Why sous vide?

[K_F_o_l_e_y]

Sous vide cheesecake jars were a hit at christmas dinner. Prebake graham cracker crusts at 350 in the oven for 10 min then fill with the filling. Made 8 4 oz jars. 1.5 hr at 176 deg and 4 hours in the fridge. Good stuff!

I made them too (8 oz), with sous vide strawberry jam (no crust)!

[Barry L i p t o n]

Sous vide is over-rated. I have the big Anova. Carrots, yes, much better that way.

Better than roasted? Hard to believe as they can get so creamy on the inside with a contrasting texture on the outside, and sweet. Harissa carrots, those come out well sous vide?

[K_F_o_l_e_y]

THE PERFECT: 75-degree sous vide egg

Video:

Start with a cold, fresh, 62g Extra Large Grade AA egg from Eggland's Best, and sous vide at 167°F x 13 min, followed by 30 seconds in cold water so easy to handle, then crack over a slotted spoon to drain loose whites, plate, season and enjoy! If your egg is larger, say 69g, give it an extra 30 seconds at 167°F

[Tom G l a s g o w]

THE PERFECT: 75-degree sous vide egg

Video:

Start with a cold, fresh, 62g Extra Large Grade AA egg from Eggland's Best, and sous vide at 167°F x 13 min, followed by 30 seconds in cold water so easy to handle, then crack over a slotted spoon to drain loose whites, plate, season and enjoy! If your egg is larger, say 69g, give it an extra 30 seconds at 167°F

No toast?

[Anton D]

For toast, uses slices of your preferred bread at 130 degrees for one hour, then finish with a sear in the toaster for 40 seconds on medium setting.

[K_F_o_l_e_y]

For toast, uses slice le of your preferred bread at 130 degrees for one hour, then finish with a sear in the toaster for 40 seconds on medium setting.

[K_F_o_l_e_y]

No toast?

Is that good?

[CJ Beazley]

Rookie question; is it easier/acceptable to just start with pre-heated water as opposed to waiting an hour for the device to bring it up to proper temp?
*assuming being careful not to go over desired temp

[K_F_o_l_e_y]

Rookie question; is it easier/acceptable to just start with pre-heated water as opposed to waiting an hour for the device to bring it up to proper temp?
*assuming being careful not to go over desired temp

Yes, hot tap water is preferred to reduce time to reach temp. Some people’s even put the pot on the stove and run the immersion circulator at the same time.

I’ve been known to use two joules simultaneously to speed up getting to 194F or 203F. Joules are twice as fast fast as Anovas.

[Anton D]

Our hot water is 120 degrees, so we fill with that. For “flesh,” we usually cook at 128 degree, so very little work for the Anova to get up to speed.

[Steve Manzi]

Our hot water is 120 degrees, so we fill with that. For “flesh,” we usually cook at 128 degree, so very little work for the Anova to get up to speed.

Ours is about 125 degrees out of the faucet. I do the same thing.

[Steve Manzi]

For toast, uses slices of your preferred bread at 130 degrees for one hour, then finish with a sear in the toaster for 40 seconds on medium setting.

I gotta try that toast thing. Never even thought of that. Is the toast tenderer this way?

[Mary Deem]

Welcome to the world of sous vide.

I love rare meat but have metbolic issues resulting slow incomplete digestion. Cooking meat sous vide allows the meat to be tender and easy to digest - while leaving it nice and rare. Even if I did not have health issues, I would still love what sous vide dose to meat....a lovely soft texture without turning the meat into an overdone mess.

Sous vide is a great way to make a torchon of duck foie gras. I find it easier than the traditional method.

Douglsa Baldwin has a great page with temperature/time guidelines for meat and seafood. I remember 'bak in the day' when he was one of the few people who had those handy-dandy guidelines..nice to have especialy if you are concerned about food safety.

When you open the link, you will see linked buttons marked 'food safety', 'basic technique', 'meat', and so forth. Just click on whatever interests you. I find that it might take a few times to get the exact rareness/doneness...but just treat it like any other type of cooking.

http://www.douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html

The downside, the cooked steak sometimes looks like a grey mess from the outside...hence the reason most people give it a quick sear in a pan after it is done 'sous-viding'...yes I know that is not a verb but it is kinda fun to use anyway.

Time is another downside...but on the otherhand, you don't really have to babysit it much save for adding water if needed and ensuring the vacuum bag has not popped open.

Space and set up can be an issue, though probably not for your set up. I have a 'ghetto rig'..rice cooker with an Auber PID controller. Sometimes schlepping that huge rice cooker down can be a pain..and it takes up a lot of counter space. Once it is set up, I find myself thinking that I should do this more often.

Hope you have fun with your new gift.

[K_F_o_l_e_y]

Douglsa Baldwin has a great page with temperature/time guidelines for meat and seafood. I remember 'bak in the day' when he was one of the few people who had those handy-dandy guidelines..nice to have especialy if you are concerned about food safety.

When you open the link, you will see linked buttons marked 'food safety', 'basic technique', 'meat', and so forth. Just click on whatever interests you. I find that it might take a few times to get the exact rareness/doneness...but just treat it like any other type of cooking.

http://www.douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html

I can't recommend Doug Baldwin's website enough too!

[Mary Deem]

Kevin - I completely agree. Doug's site was my guide post when I started doing sou vide. It remains so, even to this day.

[Jay Miller]

For toast, uses slices of your preferred bread at 130 degrees for one hour, then finish with a sear in the toaster for 40 seconds on medium setting.

[Jay Miller]

Some people even put the pot on the stove and run the immersion circulator at the same time.

I used to do this but overheated the water one too many times...

[Jason T]

Did sous vide shrimp for NYE, for shrimp cocktail. Way easier than poaching in court bouillon.

Peeled 2lbs of 16-20ct, tosses them in a teaspoon or sonof baking soda and some thyme (if they weren’t destined for cocktail I would have played with other flavors or considered leaving the shell on).

30 minutes at 132 degrees. Texture was a bit funky - next time I’d do 140, which is the more traditional temp. Flavor was outstanding - very clean, simple, but intense shrimp flavor.

Sous vide is great for shrimp since it allows you to keep from overcooking them. Also helps with prep, as I was headed to a party 20 minutes away. Removed bag from sous vide to ice bath for 5 minutes to stop the cooking and chill for transport. Got to destination and just needed to take them straight out of the bag onto the serving platter.

[K_F_o_l_e_y]

Oh man, was this a tender and juicy chop! Pre-seared briefly, then sous vide 137°F x 60 min in teriyaki sauce. Slightly blushed inside.

[Nola Palomar]

Oh man, was this a tender and juicy chop! Pre-seared briefly, then sous vide 137°F x 60 min in teriyaki sauce. Slightly blushed inside.

If you pan sear it briefly before hand and the Sous Vide it it looks like that??

[K_F_o_l_e_y]

Oh man, was this a tender and juicy chop! Pre-seared briefly, then sous vide 137°F x 60 min in teriyaki sauce. Slightly blushed inside.

If you pan sear it briefly before hand and the Sous Vide it it looks like that??

It's covered in sauce! These ChefStep sauces are designed to be sous vide with your protein in the bag, so it's not really feasible to sear after the sous vide. It's possible the pre-sear adds a bit of flavor, but that is probably minor compared to the sauce's contribution. And you can't really see the sear when it is covered in sauce, so the sear is probably optional.

If I was doing a pork chop without the sauce in the bag, I'd put the chops in the freezer for 15 min or so, then pre-sear it cold (minimizing the chance of cooking the interior), then after sous vide do a very quick post-sear of maybe 30 seconds/side to refresh the crust. It's so easy to over-cook a pork chop, which obviates the point of doing sous vide in the first place.