Anova Precision Oven: Features, Accessories, Troubleshooting, and "Should I Buy One?"

[JoNorvelleWalker]

50 minutes ago, KAD said:

Hahaha. Why not indeed. 
 

a related question(s): does your blast freezer have a hold mode so it can double as a regular freezer for the times your freezer is too full?
 

 And how long does the freezer take to come down to temperature if you don’t have it on all the time. 

 

Yup.

https://forums.egullet.org/topic/153479-blast-chillers/?do=findComment&comment=2242627

 

Though that link may not answer the whole question.  I'd say "a few minutes".

 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

On 10/18/2020 at 4:08 PM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

When using the rear element fan speed is locked on high.  I would try using the bottom element, no fan, no steam.

 

 

I was wrong.  The maximum temperature using the bottom element is 180C.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

It is frustrating that the anova videos clearly show pans being used that exactly fit the rack slots.

 

[gfweb]

On 10/31/2020 at 1:56 AM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

"burnt sponge" -- apotheosis of cauliflower.

 

Brassica are a lacuna in your otherwise impeccable taste

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, gfweb said:

Brassica are a lacuna in your otherwise impeccable taste

 

"Burnt sponge" was @CanadianHomeChef's term, not mine!

 

Though someday I might actually try that roast cauliflower recipe.  And while I have not tasted every Brassica I haven't met one I didn't like (except for cauliflower, of course, and, shudder, kale).  To wit tonight's vegetable is broccolini.  That, along with Brussels' sprouts and cabbage, are perhaps my three favorite vegetables.  Bok Choi is up there too.  I do not include potato or tomato as a favorite vegetable because, as we all know, tomato is not a vegetable (except in the US), and a potato is, well, a potato.

 

[gfweb]

26 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

"Burnt sponge" was @CanadianHomeChef's term, not mine!

 

Though someday I might actually try that roast cauliflower recipe.  And while I have not tasted every Brassica I haven't met one I didn't like (except for cauliflower, of course, and, shudder, kale).  To wit tonight's vegetable is broccolini.  That, along with Brussels' sprouts and cabbage, are perhaps my three favorite vegetables.  Bok Choi is up there too.  I do not include potato or tomato as a favorite vegetable because, as we all know, tomato is not a vegetable (except in the US), and a potato is, well, a potato.

 

Tomato is not an animal or a mineral, so its a vegetable.

 

I'm relieved you like sprouts,  I had thought otherwise. As for me, I've never met a brassica that disagrees with me. 

 

Eggplant are another matter.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

7 minutes ago, gfweb said:

Tomato is not an animal or a mineral, so its a vegetable.

 

I'm relieved you like sprouts,  I had thought otherwise. As for me, I've never met a brassica that disagrees with me. 

 

Eggplant are another matter.

 

I love eggplant though I sometimes find it hard to cook.

 

[gfweb]

1 minute ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I love eggplant though I sometimes find it hard to cook.

 

Its the eating I find difficult.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

As reported in the dinner thread...

 

 

 

The Bell & Evans chicken half was air dried 26 hours in the blast chiller, then cooked "sous vide" 5 hours at 63C.  Finished 10 minutes at 250C.  Perfect skin and flesh.  One can only eat so much, thus I have yet to form an opinion of the breast meat.

 

Comments on the anova site for this recipe said the meat was bloody on the bone.  I had no such issue.

 

[weinoo]

5 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

As reported in the dinner thread...

The Bell & Evans chicken half was air dried 26 hours in the blast chiller, then cooked "sous vide" 5 hours at 63C.  Finished 10 minutes at 250C.  Perfect skin and flesh.  One can only eat so much, thus I have yet to form an opinion of the breast meat.

 

Comments on the anova site for this recipe said the meat was bloody on the bone.  I had no such issue.

 

 

This is what I really like about these ovens. It took 31 hours and 10 minutes (if my addition is correct) in order to get your chicken dinner on the plate.

Last night, at 4:30, I decided we should eat the chicken, still in its original package in the fridge, for dinner.   I cut it up, the back and wing tips went into the freezer for future stock, the rest onto a sheet pan, rubbed it with fat, seasoned it, popped it into a 400℉ (the big) oven (on convection) for 40 minutes (removed the breast at 25 minutes), and we were eating dinner at 6:30.

 

Perfect skin and flesh, too.

 

Don't read the comments.

Edited November 3, 2020 by weinoo (log)

[palo]

Sometimes the method is outweighed by practicality

 

p

[JoNorvelleWalker]

6 hours ago, weinoo said:

 

This is what I really like about these ovens. It took 31 hours and 10 minutes (if my addition is correct) in order to get your chicken dinner on the plate.

Last night, at 4:30, I decided we should eat the chicken, still in its original package in the fridge, for dinner.   I cut it up, the back and wing tips went into the freezer for future stock, the rest onto a sheet pan, rubbed it with fat, seasoned it, popped it into a 400℉ (the big) oven (on convection) for 40 minutes (removed the breast at 25 minutes), and we were eating dinner at 6:30.

 

Perfect skin and flesh, too.

 

Don't read the comments.

 

The only work involved was cutting the chicken in half.

 

[kostbill]

11 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

As reported in the dinner thread...

 

 

 

The Bell & Evans chicken half was air dried 26 hours in the blast chiller, then cooked "sous vide" 5 hours at 63C.  Finished 10 minutes at 250C.  Perfect skin and flesh.  One can only eat so much, thus I have yet to form an opinion of the breast meat.

 

Comments on the anova site for this recipe said the meat was bloody on the bone.  I had no such issue.

Looks great! Oven humidity for this?

[Tuber magnatum]

15 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

"...Comments on the anova site for this recipe said the meat was bloody on the bone.  I had no such issue."

 

Not sure what others mean by "bloody on the bone", but if they mean pink, the poultry could just as easily have been overcooked as under.  The pink as I understand it can result from purple marrow which leaks from bone (especially from young birds typically found in stores which have more porous bone) and stains adjacent meat which will not fade regardless of temperature.  Also from what I have read in Modernist Cuisine, cytochromes at a temperature of 80°C / 175°F loses ability to bind oxygen and turns pink.  If you put the chicken in the fridge, the pink from the cytochromes rebind oxygen and pink decreases.  Myoglobin is also pink and while it will turn clear with cooking, the temperature at which it does is variable so it can not be used as a measure of doneness.  Bottom line, don't worry about the pink, worry about the temperature!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

7 hours ago, kostbill said:

Looks great! Oven humidity for this?

 

No steam.  However after the "sous vide" portion of the cook I noticed there was some water, just a few drops, on the oven floor.  Not sure why.

 

[BatchCooker]

Hey everyone,

 

one question about the oven size:

 

Will a baking steel 30cm (11.8inch) times 40cm (15.75in) fit inside? The Anova webpage lists the interior as 429 x 315 x 254mm, so it seems like it should fit. But I wonder whether any elements in there that hold the racks or so would be an obstacle?

 

Thanks!
 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

6 hours ago, BatchCooker said:

Hey everyone,

 

one question about the oven size:

 

Will a baking steel 30cm (11.8inch) times 40cm (15.75in) fit inside? The Anova webpage lists the interior as 429 x 315 x 254mm, so it seems like it should fit. But I wonder whether any elements in there that hold the racks or so would be an obstacle?

 

Thanks!
 

 

You should be OK on the dimensions.  I'm using a 12 inch by 12 inch baking steel.  One question:  what is the weight?  That might be a limitation.

 

[KAD]

Hello @BatchCooker

 

i got inspired by @JoNorvelleWalker but didn’t want to spend $200+ on a baking steel. 
 

So I got this one from Amazon But 16x12 instead of 12x12 for around $40. 

https://www.amazon.com/Steel-Plate-A36-Steel-25-Thick/dp/B07MC8K235/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=Baking+steel&qid=1604649108&s=industrial&sr=1-4

its a piece of A36 raw steel with rounded corners. The finish is not quite as nice as a modernist steel but it is good. I did have to soak it in acid to get rid of the mill scale. (30 min for Muriatic acid, 1 day or longer for vinegar)

 

after washing off the mill scale it looked incredible. Sadly I didn’t think to take a picture of it before seasoning it. 
 

but here it is installed in the oven. It weighs around 10 or 12 lbs. I can weigh it tomorrow if needed. 
 

 

 

[BatchCooker]

8 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

You should be OK on the dimensions.  I'm using a 12 inch by 12 inch baking steel.  One question:  what is the weight?  That might be a limitation.

 

The weight is 6kg = 13.2 pounds - does that seem alright?

[KAD]

My steel weighs 5.75kg and seems okay. 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

4 hours ago, BatchCooker said:

The weight is 6kg = 13.2 pounds - does that seem alright?

 

Since the weight is distributed over pretty much the full width of the interior I guessing it should be OK.  I'm guessing.

[tikidoc]

On 10/30/2020 at 4:34 PM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Edit:  mea culpa, @tikidoc asked about bagels.  The anova bagel recipe does indeed call for steaming bagels with sous vide mode on.  Why steaming bagels with sous vide mode on while steaming bao with sous vide mode off remains a mystery.

 

I still would leave sous vide mode off.

I did it with sous vide mode off and it worked well. No difference in the bagels, a lot less waiting to get up to temp. It looked a bit less steamy in there, but the result was the same. Unfortunately, if you use the pre-programmed recipe, you can’t alter it - I could not just use their settings then turn off sous vide. I had to re-program using the same settings but without the sous vide function on. Minor annoyance.

 

Has anyone else noticed a little bit of condensation in between the two layers of glass in the door? 

[tikidoc]

Has anyone made sticky rice in the Anova? I would think it would be a good way to do it, but the rice recipes (other kinds of rice) I have seen all involve covering the rice with water, which would likely make for gooey rice rather than sticky. I’ll experiment and post if I figure it out, but if anyone has already tried this, let me know. I’m thinking of soaking the rice then putting in a colander and setting on a baking sheet and steaming until done...

[Kerry Beal]

35 minutes ago, tikidoc said:

Has anyone made sticky rice in the Anova? I would think it would be a good way to do it, but the rice recipes (other kinds of rice) I have seen all involve covering the rice with water, which would likely make for gooey rice rather than sticky. I’ll experiment and post if I figure it out, but if anyone has already tried this, let me know. I’m thinking of soaking the rice then putting in a colander and setting on a baking sheet and steaming until done...

That sounds like it has great potential 

[CanadianHomeChef]

8 hours ago, tikidoc said:

Has anyone made sticky rice in the Anova? I would think it would be a good way to do it, but the rice recipes (other kinds of rice) I have seen all involve covering the rice with water, which would likely make for gooey rice rather than sticky. I’ll experiment and post if I figure it out, but if anyone has already tried this, let me know. I’m thinking of soaking the rice then putting in a colander and setting on a baking sheet and steaming until done...

Not specifically sticky rice but I've made a couple rice dishes. Chicken and rice where you just throw everything on the sheet pan. Turned out nicely for me.