How were they?

Outstanding. Not much to look at, but they were super good!

So what all should I buy to enjoy the world of sous vide

A sous vide stick (Joule, Anova, etc.), a vacuum sealer (not a necessity, but definite improvement over regular bags), a stock pot.

Ok, that seems pretty straight forward.

I just did halibut. Never had better halibut in my life.

Salt and pepper, little lemon zest, couple sage leaves and a small pat of butter. 130 degrees for about 30 minutes. Never had anything like it. Made halibut moist like cod.

So I picked up some short ribs at sams that were on sale. Been wanting to cook those in SV. I'm seeing times and temps everywhere. 72@131, 72@144, 24@185

I was looking at one of the longer lower temp cooks, however my concern is that the fat won't render very well at these lower temps forcing you to have to cut around a lot of it. Anyone with experience want to give me any tips on time and temp and how to finish them. I've also seen pre sear, post sear, both, deep fry seems nobody can seem to agree on how to do these SV.

New cooking methods ... sous vide
 

I did 24 hours at 167 and they were amazing. These only pre-sear.

https://www.chefsteps.com/activities...sed-short-ribs

Just a nice to have, but having a cast iron skillet is great too to finish things like steak off.

Yep. Cast iron pan, carbon steel, grill. Whatever you have that you can get screamin’ hot (NOT nonstick).

Anybody ever done fish?

Fish tastes terrific. The texture is a little funky and for some it's a turn-off.

I do salmon all the time. Love it sous vide.

The texture is what I was wondering about. And finishing it.

The texture becomes soft and succulent, IMO. Finish in a hot pan for a little browning. If there’s skin, crisp it up.

I saw this ad for a countertop "robot" called a Suvie. They are doing pre-orders right now. Kind of a cool idea, looks like you can load your food in the morning, it'll keep it cool until the programmed cook time starts. Then its like a sou vide appliance I guess.

I was halfway interested in buying one until I saw the price tag. But anyway, it seemed relevant to this topic, so I thought I would mention it in case anyone wants to be a Guinea pig.

Fish is fantastic. They were made for sous vide.

Halibut can’t be beat. Salmon comes out perfectly. I take skin on salmon and after they’re finished, I sear the filets, skin side down, for about 1 minute. It crisps the skin so the meat is almost sushi grade but with a crispy, browned skin.

Diver scallops also are ethereal. Put a little butter in the bag and sear them for about 45 seconds a side when finished and serve with lime garlic mayonnaise or bernaise sauce. Shrimp are also phenomenal.

I haven’t done lobster or crab, lobster because I prefe crab and I fail to see why I should eat lobster when I have glorious Alaska seafood fresh and local. Crab is usually sold flash frozen and I don’t feel like shelling the entire dinner. I figure everyone can shell what they want to eat and save me time.

Looking for advice if anyone has done tri tip. The recipes I'm seeing are either 2 hours or 6 hours. Wondering if anyone has insight.

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I did one for a couple hours a while back and it was great.

At least an hour for each inch of thickness, but I wouldn’t go over 5.

I’ve been tinkering with hanger steak recently. Buttery and rich and full of flavor when done right, which sous vide does.

I put a little anchovy paste on one side - maybe 1/4-1/2 a teaspoon. The anchovy paste adds umami and depth to the meat. Then I add a bit of ground ancho chili pepper, fresh ground pepper and some salt. Let it rest for about 30-60 minutes. I add a few drops of mesquite liquid smoke to the bag. Sous vide for 1-2 hours at 130 degrees. I sear mine in a red hot cast iron pan for about 60-75 seconds a side.

I make a bernaise sauce in which I add some of the juices from the bag. For an easy bearnaise (and hollandaise recipe), see Kenji Lopez-Alt’s book The Food Lab. Actually, just get that book and read his column in general.

I find I like hanger steak better than tri tip or even bone in ribeyes. Right now it’s my favorite cut of beef. My local butcher gets local grass fed beef with no hormones or antibiotics. That makes a difference. Full bodied red wine, sautéed spinach and a baguette and life is good.

Keep on cooking.

Sounds awesome.

I finally spent the money on a set up for this

We sous vide our chicken breasts in batches of 10-15lbs. Just pulled a batch, 149F 2hrs. Plastic cooler.

Then a huge chuck roast went in. Will yank it after 18hrs at 155. So yummy.

Our SV has really changed a lot in our kitchen.


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I bought it mostly to easy reheat food that I smoked, but I also look forward to cooking ontop of reheating

Getting some probiotics warm and happy to kettle sour a beer in a few days.

https://i.imgur.com/12G7yor.jpg?1

It's trendy but is Sous Vide really good for you?
 

I was gonna get a sous vide set up until I realized I'd be cooking in plastic causing me to pause. So naturally, I got to looking into the health aspects of it even though it's bad enough we have enough plastics getting into and polluting the environment. I don't give a rats ass what the FDA claims is safe since regulatory agencies suffer from regulatory capture. The science just does not support advocates of the sous vide position that it is a perfectly safe way to cook. On the contrary, the evidence is clear that ALL types of plastic, when exposed to heat, leach various chemicals into any surrounding medium, including food — including endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Once a big proponent of sous vide cooking, Chris Kresser changed his mind after the safety concerns raised in the Environmental Health Perspectives study.



Sous Vide: A Popular Way to Put Plastic Straight into Your Food
https://www.westonaprice.org/health-...straight-food/

I realize this post will lead to some hostile reactions. It's your choice to use or not. I still think it's worth posting.

Doing a prime rib roast poor man's sous vide style right now. That's an ice chest filled with 140 degree water that I check temp and stir once an hour. This is the third time I've done a roast this way with exceptional results.

I don't have kids and I only sous vide three or four times a year so I'm not terribly concerned about BPA or whatever. If I had kids I'd have to reconsider.

Various chemicals are just another layer of flavor.

I tried a bagna Cauda sauce for the first time and never realized how damn good anchovies go with beef. My only regret is that it took me this long to realize it.

I am worried enough about plastics that I did research it and decided to go with a name brand sous vide bag instead of geniric knock offs. I also don't usually sous vide at high temperatures. Steaks I do at 130. The hotest thing I do is ribs at 145.
I don't see any reason to think chemicals from sous vide is any worse than all the other junk in your food and environment.

If the current science on bpa free plastics is faulty, then danger from even regular sous vide use is but a speck compared to the rest of our food chain.


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Environmental Health Perspectives study says NO plastics are safe. If you read the link it says why despite attempt sot produce safer bags.

What science is that based on?

Not per the study. No. The thing is you're cooking, using heat, with the plastic as opposed to some short storage time of a food in a fridge.

that study tested at 273* F. Hardly sous vide conditions. Until they adjust methodology, I will be cautiously trusting of other testing.

Finally broke down and got one of these things...Anova Nano on sale on Rakuten for $60.

Used it yesterday for the first time with some boneless pork chops. They turned out decent, would have been better if it wouldn't have started raining and I could have finished them on the grill instead of a frying pan. Pretty sure I overcooked them because I couldn't get my pan hot enough for a quick sear.

Used it today on a tritip I had previously smoked/froze whole...it tasted just as good as fresh, I honestly could not tell a difference. I dont know how good these are at cooking yet but for reheating previously cooked Q they're phenomenal.

Has anyone paired the Ninja Foodie with their Sous Vide steaks? Appears to be a great combo.

We’ve been a sous vide family for a few years, and recently picked up a Foodi (air fryer/pressure coooker) in the clearance rack at Sam’s.

We absolutely love it, but not because it pairs with a sous vide machine. We love it because speed and air frying.

Ninja now makes a Foodi indoor grill, which maybe is the item you’re referring to? That would potentially make a good searing station, but like the Foodi (air fryer/pressure cooker) it’s just not large enough for families.

All these countertop devices are nice though. Can’t wait for the inova steam oven to come out soon.


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Nothing is cooked at 273 degrees in sous vide preparation. You sous vide at the final internal temp desired. Which, at the least, is about 100 degrees less than 273. The study is reeruned.

Oh, and after almost three years, I still haven't grown any boobs.

Yes I was referring to the foodi grill which cooks at 500 degrees.

Did a sirloin tonight, was OK. Starting to think more and more it's better to do steaks reverse sear on the pellet smoker. I find the usefulness goes away when you aren't using it for days to tenderize a tough cut of meat. Except chicken breast.

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I found sirloin didn't come out that great either. Seems like Sous Vide is perfect for fattier steaks.

Prolly so. I did some rib eyes a few months ago that turned out awesome.

I'm about to reverse sear 6 ribeye tomorrow, inch and a half thick, local beef. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

So Innova is coming out with an oven.

When you put food in an oven that’s being controlled with specific humidity and temperatures, it’s like sous vide but without the bag and without the water bath.

What a great time to be alive.


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I’ve had great success with tougher cuts. Chuck roasts are exquisite. Season them and sous vide at about 132 for 24 hours and then sear. Fantastic flavor and much better than some ole pot roast in a crock pot. Beef short ribs are also spectacular. These are admittedly fattier cuts but they’re cuts that can be really rough or dried out if not handled correctly.

Doing some top loin steaks. Using sous vide mode on the insta pot( yeah I know not true immersion circulator, but we're gonna do this a few times to see if we want to go to a anova). Tested the temp before tossing in and it's pretty close. Plan to"circulate" by moving the insta pot around a bit every half hour. 131 for 2 hours on steaks cut about 1 1/4 thick

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One of my issues for all these appliances is counter top space. Yes, having a sous vide tub or a deep fryer, or an air cooker is all nice, but where do you put them?

I only have so much cabinet space as well. Thank goodness I have a decent size basement with storage racks. But then I forget about them:(

Ima try that as I have a ninja grill that I love

Let us know how that goes as a I just bought an instapot that has Sous vide option

We store all our small appliances in cabinets\curio cabinets

Turned out well. Not blown away, but a good start. The meat was a pretty lean cut, so relatively speaking, enjoyed the texture on it.

Bad news: my sous vide died (my wife dropped it into the water bath a few days ago and whenever she turns it on, it trips breakers. we've owned it long enough (5+ years) that we won't be getting money back for it).

Worse news: I had purchased the Polyscience Professional, which I really liked. Simple to operate, it got to temperature pretty quickly and it could handle up to 8 gallons, so I could cook more or larger items. But .... Polyscience is not cheap.

Better news: Polyscience just came out with the HydroPro and the HydroPro Plus. Only difference is that the plus has a temperature probe. Looks like an upgrade even over the Polyscience Professional: handles up to 12 gallons; 3 different circulation speeds; sous vide tool box built into the display/control unit; impeller circulator; coil-less heater; de-scaling warning (important because we have really hard water). Most importantly, it is water resistant so they claim it will resist short drops into the water.

While I mourn the loss of my old sous vide, it is a comfort that the new one will have some definite improvements.

I need to try other meat besides steak in mine.

I’ve heard chicken and pork chops are good.

Chicken, salmon and pork are all great. I made a corned beef that was awesome, it takes a little while though. Look at the Serious Eats website, they have a ton of great recipes with good pics that help you decide what time and temp works for you.

https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/...in-recipe.html

You can try veggies as well. Throw in some baby carrots with honey, ginger and butter. cook at 183 for 45 minutes and they're really good.

Pork chops or ribs can be great. I will add a little butter or fat with pork chops because those cuts are frequently really lean. Cook at 140 for about an hour or so.

Chicken can be really tender, which is nice for white meat, but it can be hard to get the skin crispy. If I want really crispy skin, I use the techniques found here:

https://www.seriouseats.com/2015/07/...ken-thigh.html

One thing that works really well is to sous vide fried chicken. season your fried chicken, seal and sous vide. I like 150 for 1-1.5 hours. Save the juices. Use a standard 3 place breading: seasoned flour, buttermilk and then panko or other crumbs. Put on a rack to dry for a few minutes while the oil heats up. You can pan fry easily, which doesn't require as much oil. Once oil has reached temperature, put in 3-4 thighs and fry for about 1.5-2 minutes and then flip. Fry for another minute or so. Drain on a rack while you fry any remaining thighs. The outside is really crispy and warm while the inside is cooked perfectly. No more raw inside/brown outside or black outside/done inside.

I tried this a week ago w thighs. I used flour > buttermilk > Panko for half and just double flour w buttermilk in between for the other half. It was so damn good. Panko was better (Crispier). Definitely use the methods to dry out the skin or it’s a weird texture and ruins the batch.

I also cooked chicken thighs sous vide the same method as for frying then grilled for 2-3 mins w bbq sauce brushed on. Came out really good.


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Serious eats is a great site. I like my meat on the reddish pink side. Making sure pork is perfectly cooked on the inside so you can finish it on the grill while leaving it pink but knowing it is safe to eat is a added bonus.

36hr chuck roast is great. SV bacon is really good too you still crisp it but the rest just melts in your mouth. .

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So tried something new, not by choice. Was smoking ribs and not able to finish them. They were 3 hours in, at this point I would wrap them for 2 more hours. I pulled them and vacuum sealed them. Last night I was thinking about the best way to finish them. I decided 2 hrs in the water at 195 then 10 mins under the broiler should do it. They came out really good. Not sure I'd repeat that as it seems like a hassle but it worked for what I needed.

So I’m ready to jump in I think.

What’s the consensus on the equipment? Annie’s is running a sale at the moment but I’m just after the best unit. I don’t necessarily need the cheapest available option. A few bucks over the life the machine won’t buy much inconvenience.

What kind of container do I need to procure?

The reason I’m ready to jump in is over Christmas mom bought and I cooked a prime rib that I knocked out of the park. Legitimately the best food I’ve ever produced. Mom, bless her soul gave me the leftovers so I vacuum sealed them with the intention of Sous vide-ing they back to life and onto my plate.

Has anyone ever done this? Any tips?

Present

I believe Anova is the go to sous vide brand.

https://www.amazon.com/EVERIE-Collap...xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

https://www.amazon.com/Anova-Culinar...s%2C244&sr=8-3

The container I use has the folding hinge lid. I have a vacuum seal, but use gallon ziplock bags most of the time.

I ****ing love Sous Vide. My instant pot does it and just had awesome tri tip steaks cooked last night in it.

Expound.

How does the instant pot circulate the water to ensure uniform temp?

I don't use mine nearly as much as I used to. I've just found enough other uses for meats I would otherwise sous vide. Roasts and such I just boil, shred and fry for thinks like Vaca Frita or Carnitas. Pork chops and good steaks just don't need it and the texture isn't quite perfect. Anything I might braise like short ribs can just be done on the induction top and/or oven in a good dutch oven.

I still use it for fish and occasionally for large batches of stuff like Chicken wings that I want to finish at a tailgate when I have like 10 lbs of them and don't have the space to cook them indirect for as long as it would take.

But I've gotten away from using my Joule as much as I used to.

I went with the Joule over the Anova because it just takes up less space.

Nothing keeps a kitchen gadget from being used like being out of sight, out of mind. Whereas my Joule just sits next to my silverware because it's about the size of a large flashlight.

The Anova's have actual manual controls instead of being controlled exclusively by an app, so that's what I got my dad. He'd never figure out how the app works. If not wanting to use your phone is a key consideration, go with the Anova. But if you've used any sort of basic aps on a smartphone, the Joule app is really simple and the streamline shape/size of the Joule just works better for my purposes.

Right on.

Is this the one you have?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0727R431B...kequipchart-20

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/...AC_SL1500_.jpg

I looked on America's Test Kitchen and that was the "winner", but it's pretty expensive, comparatively. The ATK article was fussy about the Anova one because it was a degree off and you can't set anything finer than 5 minutes, so they had a hard time cooking eggs (which I will not do), and they said the app was wonky.

Ultimately, I'd like to prepare protein (maybe veg too) and then start it at a specified time and sear it when I get home.

I'm guessing this is the one Lewdog was using?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07898VZN9...kequipchart-20

Yeah, that’s the one I have.

I have the Anova and like it a lot. I'm not familiar with the Joule, but the comment about the size seems a little odd. The Anova fits easily in a kitchen drawer.

I thought I remembered paying about $80 bucks for it and it looks like it is ~$150 now? Maybe I don't remember that well.

I just clip it to the side of a large round, metal pot. I rarely do anything longer than 5 hours or hotter than 155 so having a lid on top to slow evaporation isn't really a big deal. But I could see it being nice if you did do things longer.

Do you have the Nano?

The top is just a tick oversized so it doesn’t fit as cleanly into short drawers or anything with an organizer.

My dad likes his well enough. We got him the slightly smaller one (at $80 that may be the one you have as well).

I would start with just the sous vide and not buy a special container if you already have a pot that works. And for when I do larger things, I have even just used a plastic box.

You can start out just using freezer bag and squeezing the air out by carefully holding most of the bag underwater. This will let you know how well you like sous vide but it is hard to get all the air out (without accidentally risking submerging the bag and filling it with water).

If there is air left in the bag, it tends to float. Then you are stuck trying to figure out how to weight it down so it stays submerged. Metal spatulas, clipping on fishing weights, etc.

If you do sous vide long enough and like, it is worth getting a vacuum bag set up. But wait until you know you will actually do enough sous vide first.

I double checked. Mine is a bit old, but it looks more like the precision, than the nano, but whatever.

So my brother is trying to talk me into getting an Anova ($600) precision oven. [Since he can't afford one but he knows I can. He actually grills/cooks at my house somewhat regularly.] This is the style of what restaurants have switched to instead of sous vide. The Anova is a home version. It has precision temperature control and you can set the humidity up to 100% for temperatures from room temperature up to boiling point.

So you could, for instance, set the oven at 135 and 100% humidity to "sous vide" a steak for 90 minutes without having to use a sous vide bag and immerse it in water.

It also works as a convection oven/air fryer/toaster, although unfortunately it does not have a built in microwave. (Although that seems to be common in units marketed in Asia.)

And then, at least according to the hype, it is supposed to be great for breads (makes for a better crust). And also for reheating foods because you can add/control hummidity at the higher temperatures and it doesn't dry out like it would in a conventional oven but for some foods will give better results than just microwaving.

So um, yeah.


https://anovaculinary.com/anova-prec...0aAv01EALw_wcB

I have been vacuum sealing stuff for freezing for a long time. But that's good to know about the floating.

Fair enough. I know nothing.

I saw ads for that thing and it looks pretty damned neat but I'd need some objective analysis before I'd drop that kind of cash on one.

Well the Instant pot doesn't circulate from my understanding but it seems to work just fine with the sealed bags. Runs a few degrees hotter so I just adjust lower and go from there. I just like it because I don't have to store some other cooking basin or gadget.

So I watched some YouTube videos from various cooking channels who at least claimed to not be getting paid and I'm pretty convinced the Anova oven works as advertised at least in sous vide mode I which would be most interested in.

If I had it, there would be other things that I'm sure would be convenient. Like you can steam vegetables or partially roast/steam vegetables.

There is nothing particularly hard about the toaster or convection setting. I guess durability and reliability are always a concern.

Mainly just whether the toy is worth the price.

But throwing a steak directly in the oven for an hour (before searing on the grill) would be so much easier than a vacuum bag.

The trade off is I've gotten in the habit of sealing several things at once and freezing some of them. So it would be a change in strategy.

I completely agree with you.