jmasur

Postscript: Left 'em in for 68h. Delicious. Next time I make sv baby back ribs, though, I might break from my ordinary preference for dusting with rub, then cooking, then searing. I think that it might work well to do the rub, then torch the ribs before packaging in bbq sauce and cooking -- the "bark" on the ribs would be subtle, but should work. Anyone else have any experience comparing the two? Also, thinking about things I can do with meat glue. Specifically, about putting cheese or butter in the center of a chicken breast before gluing it closed, then cooking sv. Anyone have experience with this and tips or recipes to share, or any concerns about food safety that wouldn't be handled by the normal approach to cooking chicken sv? Thanks.

Brain (and gut) trust: Baby back ribs -- any concern about cooking them for more like 64h at 144F, instead of 48h? Am I better off cooling in an ice bath after 45h, then reheating for 3-4h? Thanks.

I guess I'm still not sure what you're concerned about with the stainless scratching - health or aesthetics? I don't know of any issue with the former, and scratching the bottom of the device wouldn't concern me aesthetically.

I'm pretty anal about this stuff, but, ummm, no. Honestly, if you're worried about BPAs leaching through plastic bags, you probably shouldn't be cooking in plastic bags.

Thanks for the feedback, all. Does anyone have suggestions for how long to cook prawns at 130F/55C? That way, I can use a single bath for steak and prawns (my wife doesn't eat red meat). Worst case, I suppose I'll have to experiment and report back.

Shrimp time and temp suggestions, anyone? I thought that 136F for 30 minutes would be too much, so I tried 130F for 40 minutes. Still came out a little rubbery. On the plus side, the flavors of this recipe, with chipotle substituted for esplette, were terrific. http://blog.sousvidesupreme.com/2012/06/sous-vide-vanilla-butter-shrimp/

I have never seared prior to cooking, because I don't see any benefit. Any texture development would be lost in the subsequent cook, so you'd have to sear again anyway, and you'd be starting further in the doneness process than I'd want. (I find one of the biggest challenges with sv to be putting a final sear on with high enough heat to avoid further cooking the interior.) But in your second scenario - sear, but don't cook, before freezing - I would have food safety concerns. You would have raised the temperature of a portion of the meat to the danger zone without cooking long enough to pasteurize. It may be that the chill and freeze would address that adequately. But again, since I see no upside, I can't imagine doing it. I have prepped and frozen raw meats (beef, and poultry, and fish), then cooked and seared; and I have prepped, cooked, fast chilled in an ice bath, frozen, and reheated/recorded, then seared. I couldn't tell you that it has made a difference in taste or safety, just convenience.

I can't imagine that it will become mushy after 24h. If you are concerned, portion it into individual steaks first and then cook for 8h or so. (Coincidentally, I am currently cooking 3cm-thick rib eye/entrecote steaks for 8-9 hours at 130F/54.5C for tonight's dinner.)

It's got a lot more requirements than that, obviously. I was simply noting that it does not appear that Polyscience could read this on the Anova.

And at least for fish, I find that portioning cold portions (either before cooking or after chilling) gives a much cleaner cut.

That's not their only response. Just before Thanksgiving, they sued Sansaire, asserting infringement of U.S. Pat. No. 8469678. The patent requires molded housings, suggesting that Anova is not a likely next target.

It fits a 12x18x9 without having to make a notch I had tried it in the corner on the shirt side without luck. I'll try your positioning. Worst case scenario, I'll make a little shim or something. Fwiw, for the top, I'm using a piece of Reflectix, cut about an inch larger than the rim, with a cutout for the circulator. Easy as hell, and works lie a charm.

I just used my Anova in a 12x18x9 Cambros for the first time tonight. 2.5 lbs of Mahi Mahi in 4 bags. No rack, no problem.

Well, found one fairly significant (IMHO) design flaw: The clamp doesn't fit properly on a 12x18x9 Cambro. Guess I'll have to notch the rim.

I've occasionally experienced it, but mainly with eggplants, and thought it was primarily due to them losing solid volume and condensing. When making eggplant, I therefore use larger bags, and if there's a lot of air in the bag partway through the cook, I slice the end off and revacuum and seal.

Tends to be my preferred method for steaks. I have a reasonably priced Charbroil Infrared that gets well over 800F surface temps. I preheat for 10 minutes and get cross-hatched marks on both sides in 4-6 minutes.

The Anova worked great on my Igloo Ice Cube wheeled cooler. I used a piece of Reflectix cut to fit for the cover.

Tried the Anova in my Igloo cooler, topped with Reflectix, last night. The lid wouldn't close, so I used the Reflectix to make a shaped custom one. Modernist Tri Tip. Rubbed in granulated garlic, kosher salt, and pepper, cooked sous vide for 8 hours at 129F, then seared on the griddle and sliced. Topped with a relish of torch-popped Sweet 100s tossed in EVOO, microplaned garlic, cilantro, and s+p. Served with smashed Yukon Golds, with manchego cream (forgot to add the white truffle oil I'd intended). The Anova seemed to maintain great temperature consistency throughout the cooler, although I couldn't sample the temps down low. Why do you think that an air gap is important?

Pure genius. Picked up some for $1.19/ft at OSH today.

I've never thought to make soup sous vide. I don't think it would work terribly well. Soup thickens, at least in part, by evaporating water, a process that SV prevents. I've not cooked tomatoes SV either. A post from 2010 suggests that 85C/185F will cook the tomatoes but leave them intact, which is consistent with my experience with vegetables and fruits. Of course, even that temperature will be far over what you'd want for beef.

How do you know what version you have? Cross-post: Agreed. I just retired my Dorkfood / bucket heater / aquarium pump setup. I'd foolishly left the Dorkfood outside and it rained unexpectedly, destroying the circuitry. I decided not to replace with the same because of the noisy mechanical relay, and couldn't find a solid state relay unit for under $150 unless I built my own. Having replaced an aquarium circulator after about 9 months, presumably failing due to unintended temperature range use, I figured that the Anova made more sense for $50 more. Made my first meal with the Anova this week. I was impressed with nearly everything about it except the interface. The graphics are amateurish and using up/down presses for numerical entry instead of a keypad layout obviates the touch screen benefit. Hopefully, they'll do an update. (I'd be glad to work with the company to mock something up.) The unit itself appears well made, I like the skirt disassembly (although you do have to be careful not to catch the propeller), and the time tho heat and temperature stability seemed excellent. I did the Sansaire kickstarter too (first world problem, I have a vacation cabin), so I'm looking forward to side-by-side comparison over the holidays, if the Sansaire ships in time.

Not just enjoy, prefer. The earlier post about sv tenderloin makes no sense to me - they're already tender, they simply lack flavor. SV steak excels with cuts that have great flavor but are tough or difficult to cook consistently. I sometimes SV ribeyes, but get better results and value with anything from tri tip to short ribs to hanger. For poultry, the ability to cook white meat to 140F instead of 160 is a game changer. Agreed. I just retired my Dorkfood / bucket heater / aquarium pump setup. I'd foolishly left the Dorkfood outside and it rained unexpectedly, destroying the circuitry. I decided not to replace with the same because of the noisy mechanical relay, and couldn't find a solid state relay unit for under $150 unless I built my own. Having replaced an aquarium circulator after about 9 months, presumably failing due to unintended temperature range use, I figured that the Anova made more sense for $50 more. Made my first meal with the Anova this week. I was impressed with nearly everything about it except the interface. The graphics are amateurish and using up/down presses for numerical entry instead of a keypad layout obviates the touch screen benefit. Hopefully, they'll do an update. (I'd be glad to work with the company to mock something up.) The unit itself appears well made, I like the skirt disassembly (although you do have to be careful not to catch the propeller), and the time tho heat and temperature stability seemed excellent. I did the Sansaire kickstarter too (first world problem, I have a vacation cabin), so I'm looking forward to side-by-side comparison over the holidays, if the Sansaire ships in time.

I've been considering the Rubbermaid Professional units that are the same size as the Cambros at half the price. Incidentally, though, the Anova just fits my wheeled cooler that I bought for my home-brewed sous vide setup. Haven't tried it yet, though.

I suspect that the orange in the bath is either from stuff that was on the outside of the bag, or a slight leak in the ziploc. I've never used a ziploc for more than a few hours. I suspect that the sediment is not dangerous, but is analogous to the stuff that often ends up floating in the bag when I make steak (and is the reason why I always filter the juices before using them for gravy). I also suspect that with that amount of acid, you may end up with a dish that is not dangerous, but is overpowered by citrus. I wish I had more than suspicions.

Interesting, thanks. I've had much better success with scallops, I guess.