Is a Sous Vide worth it?


(Bob M) #21

It makes a lot of things stupid-proof: lamb chops; steaks; pork roasts/chops; etc. And if you combine it with a smoker, you get the best smoked meats anywhere. And I mean anywhere.


(Jane) #22

I wholeheartedly agree!!


(Jane) #23

It’s really great when I have my neighbors over and cooking for 8-10 people. I never have to worry if the meat dish will turn out ok or not.

With sous vide it’s always good.


(Bob M) #24

I agree. I like a steak cooked on the grill over charcoal, as I like the tad bit of smokey flavor. But I could never get the cooking down, no matter whether I stood there with an instant-read thermometer or not. Some of it was always over or under cooked.

The same thing with leg of lamb on the grill: part was always not done correctly, either underdone or overdone.

Now, both of those are cooked perfectly with the sous vide.

And I cook things like beef heart, where I take it, put salt on it, cook it at 145 for 24 hours, cool it down and eat it during the week for lunches. The fat that’s on beef heart is hard and normally removed. Cooking it this way makes it edible and like steak. And I don’t do anything - just throw the heart into the bag and sous vide it. No more cutting away the fat and other parts. They become edible with the sous vide.


#25

Not to mention, you’re just searing the already done meat, so it cuts down on propane usage/time and I get the standing there watching it too. (As the saying goes, ‘if you’re looking, you’re not cooking’. But still hard to judge sometimes and even more so when you doing multiple items all at once. … Sous Vide does indeed take all of that out of play and makes it so much easier. :slight_smile: … And I do so much like finishing it off over open flames especially when you can get that nice Char-Grilled taste/flavor! :yum:


(Karim Wassef) #26

I use a flame thrower to seer personally…

Takes it from minutes to seconds and the center is cool like I like it- I like my steak rare with a nice seer and I can never get it just right on a conventional grill.

I’ve been experimenting with smoking in the grill though… preparing for a brisket adventure. Sous vids to cook but cold smoking for flavor.


(Scott) #27

I have been lurking around and am pretty sure I will get one but I have a few questions on how you all do it.

Do most of you just clip it to any old pot or do you use a container specially suited to Sous Vide? I have some storage limitations and this may factor into WAF. I have also heard the some cut holes in a cooler top and such but that is one more thing to clean and store.

Do you use a rack or something to allow better flow around the meat?

Is it possible to overcook or spoil the meat?

The fancy ones that have bluetooth or Wi-Fi, does anyone use these features?

Bagging the meat, do you need a special vacuum sealer or can I make do with a good ziplock bag?

Lastly any recommended go to brand or model here in the US?

Thanks for any of your collective wisdom! I love this place, a diet site that talks constantly about recipes, great food and how to cook it.


(mole person) #28

I’m from montreal, where we had some damn fine smoked meat. But I’ve never found it anywhere else because even when they sell “Montreal smoked meat” you never have a choice of a fatty cut which is always what made the good ones really good. So if a sous vide and a smoker will let me have that again I’ll buy a smoker. Only one problem, I’m in canada and can’t cook outside much of the year. Are indoor smokers just as good?


(Scott) #29

This sounds like an oxymoron to me. Off to google indoor smoker to see if they exist.


(mole person) #30

I did that first…lol. I was thinking “Woe is me, I can’t have my smoked meat.” :frowning: And then I thought “Wait! We sent a man to the MOON!” So I googled.


(Jane) #31

Hope this helps!


(Scott) #32

Thank you, I am on amazon now.


(Banting & Yudkin & Atkins & Eadeses & Cordain & Taubes & Volek & Naiman & Bikman ) #33

For optimum results, you would want to run your Sous Vide device with at most 50% of the volume of the container being food and at least 50% water, up to the maximum rated volume that the cooker is rated for.

So, Joule, as an example, can heat 10 gallons (40 liters) of water. I would get a 40 liter container, like a cooler, and fill with at least 20 liters of water, and then add food. And then, if there’s space left, add more water.

A rack is not necessary, but if you are going to load beyond 50/50, it would be essential.

Generally speaking, beef goes at a much lower temp than chicken. And form factor of the meat, as well as composition matters. Steaks are faster than roasts, as thickness determines heating characteristic. But tougher muscles, like brisket or chuck, require a lot of extra time.

For a mixed beef and chicken cook, I’d heat it all at 130, finish the steaks in 2-3 hours depending on thickness, and then crank the heat to 150 or so to finish the chicken thighs. They won’t need but an hour or two, assuming you’ve packaged them relatively flat.


(Banting & Yudkin & Atkins & Eadeses & Cordain & Taubes & Volek & Naiman & Bikman ) #34

I use particular pots for particular projects, but for most things I use round cambros that I got for breadmaking, but use for Sous Vide, brine, marinade, making quantities of liquid things, etc.

I have a rack but I don’t use it often. It is not necessary unless you are overloading the container. Don’t overload the container.

Overcooking can happen by going too high or too long. But too long is a matter of hours and days. Spoilage is from cooking too low, having raw garlic or other source of botulinum in the bag, or spending too much time in the danger zone. That’d be 40F to about 125F. Don’t Sous Vide Anything you intend to cook for more than 4 hours below 127. And do shock down to 40F before putting in the fridge.

I use the WiFi and Bluetooth on my Joule, but only because it has to be set with the phone. I did save a long cook once because Joule notified me at work that something was wrong, and my wife happened to be home. So I troubleshoot with her, got it restarted, and saved something time intensive and likely expensive.

I have a vac sealer, but anything I do <155, I do in freezer quality ziplocks. I have them in quart, gallon and two gallon sizes. There’s nothing I want to cook, short of a full packer brisket that won’t fit in a two gallon zip. The seals on freezer ziplocks are not rated above 158, so that’s when I break out the food saver. Or mason jars.

Anova is the largest. I think the Joule is better. It’s quieter, more powerful, more compact. And yet, The Wirecutter picked the Anova, for the dial and display on it. I have a Nomiku, but I would recommend staying the Hell away from them.


(Running from stupidity) #35

What everyone else said.

I’ve got a tank type (Aussie version of SousVide Supreme) and the Anova.

The tank has a rack and it’s useful but not essential.

The Anova has the WORST WIFI SETUP I have ever used (and I’ve got an Orbi WIFI setup in the apartment, which is awesome), but having said that, it’s only had to be resetup once in a few months, and I use it a LOT for eggs and so on in the smaller container.

But I’d MUCH rather it stopped being a smart-arse marketing-designed device and just had manual settings for both time and temp.


(Banting & Yudkin & Atkins & Eadeses & Cordain & Taubes & Volek & Naiman & Bikman ) #36

I also have an Orbi. And if Anova is horrid, no one should ever touch a Nomiku. The worst setup ever. And have had to do it a couple times. Also, bad process for Bluetooth pairing.

Joule has a huge edge there.


(Jane) #37

My Anova only has Bluetooth and when I am in the bedroom I am out of range from it in the kitchen. I can set mine manually and most of the time I do that.

I really miss good high-speed Internet you can get in the larger cities. I have DSL and it’s either that or a dish. Ugh. Nuff said.


(Running from stupidity) #38

#BUTCHICKENS


(Doug) #39

This is the one I got, sous vide container, lid and rack. To simplify - 18" long x 11" wide x 8" high or 45cm x 29cm x 20cm.

Lipavi makes 2 smaller models, and 1 larger one. I’ve only cooked for my wife and I thus far, but I like the capacity - can cut up a whole pork loin into chops and/or roasts, and do it all at once.

The container is currently $27.58 U.S. on Amazon.

The lid is $28.00. :rage: This is good, tough stuff, though, and a one-time purchase, and it does fit my Anova perfectly and make everything easy.

The rack is $59.80. I almost passed on this, but went ahead, thinking it’s only once there too. Very good material - 316L Marine Grade Stainless Steel is what they say. I know 316 is nice material, never heard of “marine grade” before, but long exposure to hot water is something to think about - one might be disappointed with cheaper stuff.

I got the 18 quart model.

Here are all the models - capacity, prices for container, lid, rack:

26qt/25l $30, $30, $88.
18qt/17l $28, $28, $60.
12qt/11l $26, $25, $29.
7qt or 7l $23, $22, $30. :roll_eyes: Rack is higher-priced than the next-larger one.

http://www.camelcamelcamel.com/ is down right now, so can’t check the price history (which it massively pays to do) and know what’s a great price.

The rack’s 5 center dividers detach, and the sides fold down, making a low rectangle - does not take up much space to store. You can put the dividers in different slots, to make spaces of varying size to match the food you’re doing. A great set-up.


(PSackmann) #40

I like the setup, just wondering if a cambro with a cover that’s already notched, like for serving spoons, would be less expensive. I’m going to have to look at specs of the circulators and compare them to the existing stuff. With this being marketed as a sous vide setup, it may be more expensive than buying it separately.
I agree with not going cheap on the racks, and I could see them being very helpful for me, to cook a large batch of chicken thighs or drumsticks at one time, or even for large quantities of burgers.