Anybody Sous Vide?

[Philbert]

I am new to Sous Vide cooking, so interested to hear others’ thoughts and experiences with it.

I found some comments scattered around in a few different threads, and wanted to pull them into a single thread.

I bought an ANOVA Precision Cooker 3.0, 1100 watt, model over the holidays.


I appreciate some of the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi features, but did not want to be dependent on them, or an App, to operate it.

Surprised, and disappointed, how little information came with the unit. Bought a couple of books, that really helped:

‘Sous Vide for Everbody’, by America’s Test Kitchen, is a good, basic, book, that should have come with the cooking unit!

‘Sous Vide for the Home Cook’, by Douglas Baldwin, is a good, book, with lots of time-and-temperature tables, to keep things safe.

Each book has lots of recipes, and each were available, used, on eBay, at very reasonable prices.

Philbert

 

[Philbert]

For anyone not familiar with Sous Vide (pronounced ‘Soo-Vee’, or ‘Soo-Veed’), French for ‘under vacuum’, it is a cooking method where food, sealed in plastc pouches, is cooked at very precise temperatures, in a carefully controlled water bath.



Potential advantages include:

• precise level of doneness (can’t overcook the food);
• uniform doneness throughout the food (e.g., not just ‘pink in the center’);
• flexible cooking time, especially, for large numbers of people (catering, events, large parties, etc.);
• ability to safely cook food at lower temperatures, keeping food moister, without the risk of pathogens (salmonella, e-coli, etc.).

Philbert

 

[Philbert]

Tried a few things, so far:

A previously frozen, ribeye steak, at 138°F for about an hour. Pretty good for a first attempt.

A chuck roast, at 140°F for about 46 (!) hours, then seared in a cast iron skillet. Very tender, and uniform. Very good.


An eye of round roast, at 138°F for about 44 hours, then, similarly seared. OK texture, but not a lot of flavor without sauces.


A few frozen chicken breasts, at 140°F for 3 hours, then pan seared, and seasoned with just salt and pepper. These worked out so well that we ate a lot of them just ‘sampling’!


They were supposed to be for the next night’s tacos: had to make some more!

I need to try some pre-seasoning / brining, and figure out which foods this works with, or are worthwhile for me, compared to other cooking methods.

Also want to try some fish.

Philbert

 

[unclefish]

Use mine for deer shanks to make tacos. Good can cooler with hole cut on it. I do double shrink wrap. Since I came home one day and most of marinade was in the water. Haven't tried much else.

 

[ElevatorGuy]

@Philbert I’ve got a friend that does it. He likes it, Uses a garden torch to sear off his steaks afterwards. From our conversations the texture is very different, I have no desire to try it.

 

[MEKinOL]

I am new to Sous Vide cooking, so interested to hear others’ thoughts and experiences with it.

I found some comments scattered around in a few different threads, and wanted to pull them into a single thread.

I bought an ANOVA Precision Cooker 3.0, 1100 watt, model over the holidays.
View attachment 1233227

I appreciate some of the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi features, but did not want to be dependent on them, or an App, to operate it.

Surprised, and disappointed, how little information came with the unit. Bought a couple of books, that really helped:

‘Sous Vide for Everbody’, by America’s Test Kitchen, is a good, basic, book, that should have come with the cooking unit!

‘Sous Vide for the Home Cook’, by Douglas Baldwin, is a good, book, with lots of time-and-temperature tables, to keep things safe.
View attachment 1233228
Each book has lots of recipes, and each were available, used, on eBay, at very reasonable prices.

Philbert

I have been using this method for years and like the results for expensive thick steaks. High end restaurants do too. Watch the fat content. It affects the minimum heat time. I like it because it gives me flexibility for steak dinners. It does the basic cooking and then when Everyone is ready to eat, I finish them on the grill in a few minutes. They can stay at the rare done temperature for a long time. Then I can deliver all at the same time including well done to rare. Be careful and not add salt to the meat before sealing. I did this based on a YouTube video. Yuck!

 

[Philbert]

I have no desire to try it.

I have been using this method for years and like the results for expensive thick steaks.

I think that that is part of the ’trick’: figuring out which foods to cook this way, and what works for you.

Some things cook better using other methods. I still need to try it more.

Be careful and not add salt to the meat before sealing. I did this based on a YouTube video. Yuck!

Interesting. A lot of people talk about seasoning and brining before cooking to add flavor.

Philbert

 

[guym3]

If you're fussy about your beef steak being just right, then its the only way to do it. As mentioned, top restaurants all do it as they can have three sous vide machines with under/medium/well done steaks in them and just finish them for a few seconds on a hot pan. Pork Belly done for 72hours is my favourite. Needs brining and quite a lot of preparation but is superb.