paulpegg

I agree. Eggs are great to do but many people complain about the loose whites and you have to find a way to deal with that issue. I either drain them off or drop them into a pot of boiling water for a few seconds to firm them up. Vegetables come out great but meat is the stellar ingredient that SV transforms into sublime dishes. if you aren't going to do meats them don't spend the money! IMHO.

I think 60C (140F) is too hot. you are cooking the meat to medium. I use 55C (131F) with great success.

It is not a self priming pump but it is easy to prime by sucking on the return side until it is full of water. Once it is full and running it can be above or below the water level. I haven't had any clogging problems since the water is clear and there is no floating or suspended material in the water. The end of the inlet pipe is cut at an angle on both sides to prevent it from sucking up against the wall or a bag. A small filter would probably be more effective.

One reason for the choice of aquarium bubblers to drive circulation has been the difficulty of finding a small (hopefully cheap) and easily available pump that will reliably withstand cooking temperatures. Paul, could you document the pumps that worked (and didn't) for you, please? A low voltage (rather than mains voltage) water pump makes a great deal of sense from the safety angle, and adjusting/controlling the speed of a DC pump motor is simply a matter of giving it a lower voltage, simply achieved by using a different power brick. Via-Agua VA-80 This pump http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=VIA+AQUA+VA-80%2F+ATAM+AT-301&x=0&y=0 did not hold up at all. it gave up the ghost at 70C. This one is rated at ~80C but it also failed. The plastic just expanded and it froze solid. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260688654675&ssPageName=ADME:L:PMR:US:1123 The vendor for the above pump replaced it with this one Centrifugal Pump and it works great. I bought some silicone tubing and a sink nipple to finish the hook-up. I also needed a 2 amp 12v power supply that I bought on ebay for a few $. I cut the sink nipple in half, bent it into an L shape and just pushed the silicon tubing over the ends. At first I just put the tubing in the stock pot or cooler but the return would invariably find it's way out of the pot and empty all the water onto the floor. The sink nipple keeps them tubing in the pot and the problem has gone away. (I bought two of these pumps since they come from Hong Kong and it takes a long time for them to arrive. if there was interest i could buy in quantity and supply them to others on eGullet.) Here is a picture of the final pump assembly.

You're right. An air bubbler will pump loads of energy out the top and accelerate evaporation as well. The little centrifugal pump I am using circulates 110 GPH and uses less than 2 amps @ 12v DC.

I have done the Momofuku Short Ribs for 72 hours at 55C (131F) and they come out nothing short of fantastic! you can find a version of this recipe at Momofuku Ribs The recipe says 48 hours but 72 works fine also. I make a double batch of the marinade and use the second one to serve the ribs. Reduce it down to about 25% until it is thick and dark. It works a lot better than using the marinade from the bags. You can serve it with just about anything you wish. I like it with pureed celery root and pea pods. you will definitely return to this recipe many times.

You can always build a beer cooler unit such as this http://egullet.org/p1777037 . If you read the article I referenced at Les Marmitons NJ you will see the larger version. I recently upgraded the pump to an external centrifugal pump with the ability to withstand up to 105C. The original pump didn't like 83.9C! I m still under $200 for this unit and use it every day. The beer cooler will easily accommodate meat or vegetables for 50 people or more. I used it for a vegetable course for 150 people in November. I found that some bags would float to the surface, so I purchased some stainless steel pipe nipples and roll them up in the top of the sealed bag and clamp the bag on the ends with office paper clamps to keep them from sliding out. They hold everything close to the bottom and nothing floats. I tried aluminum plates at first and found that they corroded and I didn't care for the way they looked so I tossed them.

My solution would be to avoid using the stainless steel rack. End of problem.

SV asparagus would be a good example since it is easy to overcook, even at sv temperatures. Perfect sv asparagus takes 30 minutes at 83.9C. Leave it in for 90 minutes and you have pale green and mushy asparagus. Bag it with a little salt, pepper and a pat of butter/24 stalks and you are on the way.

I haven't been in SF for a longtime but I always enjoyed Tommy's Mexican Restaurant (and World's Best tequila Bar) on Geary Blvd in the Richmond district. It is not haute cuisine for sure, but it is a lot of fun. They are renowned for their margaritas and endless refills.

I have never tried to sv ground meat. Jason Logsdon, in his book "Beginning Sous Vide" has a listing for Hamburger at 55C for 2-4 hours. My own thought would be to sv the whole pieces and grind them up just before forming into a patty. This would at least give the meat some color but it would probably not bind together as well as raw ground meat patties.

I would treat them the same as chicken legs. Yesterday I cooked four skinless chicken legs at 72C (161.6F) for 4-1/2 hours and they came out perfect. My wife complained that chicken leg joints cooked at 150F were too bloody looking and the meat was too soft. I have to agree with her after this one. There was no red flesh and the meat was firm, juicy and delicious. I generously salted and peppered them prior to bagging and seared in a very hot cast iron pan with a little oil for two minutes on each side after sous vide. I made a variation of Jason Logsdon's Lime-Curry Butter (Beginning Sous Vide) to put on at plating. Try higher temperatures and longer times if you don't like to see red at the joints.

On my chamber first the chamber evacuates, then the sealer bar is pressed up against the red piece in the lid, then energized to make the seal. I believe that's how all chamber sealers work, since there aren't any evacuation channels in the bags. The bar is actuated pneumatically. Since drawing a vacuum will reverse the forces applied to the chamber walls of an autoclave, it's hard to know if the chamber will take it. It sounds like a fun project though. HTH, Larry It seems that the sealer bar is pressed up against the lid with a kind of air bladder - I guess if you have a sealed bladder partially filled with air, as the pressure decreases in the chamber, the bladder will "inflate" more pressing against the lid... I was planning on using a solenoid or something to move the sealing bar. just be careful that your "tank" is strong enough - the bigger the chamber, the more force will be pressing on it from all sides - and the numbers add up really quickly - a 12" square panel will have roughly 2000 pounds pushing against it (roughly 144 sq. in. at 14 psi). Thanks. The neat thing about some of the autoclaves I have seen is that they have a domed door with a seal built in that would probably hold the vacuum quite safely. If I find one big enough I would contact the manufacturer to check out the specifications on the seal. The worst thing that can happen is that the seal leaks. I strongly doubt that a stainless steel vessel designed for +2 atmospheres internal pressure would have any problems with -1 atmosphere. The cheapest one I have seen was $195. A good vacuum pump is a little over $100 and a seal bar is also probably about $100. Designing a method to push the seal bar closed and get power to it shouldn't be too big a hurdle. More later.

Thanks for your pictures. I am interested in how the seal bar works. Does it move up to clamp the bag at the end of the vacuum run? Or is the bag clamped all the time and the air inside is pushed out through the clamp as the vacuum increases? I am beginning to think about building a chamber sealer of my own. I am looking into used autoclaves from hospitals. These generally operate at 30 psi for steam sterilization but should work equally well under half that pressure under full vacuum. Anybody have any thoughts to share?

My wife and I have become regulars at Eleven Madison Park in NYC. We only go there about a half dozen times a year but they never fail to recognize us. We usually get the same waiter and enjoy our short conversations with him. It doesn't hurt that I have invited myself into the kitchen and met more of the people behind all their fantastic food. Danny Meyers has built an empire based upon customer satisfaction and Eleven Madison is at the top of the pile.

Pedro, I have been cooking hanger steak for years. It responds very well to sous vide. There is a central sinew that runs through it that should be removed prior to cooking. This results in cutting the piece into two "ropes" that can easily serve four to six people. here is shot of a few pieces I trimmed out yesterday. The section on the right is untrimmed. My piece is not a pretty as yours. I buy wholesale and the meats are basically raw cut from the slaughter house. I just salt and pepper them and include a few smashed garlic cloves and a sprig of rosemary (wrapped in paper towel) in the bag and cook at 55.5C for 2 hours followed with a two minute sear on all sides. This is very inexpensive meat and is delicious.

I understand your concerns, but consider the following: The amount of copper which will get into your body is dependent on the following: 1. Frequency of the use of copper cookware. 2. Surface area of cookware in contact with food. The larger the contact area, the more copper may leach into food. 3. Degree of agitation of the contact point between copper and food. The more agitation, the more leaching of copper may happen. 4. Acidity of food. Copper may react with acid food. I believe that the copper heat pipe as shown does not meet any of the above four conditions. In any case, a small amount of copper is required for good health, that tiny amount of copper, if in fact present, may just be good for your health. I think it is a good idea to beat eggs in a copper bowl, lots of stirring with metal to metal scrapping and exposure to large surface area. As I said, most of the piping for potable water is in fact copper. On the average, most people drink large quantities of water from copper pipes everyday for over 70 years (life expectance). I am not sure drinking water is not somewhat acid with chlorine and fluorine and acid rain. Having said all these, my experimental heating pins using heat pipes are actually tin coated. I think for SV, it will make a few hours of difference of cooking time to equalize cold temperature of a very thick piece of meat right from the refrigerator. dcarch I think the opportunity to introduce pathogens into the meat far outweighs the potential reduction in cooking time by perhaps only a few minutes. I doubt that it would reduce the time by hours since those same BTU's still have to make their way out to the water and the mass of the heat tube is insignificant relative to the entire mass to be heated. you are not providing any benefit to the process and complicating a very simple cooking method by introducing an indeterminate variable.

Yes I agree. I am guessing it is +-1 C as well. But at least it is a good sign that there is some competition for real immersion circulators. My DIY system holds to +-.1 degree C with no problem. Not bad for less than $200.

Please check out my design at Les Marmitons NJ and also posted on page 147 of the Previous thread on this subject I use a large beer cooler for larger quantities and a stock pot for smaller amounts. It cost me $165 to build and I have spent a few dollars more on improvements. Total is still less than $200. I use the system several times a week. The amount I cook depends on the cut of meat, how much I have purchased and how long it takes to cook. For example, when I do short ribs that take 72 hours i will do 10 or 15 pounds, serve some on the final day and freeze the rest. For a steak that needs only a few hours I will just cook the portion of the day. I use the beer cooler for the larger amount and the stock pot for smaller ones. I really don't find anything particularly annoying about sous vide cooking. It has simplified meal preparation because the timing is not all that critical and you can concentrate on other things as serving time approaches. This is a big help when entertaining or cooking for a large group. I have used this system for events up to 150 people and it has totally changed the way we think about meal preparation. i have made one change since I built the system in the article I pointed you to above. The original circulating pump was not up to the high temperatures needed for vegetables (as Pedro pointed out). Pedro gave me an ebay source in Hong Kong for a pump rated at 80C+. It took a month to arrive (I actually bought two) and works as advertised. My future plans include using a two position PID that a friend is giving me so that I can control both cookers at different temperatures. I may start to build a vacuum chamber if I can locate an appropriate pressure vessel and a sealer I can put in it.

The most delicious asparagus you will ever have is SV with a bit of salt, pepper, garlic powder and a Tbsp of butter in the bag and cooked at 83.9C for 40 minutes. I think all vegetables need to cook at this temperature to tenderize them. They are basically being cooked in their own juices and they come out much better than if you blanched them in boiling water. Thomas Keller, in his book "Under Pressure", advises that you reduce the quantity and wrap any aromatics in paper towel before you put them in the bag to prevent direct contact with the meat. It works great on long cooked meats.

I have also adopted the double seal and have experienced the aroma of my ingredients as they cook in the bath. I am using somewhat thicker bags and it still is apparent but not as strong. The double seal may be a weak defense since it is only the inside edge of the inner seal that needs to fail to have a problem. The likeliest one to fail is the one that has some pressure behind it. This is easily the inner one if the ingredients gas off and bulge the bag. A double bagged set will be protected if the inner seal on the inner bag fails. Since it hasn't happened to me yet I have no further advice on this issue.

I think that hoisin sauce is sort of one dimensional for a dish that will be remembered by all with a little more work invested. here is a link to a recipe for momofuku short ribs SV. Momofuku recipe.I substituted cranberry juice for the pear juice and it came out fantastic. This was one of the first things I did after I built my SV system and it is the one that keeps getting requests for more. Try it, you will definitely like it! I put the meat and marinade in the bag and then froze it overnight before sealing it. This prevented the Foodsaver from sucking the liquid out of the bag. There have been many posts about using Foodsaver bags for long cooking periods so I double bagged it (and continue to do so as a matter of course whenever the recipe will run for more than 8 hours). I have never had an outside or inside bag leak so I guess it is not as big a problem as Indicated elsewhere. In any event, safe is better than sorry and bags are cheap. Good luck with your ribs.

A timer with an alarm, either audible or visual, or both, would be a good idea. Also perhaps the ability to start the timer at a predetermined temperature to compensate for frozen food at the start. This could be particularly helpful if you were starting a large amount of frozen meat and were guessing at the time necessary to bring the water bath back to normal temperature. The ability to clamp it to a beer cooler as well as a stock pot or thinner edged containers. USB port and data capture software to create a log on a computer for record keeping and recipe research. An alternate could be to store data on a smartdrive for later download. This could be useful for restaurants who are required to keep extensive records of their sous vide activities. Did I hit any good buttons? I am a Professional Engineer with many years of design experience also.

All great tips, Paul. Do you cut into every onion you buy? That's been part of the problem for me: my otherwise trusty onion-quality senses, which have been just fine for a few decades, fail me now. That would be a bad thing to do and I would probably become persona non grata very quickly. I pick one out that looks and feels good on the outside and cut into the sprout end. If it looks bad then many of them are all probably going to be bad and I move on. If it is good I will keep it and pick out more to fill my needs. Fruits are another thing altogether. Many times things like peaches look great but are bad at the pit or have absolutely no flavor. Again, I will cut one in half, taste it and decide if this is junk or not.

I have stopped buying bags of onions (and potatoes) long ago. Typically about a quarter of them are mushy or moldy. I only buy loose onions that I can give a close look at each one. i also carry a good pocket knife and will cut open a sample piece (especially fruits) to see if they are acceptable. I pay more but have less waste. If you go the the market early in the morning you may see the clerks tossing the stuff that has gone bad overnight. I often see them putting the new stuff under the old so it is a good idea to dig deep for the freshest produce.