New cooking methods ... sous vide

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by Chief Pagan

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?

[Chief Pagan]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

Do you have the Nano?

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

[Chief Pagan]

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

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by Chief Pagan

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

Originally Posted by Chief Pagan

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

Fair enough. I know nothing.

Originally Posted by Chief Pagan

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 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.