inch thick steak it's calling for 1 hour.

EDIT: Strange, one recipe calls for 2 hours on the Anova site, one calls for 45 minutes. Anything over an inch or so thick I've always done for an hour. 2 is complete overkill.

The app which is just the tables from seriouseats.com calls for 1 hour. That's generally what I go by.

[fundmark19]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

So Anova calls for 2 hours at 130f just to cook a single striploin steak (or two, there's no difference in the recipe). Is 2 hours really necessary? How long do people cook them for?

Second, what do people do with their steak generally, just a bit of salt and pepper, or actual steak spice blends? I went with some montreal steak spice for the maiden voyage here, along with a teaspoon of butter.

I went and bought a bunch of different meat (pork, lamb, chicken, tuna steaks, various beef cuts) and a vacuum sealer at Costco. I suspect this is what I'll be doing for the next two weeks to try them all out. Going to try both the pan sear method and the torch method (my torch is actually a dessert torch for creme brulee, but it should work).

I have tried steak spice, salt pepper, chipotle spice and a combination of them all. To me just simple salt and pepper has the best flavors. I am making fajitas tonight and did steak spice chipotle and butter and am interested how it turns out.

I didn't have time to thaw the meat prior to seasoning or thaw it as the water heats up then season. So I am interested to see how it turns out by putting everything in the bag sealing and then letting it thaw in the fridge. I am also going to try out the torch tonight for the sear.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Can someone help me?

I'm too lazy to buy this thing or cook using it but I'd like to try it.

Please PM me your address and a list of dates you'll be using Sous Vide and the dishes you'll be preparing on those dates. Make sure you cook enough so that I can take some home and use for lunch the next day. Also, if you could make sure I have a private dining area. I don't want to be forced into awkward conversation with you or your family.