What Did You Sous Vide Today? (Dedicated Thread for Precision Cooking Pics, Recipes & Discussion)

[Jer]

We have a thread for smokers & smoking meat, cheese, pie, pizza, etc. so I figured we needed a thread for discussing Sous Vide cooking via immersion circulators aka precision cookers. Anova, Joule, etc. This thread is for the discussion of all things sous vide so if you have tips, suggestions or questions.... post away!

[GilpinGuy]

I've heard and read a bunch about this recently and I'm intrigued. I haven't tried it yet, but I really want to. Hopefully, this thread gets some traction.

[00tec]

No experience here, but a bit curious as well. Mainly for "assembled" turkey breasts and roast beef for sandwich slicing.

[DFBrews]

Same I have not pulled the trigger on a unit yet. Don't know which is the best bang for the buck.

[GilpinGuy]

Jer, are you doing this already?

[Jer]

Same I have not pulled the trigger on a unit yet. Don't know which is the best bang for the buck.

There have been some VERY good deals on the Bluetooth/WiFi version of the Anova lately. I've had mine for about a year or so now and paid a bunch more but I'd do it again. These things are so friggin cool.

Jer, are you doing this already?

Yessir.

[Jer]

I'll start off with an idea that some may find useful: making your own insulated sous vide tank with an old (or new) cooler.

If you've been doing this for a while you probably know that larger metal pots are usually the first container most people use. What you may not yet know is how horribly they maintain the heat making them about the least efficient container you can use. This means that it takes longer for your bath to get to the desired temp and it takes more energy to maintain target temp. This isn't a huge deal in most shorter cooks but if you plan to do longer cooks or if you want to do all-day ice baths which comes in handy if you have remote control of your immersion circulator.

I was interested in doing the latter so my immediate use was to individually vacuum seal some bone-in ribeyes (King Soopers had them on sale $5.77/lb last week) and toss them in the freezer. Then, when I'm getting ready to leave for work in the morning I'd toss one or two into this cooler, add ice to the top and then top off with cold water. I opened the Anova app and the temp showed 33.1deg. I headed out the door content that this first test run was going to be a resounding success. I checked in as I drove around the state for work and every time the temp was a rock solid 33.1 degrees. Then, about an hour or so before I anticipated being home I opened the app, verified the temp of the bath was still 33.1 degrees and fired up the cooker to a 129.0 degree target temp. About an hour later it was at the target temp. I got home about an hour later and fired up my skillet on the stove to a ripping hot temp and slapped some butter on it. Cut the steaks free from their vacuum bags and dropped them into the skillet after a quick dab of paper towel to dry and a few minutes later we were eating dinner. The steaks were a perfect medium rare edge to edge with a crispy crusty surface from the pan searing. The beauty of the immersion circulators is that when I got home the steaks were done already but I noticed a couple of dog accidents I had to clean up. It took me about 10min to clean up and the steaks sat in the bath still cooked perfectly at 129.0 medium rare.

Anyway, enough jabbering as I realize this is a relatively new thread and it could be being read by both people with these or people who have no idea what they are so I wanted to give a brief example of a good use for them. They don't replace your stove, oven, grill or smoker anymore than your hammer replaces your screwdriver or tape measure. It's all about having the right tool for the job and knowing when to use it.

I had a couple of old coolers that I hadn't used in years so I decided to drill some holes in them for my Anova Bluetooth/WiFi precision cooker. A hole saw and some minor deburring later I had a couple of tanks for sous vide cooking of various size items.

Without further ado....

Here's the first cooler, a smaller one that will probably see the lion's share of the use:



I cut the lids in half with a band saw so make access w/o disturbing the cooker easier:


This is the larger of the two which will be used for larger cuts of meat like shoulders and racks. There's a lot of interesting recipes out there I intend to test out.



Still needed a couple of years of doodie cleaned out before use.



Everything stores neatly in the larger cooler:


Here's the end result:



I wanted to get a pic of how perfectly the steaks were cooked internally but they went pretty quickly so you'll just have to take my word for it. lol

[Great-Kazoo]

Nice write up, looking forward to everyone's progress.

[GilpinGuy]

Excellent write up. I love the DIY setup!

[generalmeow]

I made one of these. Works like a charm. I think it cost about $25. It's basically a thermostat for a crockpot, which turns the electricity on and off to keep it at a constant temperature.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Sous...-less-than-40/

Also, you don't need a vacuum sealer. Just use a ziplock bag and dip it in the water to force the air out, and then seal it.

I read some rave reviews about chicken, which I tried and didn't care for much. But steak is restaurant quality every time.