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Anybody Sous Vide?

Philbert

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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.

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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.

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

Philbert
 
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Philbert

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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.

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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
 
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Philbert

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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.
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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.
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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!
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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
 

Wonkydonkey

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I’ve tried it a few times, and I’ve enjoyed the meat that I’ve done.

However it was a faff getting the big pot out, as I was using a Homebrew beer making / grain mashing pot to cook the meat.

I never ventured much deeper as my preferred food is more Asian/ Indian style ,
 

drf256

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I still want to try the method. I believe @Redfin does it.

Very precise, only issue is getting that char and not overdoing it.

I hear octopus is amazing sous vide. Tender and doesn’t lose as much fiood as it does boiled.

I’ve seen guys finish beef with a propane torch after this method.

Your roasts look delicious. Eye round is typically too lean and tough, without much flavor. I generally but it when it’s cheap and grind it up with leftover steak fat trimmings for ground beef.
 

Dustin4185

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We’ve tried it at work when a coworker had one. Good results and the food was generally pretty good. I just don’t see a need for one for my household yet. We brined some turkey breasts and did them for a wild game dinner and they turned out great. We also did some venison of some sort but can’t remember.
 

Woodpecker

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The beauty of sous vide is you can make cheap cuts taste like a million bucks. I buy chuck at Costco by the case (you have to flag a butcher down) at 4.50ish per pound. I throw a chuck steak on the smoker for a couple to several hours and then bag for 20ish hours at 130 degrees. I actually do several at once and freeze what I don’t plan on eating immediately, but I digress. Cut out of the bag, pat dry, sear, and serve. That’s how I transform chuck into something that tastes better than a ribeye. At $4.50ish a pound vs. $14/# for ribeye the sous vide has paid for itself many times over so far.
 

Woodpecker

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I hear a lot about smoking meat, in conjunction with using the SV. But I don’t have a smoker!

Philbert
You’re missing out. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy. Mine is ostensibly just a 22” charcoal kettle set up for indirect heat with a couple chunks of hardwood thrown on the charcoal.
 

Woodpecker

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Trying one new hobby at a time.

This thing was about $100, and stores in a drawer.

Philbert
I hear that. My point is this though: you can pick up a second hand charcoal kettle in good/great shape for as low as $25. Heck I see them sitting at the curb free sometimes. They require less than 2 square feet on a patio, porch, or lawn. It will happily sit out in all weather conditions for years and be no worse for the wear. Should you decide to take that step the cost of entry to the bbq hobby doesn’t need to be a super expensive affair.
 

stretch5881

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Same here, old kettle grill that I made a compartment on the inside to hold coal and wood. A plate on top of the compartment with holes large enough to drop charcoal in and hold a can of water on top. I find that the smoke penetrates better with some steam.
 
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