Let's talk Sous Vide

DoubleEgger

I received the Anova unit for Christmas. I'm going to give it a whirl this evening since it's pouring outside. Can I use the clamp on the stainless part or does it have to be clamped to the black section? I don't want to use a huge pot for a single filet. Any other pro tips that I need to know about? Thoughts, comments, and pertinent advice appreciated. 

DMW

DoubleEgger said:

I received the Anova unit for Christmas. I'm going to give it a whirl this evening since it's pouring outside. Can I use the clamp on the stainless part or does it have to be clamped to the black section? I don't want to use a huge pot for a single filet. Any other pro tips that I need to know about? Thoughts, comments, and pertinent advice appreciated. 

The clamp can be on the stainless part, just make sure water is at least covering the "Min" line and make sure it stays covered. However, in that pot there, I would lower it down all the way, it doesn't matter if it is sitting on the bottom of the pot.

DoubleEgger

Thanks @DMW Do I need to put some foil over the top to retain heat? 

bgebrent

Nice Christmas score brother Double!

DMW

DoubleEgger said:

Thanks @DMW Do I need to put some foil over the top to retain heat? 

No, you don't need to for a short cook like steaks or chops. If you are going for a long cook, it is common to cover. Not really for heat retention, but to prevent evaporation.

Tbent

No need to cover it with foil for a fairly short cook like a filet. 

bcsnave

@DoubleEgger   there's somthin' just not rite..'bout "boiled" steaks or chops....hells bells...next thing ya' know you be eatn' them thar' "boiled peanuts" instead of dry roasted...

WHAT'S this world (and forum) coming to...I keep thinking you mis-spelled "SUI" like calling hogs....but no.....it used to be about Lump Charcoal

DoubleEgger

Don't be knocking boiled peanuts @bcsnave !  I figure sous vide will work for rainy days and reheating leftovers. 

JohnInCarolina

I did some turkey breasts on Thanksgiving, side by side to compare with a normally egged bird.  Game over man.  Game over.

DoubleEgger

I'm not picking up what you're putting down @JohnInCarolina . Which one won? 

bgebrent

DoubleEgger said:

I'm not picking up what you're putting down @JohnInCarolina . Which one won? 

And why?

JohnInCarolina

DoubleEgger said:

I'm not picking up what you're putting down @JohnInCarolina . Which one won? 

The SV breasts were miles better.  Incredibly moist, perfectly cooked.

Grillmagic

JohnInCarolina said:

DoubleEgger said:

I'm not picking up what you're putting down @JohnInCarolina . Which one won? 

The SV breasts were miles better.  Incredibly moist, perfectly cooked.

Did you sear/grill to finish?

JohnInCarolina

Grillmagic said:

JohnInCarolina said:

DoubleEgger said:

I'm not picking up what you're putting down @JohnInCarolina . Which one won? 

The SV breasts were miles better.  Incredibly moist, perfectly cooked.

Did you sear/grill to finish?

Yep.  Seared on the CI pan on the Egg.

Grillmagic

JohnInCarolina said:

Grillmagic said:

JohnInCarolina said:

DoubleEgger said:

I'm not picking up what you're putting down @JohnInCarolina . Which one won? 

The SV breasts were miles better.  Incredibly moist, perfectly cooked.

Did you sear/grill to finish?

Yep.  Seared on the CI pan on the Egg.

Thanks

JohnInCarolina

To be clear, I had to do this out of necessity.  We had a huge group over for Thanksgiving, and the turkey from the one bird wasn't going to cut it.   So I figured why not try sous vide on some boneless breasts just to make sure I had enough food?  I'm glad I did, because the difference was very clear.

What you get with this is moisture and consistency, and meat that is basically as dialed in and uniformly cooked as it gets.  What you miss is much of any smoke flavor, plus all the other things you get with a whole bird.

In my (very limited!) experience with SV so far, I will say that the cooks that are the most fun combine the SV with a BGE finish.  That is the way I do spares now and I'll never go back.  Next time I do turkey breasts this way I might let them cool and then heat up and finish in the BGE to get more smoke.  Lots of combinations to explore.

Grillmagic

SV re heats everything very well and as you mentioned it works great with all poultry .

DoubleEgger

@JohnInCarolina @DMWDo you know of some online resources where I can further expand my knowledge base for sous vide cooking? 

dmchicago

DoubleEgger said:

@JohnInCarolina @DMWDo you know of some online resources where I can further expand my knowledge base for sous vide cooking? 

Try this guy:

http://www.seriouseats.com/sous_vide_101/

JohnInCarolina

DoubleEgger said:

@JohnInCarolina @DMWDo you know of some online resources where I can further expand my knowledge base for sous vide cooking? 

http://www.douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html

DoubleEgger

I must say. This thing is pretty solid. 

HeavyG

JohnInCarolina said:

DoubleEgger said:

I'm not picking up what you're putting down @JohnInCarolina . Which one won? 

The SV breasts were miles better.  Incredibly moist, perfectly cooked.

And that is the best thing about cooking sous vide - reliable, repeatable, perfectly cooked results.

The second best thing about it you just press "Start" and go off and do other things and it won't matter if you decide to play the back nine and get home an hour or two late. Still just fine!

bgebrent

DoubleEgger said:

I must say. This thing is pretty solid. 

Solid or better than reverse sear or sear/roast?

sumoconnell

I got one for xmas too.. My old school MIL is dumbfounded.  I boiled eggs, she about shrt herself when it took 45 minutes.  

I want to do..

Short ribs
Turkey breast
Pork lion
Soups - cream of celery, or potato
Barbacoa
Beef stew

In general, I want to do a good osso bucco. 

Ps - I gave the inova app 1 star.. No wifi support for android, but exists for iOS!  What is this, 2013?

DoubleEgger

bgebrent said:

DoubleEgger said:

I must say. This thing is pretty solid. 

Solid or better than reverse sear or sear/roast?

I wouldn't say better than seared but I'm still a newbie with this. 

SmokeyPitt

The steak looks perfect DoubleEgger.  

In my limited experience, I wouldn't say a SV steak is necessarily better than reverse sear.  RS has an advantage because you are adding smoke flavor during the roast.  Like @HeavyG said though the beautiful part about SV is it is foolproof.  If you are not sure what time everyone is going to be home for dinner, or if you have steaks of varying thickness they are all cooked to a perfect temp (granted you don't overcook during the sear).  

SGH

@DoubleEgger
Congrats on the gift and great looking steak for sure.  

bgebrent

SGH said:

@DoubleEgger
Congrats on the gift and great looking steak for sure.  

That does look delicious my friend!  Looking forward to hearing more.

bcsnave

 @DoubleEgger nice looking steak my friend

cmac610

Got mine arriving from Brown Santa today. Thanks for the post @DoubleEgger as I'm even more excited to fire it up. Btw...lots of good Sous Vide videos on YouTube as well.

robnybbq

My wife got one from Santa this Christmas.  She does not know anything about it yet.  Going to try and have her try it out later this week on some chicken breasts or pork chops.