Sous Vide Question.

eggo said:

Got my Anova last week. Tried two 1" first cut strips. I cooked the 2 hours at 140 and they turned out beautifully cooked medium. I seasoned them as I would for the egg before i vacuumed them. Some how the seasoning was not there after searing on the ci over the cooktop. Otherwise the steaks were perfectly cooked. What did I do to lose the seasoning? What can I do to keep the seasoning? ( I used garlic salt and seasonall)

I only season after the bath. I have never found any seasoning to make any difference in the bag- especially with beef. I'm sure with more delicate foods like fish or maybe even chicken it may make a subtle difference. I do steaks with nothing on them and then use salt and pepper before the sear

Yet another sous vide question:

Buy on price.  Your food won't taste any better if the circulator/heater costs $1000 or $100.  As long as it maintains an accurate temp and handles the volume you want to cook, you're golden.

I have a $800 Polyscience, a home made job in an aquarium, a Sous Vide Demi and an Anova.  All work well.  I would buy the yellow Polyscience - don't remember the model, but they are reasonable - around $300.  Polyscience is the Mercedes of immersion circulator/heaters.  The Anova broke after 5 minutes but that was because I got a lemon.  They have good customer service.

No problem.

Here's my Polyscience in two different vessels.

I started with a water bath, then a crock pot, got a sous vide sidekick, and now have a Polyscience.  

I've been in labs since college and PolyScience equipment is ubiquitous.  They're a commercial equipment company that's branched out into cooking.  Their equipment is designed to be repaired, not discarded.  You pay for it, but if you use it a lot, it'll pay for itself.  And the resale value will be higher than any of the other brands.  I took apart my Anova and it was obviously designed to be put together once.  What a pain.

lkapigian

No matter how much air you pull out of the bag, the pressure in the bag (after sealing) is the same as the atmospheric pressure surrounding the bag when you don't have any head space.  You need a container with rigid sides to draw a vacuum.  They make marination containers that hold a vacuum.

Conversely, if you vacuum seal coffee beans, you'll have head space between the beans and you will have a lower pressure in the bag.  But for meats and things that fill up the bag with no headspace, there is no change in the boiling point.

You can damage meat by pulling too much vacuum.  This is only a problem with chamber vacuum systems.

eggo said:

Yet another sous vide question:

Regarding seasoning after the bath, is it better to sear before or after the bath?

after.

That is a great comparison for anyone interested. It was the blackpeppercorn review of 2013/10 that sold me on the ANOVA vs the Discovery, which was twice the price at that time. For value, and I seldom do long baths as most are under 5 or 6 hours, still think it was a good choice. Two things interest me in the review - taking water from 86º to 146º although informative is not as realistic as taking water from 140º to 180º. Most of us can start with hot tap water, which may already be at 140º. More watts means more heat usually, so the more power consumed, the faster the heating. Egg owners know that time is not always important, patience is a virtue. That is what interested me with the Discovery. The other is the dry macaroni test showing water movement. If using a round container and with the "exhaust" port of the impeller chamber adjusted correctly, the ANOVA will move macaroni around better than any circulator I've seen, including the Chef series. It is adjustable, and if you have it pointed in the wrong direction like at the side of the pot, there can be little or no water movement noticed. (One reviewer admitted to doing this) I like being able to take the sleeve off for cleaning. I have had two Zip Locks fail, I Food Saver everything now. Cleaning oil off the heat coil and impeller is never fun, but really quite easy when the sleeve is removed. 

Eggcelsior said:

I cannot get SWMBO to agree to one, nor a Food Saver for that matter. I should have had her talk to nola at Brisket Camp.  :((

same issue here i was a click away when the anova was 150 and she saw what I was buying when I went to get my wallet.  after camp she is on board, but I have to "chill my tits" (her words) for a minute being we just bought a new house. 

Hahahaaaa!

nolaegghead said:

I've been in labs since college and PolyScience equipment is ubiquitous.  They're a commercial equipment company that's branched out into cooking.  Their equipment is designed to be repaired, not discarded.  You pay for it, but if you use it a lot, it'll pay for itself.  And the resale value will be higher than any of the other brands.  I took apart my Anova and it was obviously designed to be put together once.  What a pain.

I agree. The upper end PolyScience units are outstanding and repairable. From what PS told me about their SV immersion models, only their "Chef" model, priced at $700 plus, is repairable. Their two lower end models, Creative and Discovery, are disposable and replaced not repaired. They and not built to the same high quality standards as the "Chef". The basic repair charge on the "Chef" model is in the $300 range after warrantee.