First attempt at sous vide... what I learned (pic heavy)

DeltaNu1142

OK, I've been reading these sous vide threads in envy for a few months. For 2016, I'm trying to show a little restraint when it comes to "buying stuff I don't need," and the BGE does more than I'd ever hoped to with cooking already, so I decided awhile ago that an immersion circulator would be a little personal incentive for meeting a goal I set for myself.

Yesterday, I met it. And I went over to Amazon & placed an order for an Anova Precision Cooker WiFi, same-day delivery.

In the meantime, I went over to the local market & picked up some less-than-prime NY strips:



I figured by tonight I'd have figured out the circulator and the steaks would be a good test. Well, my wife had other plans for tonight, so I had to do the steaks last night. I figured I'd just put them on the Egg... but as I was prepping everything at around 6:30pm, a delivery showed up: my Anova, complete with freezer bags and a Rubbermaid 12-qt container.

I unboxed the Anova and bypassed any WiFi setup. It was in the water in under 2 minutes. Pretty easy setup... turn the dial to temp and press the button (it beeps at you if you've forgotten to add water). The water was warmed up within 20 minutes, maybe 15. Here's the setup, with temperature confirmation on my Lavatools Javelin:



The water temperature overshot by 0.6 deg F and then settled down to 132 deg F. Two steaks in each bag. Olive oil and a potent southwest spice blend (more on that later). Evacuated air using the water-displacement method. It seemed to work just fine.

Here are the steaks, pulled out of the bags after about ninety minutes:



My wife wasn't impressed. She saw them in the bags, and then when they came out, and she said "they all look overcooked." Well... at this point, I didn't know whether she was right or wrong. So, into the stovetop cast iron skillet they went. After they came out:



Not terrible. The pan wasn't quite hot enough, but I was in a hurry. Potatoes, a mushroom sauce & french onion soup were all waiting for the steaks to come out & rest. Here's what we found inside the steaks:



...not too shabby. I love the uniformity.

Things I learned:

• I could have benefited from familiarizing myself with the device. I didn't check how long I should be cooking these steaks... I just threw them in the bags and into the water. They came out OK, but I might have done better.
• The seasoning was way too much. Where you can rub a piece of meat and grill it and the rub flavor might subside a bit... it does not when using this method. The flavor was overpowering. This particular blend probably didn't lend itself to searing, either. Next time: salt and maybe a little bit of pepper.
• I ordered the 12-qt container because it was recommended here. I almost sprang for the 18-qt, which has the same dimensions except it's taller. I might have done that instead. The water heated up pretty quickly, and if I were doing more than four steaks, I might have struggled to fit them. I may need to get more creative with arranging foods in there. I can not fit the BGE V-Rack into this container.
• I did end up downloading the app and connecting the Anova to WiFi later last night. This was a struggle, mainly because I use a MAC address whitelist for every device on my network. Getting the MAC address for this thing wasn't simple... well, it was as simple as it is for every other device that isn't adequately labeled, except for the fact that this thing doesn't appear as an "Anova Cooker" or anything remotely close to that to the router. It's got a weird name like "BH" followed by a bunch of numbers. Anyway... once I had the MAC address, it went smoothly enough. I haven't yet played with the device through WiFi, though.
• My iPhone takes terrible photos. Maybe that's why people use filters.

NCSmoky

Did my first cook with my Anova on Wednesday, a Ribeye and a Sirloin filet. Both turned out excellent but I also noticed that whatever seasoning used is retained more cooking this method than grilling. Just salt and pepper but I will dial back a bit on my next cook. 

gdenby

Not too bad for jumping right in.

There's a fellow, Douglas Baldwin, who maintains a web site w. basic info on approximate times to heat various thicknesses and shapes of food.

Overall, I find that most flavorings become more intense, even too intense during a sous vide bath.

While steak benefits, and fish can be done almost perfectly, tougher cuts end up really good. Perfect eggs of any consistency are also wonderful. Even chick breast comes out nice.

What does the WiFi app do that makes it any better than just punching some buttons on the device?

DeltaNu1142

Nothing much. The standard model has Bluetooth; this model has Bluetooth and WiFi. Having WiFi means you can view & control using the app while anywhere you have Internet access.

I don't know how often I'll use it... but having WiFi connectivity opens up the possibility of integrating it with everything else in the house.

SmokeyPitt

They look great.  I am not an expert but 90 minutes should be plenty of time.  Those are fairly thin so an hour would be plenty.  As you mentioned another key is to get the pan nice and hot.  Cast iron takes a while to heat up so I will usually start heating it 10 minutes or so before I am ready to pull them out.  There is really no need to rest the steaks. They can go from the sear to the plate.