My First Time, Sous Vide

dbCooper · March 3

Grabbed a 1.1 lb. ribeye from the freezer, seasoned with SPG then sealed and into 130° water for three hours. Then seared each side in hot pan with butter. It was good but not great. Definitely missing something flavor wise that cooking over charcoal delivers (rendered fat vaporizing on the coals perhaps). Plus no thrill that comes with a caveman finish.

Likely won't do any more steaks this way, plenty of other items to try out though. Salmon, veggies, eggs are on the list.

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GrateEggspectations · 12:41AM

To me, the two main pros of sous vide are as follows:

- ensures a long cook window, which is great for hosting when you need some flexibility on timing (e.g., cooking steaks for a crowd without a fixed dining time); and
- reheating food with minimal moisture loss (e.g., reheating pulled pork).

There are some other advantages, such as being able to cook foods to a lower temperature (e.g., chicken breasts at 150 IT) and doing things like confit’ing, but for a lot of foods, you can achieve very similar results with a different approach.

Since you mention veggies, I’ll share that honey-glazed sous vide carrots are a go-to for many. They do tend to turn out pretty nicely. I use the Anova app for recipes.

Because I see that you are vac sealer-equipped, I’ll mention that I sometimes prep meals before vac sealing for ease of the eventual cook. For example, I recently prepped both duck and chicken legs for confit (olive oil, butter, bay leaves, garlic, salt and pepper, etc.) then vac sealed and froze. The day that we want to host, the bag will head into the drink and all I’ll then have to do is broil and serve. I’ve done the same with portions of brisket, whereby I trim, season, vac seal and freeze such that it’s ready and waiting for the cook.

You likely already know, but be sure to double seal any vac sealed bags to be used for sous vide cooking. Nothing worse than having a leak!

dbCooper · 1:51AM

@GrateEggspectations - Thank you, lots of good information there.

fishlessman · 2:32AM

For a ribeye go 120 for three hours then hard sear. The carrot recipe is a good cook. Reheating frozen pull is a given. Try a long 131 cook on a chuck roast at 131, faux prime rib. The confit is a good cook but I like it shredded into rice. You can can soft veggies like squash and zukes

Canugghead · 4:00AM

Good advice from @GrateEggspectations and @fishlessman.
Tough cuts like chuck, pork belly, brisket etc. is where sv really shines. Better kick the tires more soon, still have three weeks to get your $20 back if you have buyer remorse 😂

GrateEggspectations · 12:49PM

Echo @Canugghead’s above comments re: tough cuts. Some fun and good results to be had there.

Also, there are many threads on here, but you can doctor a cheap cooler for bigger capacity/insulated SV cooking, which can be helpful.

fishlessman · 2:12PM

GrateEggspectations said:

Echo @Canugghead’s above comments re: tough cuts. Some fun and good results to be had there.

Also, there are many threads on here, but you can doctor a cheap cooler for bigger capacity/insulated SV cooking, which can be helpful.

ive used my lobster steamer before. stainless, roughly 24 wide,x 14 x 10 inches tall, used to float bubble wrap on top for insulation but found even thats not needed. mostly just use an open top 24 quart stock pot now. my anova is first gen before they upped the power ratings with the wifi models. i wouldnt hack up a cooler, not really sure why so many do

My First Time, Sous Vide

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