My Anova Sous Vide should be arriving tomorrow!

(Sheri Knauer) #1

Im so excited to finally have ordered a Sous Vide! One question I have for all you sous vide aficionados. When you are going to cook something using it, should the meat be fully defrosted first? Or should I dig through my freezer in the morning for a tasty morsel to defrost so by the time it gets on my doorstep, my meat is ready to go! Any tips for a first time user??

(Niklas Paulsson) #2

I got a anova circulator for christmas, here are some things that my anova have helped to make … I’m very happy with the anova and I still use it a couple of times every week. It’s a perfect fit with a keto lifestyle.

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#3

Got mine a few weeks back. Have used it a few times, I’ve got a cheap (oyster blade) roast to make over the weekend.

(Niklas Paulsson) #4

A few tips.

  • Use a vacuum sealer.
  • Longer time and lower temperature than what you think, longer time compensates for lower temperature.
  • Meat performs better than fish in souse vide IMHO
  • Some vegetables are good for souse vide, carrots gets very tasty, but also asparagus. Broccoli and brussel sprouts not so much, they probably require the boiling water to rinse out the bitter taste. 85 C for all vegetables.
  • A little less seasoning in the souse vide than you would use if you oven roasted the meal, all the flavors stays in the bag where you put them.
  • Souse vide will give you the best chicken breast you have ever tasted, but it’s still chicken breast and hence not very exciting.
  • Always let the meat very quickly hit a hot frying pan or bbq after souse-vide to give it a brown and tasty surface, otherwise it will taste more like boiled meat. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maillard_reaction
  • Rougher cuts of meet such as brisket or chuck steak are a perfect match for souse vide, 54-55 C for 48 hours …
  • Roast beef, also 54-55 C for 48 hours will be the most perfect roast beef you ever had - second picture from the top in the post above - oh so tender!
  • You can start the meat directly from the freezer or thaw it first, doesn’t really matter - add an hour to the cooking time if frozen.

English is not my first language, please forgive any spelling or grammatical errors.

(James) #5

Hi Sheri. I got a ChefSteps Joule sous vide a few months ago and love it. I’ve not seen any big issues going directly from freezer to the sous vide bath. It does mean you have to add a little extra time to the cooking of course to account for the defrosting.

I’ve had great success with pork tenderloins, ribeye’s, and amazing chicken breasts as well. My favorite was a 48 hour pork picnic that I then put in the oven for about an hour to let the fat layer crisp up… OMG, so good. I hope you enjoy yours!

(Cheryl Violano Hofbauer) #6

Ours is coming tomorrow also! Following this thread with great interest. Yeah for us…just a bit excited! :grin:

(Sheri Knauer) #7

Me too! I feel like a kid on Christmas eve watching out the window for the Fedex truck!

(David Driver) #8

Got mine last week. I have a habit of ruining steak. But not any more. This thing is fantastic.

(roxanna) #9

You’re killing me! I MUST get my sous vide up and running!

(Ernest) #10

I Sous Vide straight out of the freezer. Just add some 30 minutes to your planned cook time.

Keto and Sous Vide, match made in fat heaven.

My favorite is Sous Vide (at 155 degrees for minimum 2 hours) then quickly deep fried chicken thighs.

#11

Yeah, I simply didn’t cook steak at home because I had no idea. This thing is near enough to foolproof.

#12

I love my sous vide. I cook steaks often now, and never ruin them. Before I wouldn’t even attempt to cook a steak. Now, mine are better than eating out! You definitely want to hit whatever meat you cook in a very hot iron skillet (or grill) for about a minute on each side. I use avocado oil in an iron skillet, then toss in some butter at the very end.

Grats on the purchase. Not sure if it’s been said before, but one thing I love is that I can start 2 different dinners at the same time. I’ve done steak for 2 days, then left a roast in there for 1 more day and had 2 meals with so little effort it’s amazing. One thing that I had to get brave enough to do is cook meats longer than the 4 or so hours suggested on Web sites. A cheap cut of steak cooked for 2 days is a game changer.

Another nifty thing is making egg bites in small canning jars. You can add eggs, veggies, and meats and cook it in the sous vide for an hour and have an amazing breakfast (for several days even).

(Sheri Knauer) #13

Thank you for the great tips everyone. I made my first meal today with it. I decided to try something that didn’t take too long. I got some good salmon, brined it in salted water for 40 minutes first. Rinsed it then put it in a bag with some olive oil then I used the Sous vide at 135F for about 25 minutes and that salmon was perfect! Unfortunately, my husband did not like it. He poked one piece with his fork then refused to take even one bite because it just wasn’t his thing, it was too moist. Argh! More for me then, right?1 I love leftover salmon! It was so moist I had a hard time taking it out of the bag in one piece. I put it on top of some raw spinach, had a side of roasted broccoli, and topped it all off with some melted ghee and a few grinds of salt! Yum yum!

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(James) #14

The salmon looks fantastic. I haven’t tried fish with it yet. I did have a big family dinner where I made Ribeye Steaks and Shrimp sous vide. The shrimp had butter and fresh garlic in the bag and was out of this world. I need to make Salmon now.

I think if you do a nice steak and pan sear a good crust on it your husband will change his mind on sous vide. :+1:

(Sheri Knauer) #15

The salmon was very good. Before making it, I read that fresh works better than frozen and the brining part is key. I brined mine for 40 minutes, patted it dry, put each one in a separate bag then added 2 tbsp of olive oil in each bag. I got all the air out and sealed them then put them in the refrigerator until I was ready to cook them, which was about 3 hours after I took them out of the brine. If my husband does not like the steak (which is the next sous vide meal) then more for me again, lol!!

(Sheri Knauer) #16

Oh, and I made an awesome cold salmon salad today using some of the leftover salmon. It was salmon mixed with cherry tomatoes, black olives, feta cheese, a bit of mayonnaise, and some green onions on top.

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(David Driver) #17

Is it OK to cook meat that you purchase vacuum sealed without opening and sealing it in something else?

(Niklas Paulsson) #18

You can cook meat in the original bag, I sometimes do that when I’m lazy - and there isn’t to much liquid in the bag.

But the result is better if you take it out, dry it up a little and add some spices before cooking it.

(David Driver) #19

I am doing and experiment for this week’s breakfast steaks. I didn’t them out of the vacumen bags. There didn’t look to be any juice when I started but by the time they were done the bags were floating and had developed juice in the bag. I haven’t finised or tasted them yet so we will see in the morning.

(Niklas Paulsson) #20

Juice in the bag after cooking is normal, sometimes I weigh down bags in the water with some steel utensils - I don’t know if that’s necessary - but it feels better when I do it.