How much Water in my Sous Vide

(Jacob Wagner) #1

I am about to use my new Sous Vide for the first time. Nothing in the instructions or the recipe say how much water I should use.

–Jacob

(Khara) #2

I am TOTALLY guessing as I’ve not done it but have watched videos and read articles. Seems to me you want the meat floating, not touching the bottom. I wonder then if it’d be good to keep an eye on the water level if you are going super long like 48 hours.
(I think the water amount doesn’t matter because the sous vide keeps the water, whatever amount, at the set temperature.)

(Jacob Wagner) #3

I bet that would be an issue. I have heard of people putting golf balls in to reduce the surface area.

But, for my first venture I am making hamburger for tonight. So, I shouldn’t have that problem.

–Jacob

(Khara) #4

Sounds good, and fun. Let us know how it goes. I was just reading up on this last night.

#5

Most of the immersion types have a min/max line on them.

(Les) #6

I bought a split lid cooler cut a hole in one side of the lid. Keeps the water at the correct level for several days.

(Carpe salata!) #7

Yup. A lot of the evaporated water condenses on the lid and falls back into the vessel.

(Tim Rayburn) #8

It really doesn’t matter is the meat touches the bottom, but ideally you want the meat covered with water, which is why sometimes I’ll put a plate or other weight on top of the meat to hold it under water. Other than that, make sure you’re above the minimum water level for your unit, and if it will be a long cook, then give yourself a lot of extra water so that you’ll have to check it less often due to evaporation. I also created a cooler unit for my Anova as some have mentioned which drastically increases its efficiency and reduces loss to evaporation to nearly zero.

(Jacob Wagner) #9

Thats on my list :slight_smile:

–Jacob

(Mike Glasbrener) #10

If it’s a tub type there’s lines on the side of the tub. If it’s a “stick” type there’s line on the stick. Mines the best cooking investment ever. Perfectly done fatty meats with almost zero effort. Straight from freezer to soups vide! The cooking time is increased this way but who cares.