lel4866

I've had the ary vacmaster 210 for about 6 months - using it pretty exclusively for sous vide at home. I like it very much - it just works, can be adjusted for amount of vacuum, and certainly gets as much vacuum as I want (given that it appears you actually don't want too much vacuum). The only question I would have now, is whether you actually want a vacuum sealer at all, or whether you just want to hang a plastic bag in the water and let water pressure force the air out.

The pictures I've seen show the magnetic stirring rod above the bottom of the beakers. But, maybe the buildup is due to the fact that the bottom of the pan is hotter than the desired sauce temp. With this method you wouldn't have to have that condition. You could always give it a whisk very occasionally. PaulRaphael - I'm interested in your comment that the best hollandaises are made at fairly high heat - I hadn't heard that. Even so, once that happens, it could be nice to be able to be able to let it sit for awhile while you attend to other things. As for controlling the temperature of the liquid itself, most of these units come with a mounting point and connection for an external thermometer precisely for controlling the liquid temperature - another $450.

jk1002 - I like your idea of chocolate tempering with the PolyScience. Along a similar vein, a couple weeks ago I made an Italian meringue, where you add a 235F syrup to the egg whites. You could theoretically get this exactly to 235F in a bag with the PolyScience, but it isn't really how I'd feel comfortable doing it (at least yet). And, the syrup would start to cool as soon as I removed it from the water, where a pan would retain the heat much longer. One of the advantages of the hotplate is that I could use more "normal" methods and standard pans. Don't like the frying concept,though (I don't want to deep fry, and it would require lots of oil).

I've had the PolyScience for 6 months and couldn't be happier. I just did a great stir fry tonight. I stir fry the veggies, sous vide the meat, and end up with a stir fry with unbelievably tender, but rare, meat. I have nothing to compare it too, though. The cheaper solutions seem to get very good ratings here. As to this topic, let me get a little more specific. Let's say I want to do something with breading - say chicken picatta. I think the ideal oil temp is around 380F. AT 400F or above, it starts to burn pretty quickly. Now, I have no problem standing at the stove and adjusting the gas as it cooks so it doesn't burn. It just strikes me that this is just a little "antiquated". Secondly, is the issue of consistency. Once I determine that I need to cook it at 380F for 3 minutes, the next time I do it, I want to be able to repeat my success exactly. Or, if it was underdone, I want to try it again in a controlled way - up the temp 10F and see what happens - just the way I would like to do things. Then there are sauces like hollandaise where I'd just like to set the temp and work on something else. And, of course, as mentioned, chocolate tempering (BTW, only the CIMAREC seems to go down low enough for that of the cheaper units). A comment on stirring - since the stirrer is magnetic, you couldn't use a metal pan - only glass - something like a pyrex beaker. Now my kitchen will really start to look like a lab.

jk1002 - I think you misunderstood my question. I'm not looking to replace my sous vide setup. I'm looking for a precise setup for frying, sauce making, candy making, etc - non sous vide methods

Hi - Inspired by eGullet, I have been doing sous vide for about 6 months now, and am extremely happy with the new technique. Unfortunately, the availability of precise temperature control from my sous vide equipment has got me yearning for much more precise temperature control for other cooking techniques as well. I think it's just the engineer in me. I already own a Bradley smoker with an Auber PID controller and just love the control that gives me. Are my spare ribs smoked for 8 hours at 188F better than just using a Big Green Egg or Klose? I don't know. But, I just set it up and forget it and the results are consistently to my liking. So, one of my pet peeves is just plain frying. I've got a "good" cooktop - a Wolf gas. But. I've done a bunch of temperature measurements. When you put a good pan (say an All Clad) on the burner, set it to Medium, the surface temperature of the empty pan just keeps going up - it stabilizes very high (over 500F temperature). That translates into: leave something on a little too long and it burns. I've also got a portable induction unit (a Vollrath Mirage). It lets you "set" a temperature, but it clearly heats up the pan way beyond that initially. Much better than the Wolf, but still not "precise". So, given the lab background of the early sous vide equipment, I started looking at laboratory hot plates. I found this 10" x 10" one: http://www.discountlabs.com/store/product.php?productid=103&cat=0&page=1 for $362. Now, the thing is, I don't know how even the temperature distribution is over the 10x10 surface - I read the available manuals, and they give no indication. They only claim to be able to set temp at 5C increments and hold it to +-5C. To do better requires twice the price. So, I was wondering. What do you all think of this idea? Do you think it might help provide more consistent or even better results for some things? Do you have better suggestions for equipment? BTW, for an extra $100, you can get a unit with a magnetic stirrer - might be cool for sauces, but that;s for another discussion. Thanks.

About 3 months ago, I simultaneously cooked three essentially identical small pieces of pork butt, about 4lbs each, using three different methods: Big Green Egg with Cowboy charcoal and a couple hunks of hickory at approximately 180F-220F, Bradley with Auber PID temp controller and hickory at 185F, and sous vide at 185F for 6 hours after smoking in Bradley for 2 hours at 185F. With both the Bradley and the Big Green Egg, I had a Thermapen temperature guage with needle probe read 185 for 1 hour before taking the butt out. I recall them both being about 8 hours as well (but I can't recall well). Not exact, but close enough for me. I only used a little salt and pepper on the outside for seasoning. I ate this myself, and my wife "blind" tested it. There is no question that the Bradley smoked meat had the best texture and taste. The Big Green Egg was next - still very good - but drier, and sous vide last. All we're pretty good, but the sous vide meat just kind of had the wrong texture and much less smoke taste. I've cooked with a wide variety of charcoal and wood smokers, as well as my oven. I think I'm pretty picky about the results. I also love sous vide for medium rare 33 hour chuck roast and moist fish and chicken - but not for higher heat stuff. The Big Green Egg is much more versatile at the high end - it can get really hot and can really sear a steak. The Bradley is much more versatile at the low end - it can smoke salmon at 140F or lower. A couple of tips on the Bradley: 1) I originally noticed kind of a "bad metallic smoke taste" when I first got the Bradley. Now, it may be time for the metal to season, but now I also empty the water pan that catches the burnt pucks once an hour or so - not critical. 2) I leave the vent pretty open when smoking so the smoke "flows through" the machine, rather than just sitting on the meat. I close it up after smoking is complete - usually for me, 2-3 hours max, to conserve moisture in the meat.

I've just completed my first 4 sous vide attempts. I have the polyscience 7306c, ary vp-210 chamber vacuum, and cambro 6" deep plastic tank I really like the equipment. They've worked flawlessly and are very simple to use. 1. Eggs: 63.8C for 1 hour. Whites were way to runny for me. But, they were pretty old eggs (like over a month). Will try some fresh ones. 2. Fresh lobster tail (well, maybe, just bought the tail at Harris Teeter) at 60C for 30 minutes. Removed the meat from the shell before vacuum packing. I definitely don't like the fact the meat didn't turn white. It didn't matter because it was chopped up to go into some lobster bisque. 3. Fresh lobster tail at 65C for 30 minutes with a little butter and garlic in the bag. Some of the best lobster I've ever had. I've always had a problem duplicating lobster to get the "perfect juciness vs doneness. Now, I can. I think next time I may hit it with a torch for a few seconds to give it a little crust. 4. Short ribs at 60C for 33 hours (why 33 hours? Start at 9am, done at 6pm). Removed bone and dusted with simple garlic/salt/pepper rub. Afterwards, made a simple wine/Bone Suckin Sauce reduction with the juices (put in a bowl on the side for dipping). Hit all 4 sides with a torch for 10-20 seconds. This must be what it's all about. Some of the best meat I've ever had. Next: pork butt. Plan to rub, smoke for an hour at 180F in my smoker, then vacuum and put into water at 83.3C for 24-33 hours, then hit it with the torch

Re: Pork Neck Recipe How large was your pork neck (dimensions and weight)?

Oysters sous vide? One of the reasons I'm interested in sous vide is the repeatability it offers. I really like the oyster stew recipe in "The Best Recipe" by Cooks Illustrated Editors. However, the last instruction is typical of oyster stew recipes - dump in the oysters and cook until "the edges turn up". Now, I see the edges turn up on some but not all. Do I continue? The result is that some of the oysters are "perfect" - not mushy, juicy, some are clearly overdone - tough, very chewy. Now, I don't know whether this variability is just mostly a by product of using oysters in a jar, or my cooking method. What I'd like to do is try cooking the oysters separately sous vide, say to 140F? Does anyone have an experience doing this? Times/temps? Any safety issues you can think of?

Just thought I'd post this analysis of sous-vide chicken breast done in August 1996. I'm used to researching food issues on "foodie websites" - not at university food science sites - a whole new thing for me. Anyone have a home gas chromatograph? Department of Food Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27695-7624, USA. The influences of brine composition, internal temperature, heating rate, and storage periods up to 28 d on flavor, texture, and color of sous vide processed chicken breast were evaluated. Pectoralis major muscles containing water and sodium chloride, with or without sodium lactate, were browned and vacuum packaged. Sous vide processing was by fast or slow heating to an internal temperature of 77 or 94 C. Product was evaluated after 0, 14, and 28 d storage at 4 C. Quality was evaluated by gas chromatographic analyses of flavor volatiles, shear, color, and sensory panels. Incorporation of sodium lactate into brine did not influence oxidative stability (as measured by headspace gas chromatography) or sensory warmed-over flavor. Presence of sodium lactate did result in enhanced fresh roasted or meaty and saltiness sensory scores as well as a more yellow color. The more rapid heating rate decreased sulfur-containing compounds and did not influence other volatile concentrations. Products processed to 94 C were less juicy, less tender, and contained higher quantities of alcohols and hydrocarbons than those processed to 77 C. Storage resulted in a decline in fresh roasted or meaty flavor note and an increase in warmed-over flavor note and quantities of alcohols, aldehydes and ketones, hydrocarbons, and total headspace volatiles.