I got my Anova today!

[torpid]

Ooh dang, there's an idea! Bulk beef + finish with a crust! I wonder how that'd work out...

I am going to need someone with a bit more knowledge of water volume to figure out whether 5.8 gallons of water would be enough volume for an alternator...

 

[DrPizza]

The Anova is rated to 5.8 gallons of water. With a minimum pot height of 7 inches. I'm guessing you can cook whatever fits so long as you don't go below the minimal or maximum water levels of the device.

But, that rating is nearly meaningless - unless it specifically is referring to a metal pot that is able to radiate heat from all sides. What about an ice chest? 20 gallons in an ice chest with the top closed would lose heat more slowly than 5.8 gallons in an aluminum or steel pot sitting on a counter. -And, I would definitely convert one of the well insulated ice chests for this.

 

[torpid]

But, that rating is nearly meaningless - unless it specifically is referring to a metal pot that is able to radiate heat from all sides. What about an ice chest? 20 gallons in an ice chest with the top closed would lose heat more slowly than 5.8 gallons in an aluminum or steel pot sitting on a counter. -And, I would definitely convert one of the well insulated ice chests for this.

The rating has more to do with the amount of circulation it can reasonably achieve than the heat loss.

 

[Howard]

Damnit! Told myself I wasn't going to open this thread. And, here I am again, wondering if I should spend $200 on an Anova.

Question: is there a maximum number of pounds that can be cooked at one time? E.g. can I fill a cooler with 140 degree water from the tap, then start cooking, say, 20 pounds of chicken? Or a 20 pound roast?

If so, and I was cooking steak for a dozen or so people, could I simply cook a whole striploin, then just prior to serving time, remove it from the bath, slice into individual steaks, and sear over a red hot cast iron frying pan? - E.g., when we're at the lake, I'd be able to start the sous vide in the morning, then when we all came in from fishing, water skiing, tubing, etc., I could prepare dinner for all 12 people in a matter of minutes? And, how about baked potatoes - can I start themin there, then finish the skins over the hot coals of a very hot wood fire? Btw, searing ribeyes in a visibly glowing red cast iron pan - I wish I could do that every day.

How about corn on the cob, baked potatoes, and steak - can they be cooked together in separate bags? Or does each require its own temperature?

For you, I think the Anova would not be ideal. Look instead to a combo like this:

http://freshmealssolutions.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=73&Itemid=100086

plus

http://www.amazon.com/11-1-Max-Water...8432971&sr=8-6

With this, you can use any vessel of your choosing, and as long as the heater's power rating is not less than the vessel's heat loss (to environment) at your desired temperature, it will work. If you want to use a garbage can, a big cooler, a water trough, etc. you can.

 

[Kaido]

I am going to need someone with a bit more knowledge of water volume to figure out whether 5.8 gallons of water would be enough volume for an alternator...

Well, now we have both a discussion topic & lunch menu for the next ATOT meeting :biggrin:

 

[Howard]

Individual answer time:

<<Question: is there a maximum number of pounds that can be cooked at one time? E.g. can I fill a cooler with 140 degree water from the tap, then start cooking, say, 20 pounds of chicken? Or a 20 pound roast? >>

There is no limit to how much mass can be cooked at any given time. You must simply ensure that the outer surface area of each item is exposed to the water, and that the water is of homogeneous temperature so as to prevent undercooking or overcooking. With enough circulation and heat, I would say that it is very possible (and probably very fun) to use a whole swimming pool to cook food.

However, if you are not continuously heating the water, then you will need to periodically top up the bath with boiling water to keep the temperature in a narrow range. The bath will cool by conduction/convection/evaporation into the environment, as well as conduction into the colder food. If you do not want to heat the water, start off a little hotter than your desired bath temperature so that at equilibrium, the temperature is approximately what you want to cook at. I am sure you can do the math (specific heat and all that) to figure out how much water and how hot to start at.

<<If so, and I was cooking steak for a dozen or so people, could I simply cook a whole striploin, then just prior to serving time, remove it from the bath, slice into individual steaks, and sear over a red hot cast iron frying pan? - E.g., when we're at the lake, I'd be able to start the sous vide in the morning, then when we all came in from fishing, water skiing, tubing, etc., I could prepare dinner for all 12 people in a matter of minutes?>>
Yes, you can. Do consider that the thicker the item to be cooked, the longer it will take to bring it to temperature. The "cooking" of meat in sous vide is a two-stage process; the first stage is actually bringing the entire piece to approximately the same temperature as the water bath. The second stage is holding it at that temperature in order to pasteurize that piece. Therefore, you can have your food ready faster if it starts off in thinner pieces. See Douglas Baldwin's very handy tables to find out how long to cook meat vs water bath temperature vs thickness.

I do not recommend bringing cast iron to red hot as you are sure to lose all the seasoning on the iron.

<<And, how about baked potatoes - can I start themin there, then finish the skins over the hot coals of a very hot wood fire? Btw, searing ribeyes in a visibly glowing red cast iron pan - I wish I could do that every day.>>
Why not do baked potatoes in the oven? As a general rule of thumb, if you SV anything with skin, it needs to post-treated and/or prior-treated in order to fix or improve it, because the skin does not get a chance to dry and crisp. Baked potatoes are no exception. As to your second point: I have high hopes for Dave Arnold's Searzall. It is likely the tool that outputs the greatest heat without the torch taste of a regular blowtorch. The limitation of deep frying and pan frying is that the steam from the meat locally insulates the meat from the cooking surface/fluid.

<<How about corn on the cob, baked potatoes, and steak - can they be cooked together in separate bags? Or does each require its own temperature?>>
They will require different temperatures. Vegetables in general require much higher temperatures to break down the cellulose and/or lignin. SV is cheap enough that you could rig up multiple baths, though, especially if you have the time to DIY.

 

[zinfamous]

You don't have to get crazy with buying vacuum-packed foods. Despite the name sous vide does not require a real vacuum, it only requires that the dead air get removed from the equation so that you get efficient heat transfer. Use high grade zip lock bags that can take the heat, get the air out, seal carefully, and use a little liquid like broth/stock or marinade to fill the spaces and it will work just as well as vacuum sealed.

Can you recommend some ziplock bags, if you have used them with success?

I was planning to do this without the vacuum sealer, so that kinda depends on my requesting one of these doohickies.

 

[Howard]

Can you recommend some ziplock bags, if you have used them with success?

I was planning to do this without the vacuum sealer, so that kinda depends on my requesting one of these doohickies.

I have used the standard bags from Ziploc with great success. I actually didn't have great luck with the fancier bags (double seal or whatnot)

I am going to try the regular ones from Glad as well, as they are much cheaper.

Try to use bags that are marked BPA-free.

 

[ponyo]

It is a myth that searing meat seals in the juices. That has been debunked time and again. Sous Vide will almost always be juicier because not only is the moisture somewhat sealed (it's effectively braising), but you are cooking it to a lower temperature as well. The reason you don't normally cook chicken to 140 degrees is because you have to cook it precisely at that temp (not letting it dip a lot) for quite a while before it effectively kills the bacteria and viruses that might harm you.

Also, ponyo, I would be careful when cooking directly in the vacuum sealed bags that food comes in from costco and other places. You are not guaranteed that they are safe for SV. Did you research first or more of a, "meh, doing it once won't kill me" kind of thing?

I would be surprised if you can technically call anything sous vide without it being vacuum sealed (or at least sealed using the archimedes principle). Sous Vide literally means under vacuum. The immersion circulator is optional.

And for the record, referral bonus abound indeed, because I ordered an Anova over the weekend. I was disappointed that the Blue and Red ones weren't available, but oh well.

I googled it before I started and the official line from both Costco and Trader Joe's is "The packaging is not approved for this cooking method. We do advise removing all packaging before any cooking method." Which is the response I expected. They don't want any potential liabilities and lawsuits.

I'm not too worried about the plastic grade. That chicken plastic is way thicker than any ziplock bag and thicker than the Foodsaver vacuum sealer we have. I have access to both. I just don't want to bother using it when the food comes pre seasoned and vacuum sealed. Am I putting my family and I in danger? Maybe. But all foods can cause cancer regardless of how it's cooked.

I'm doing the Frenched rack of lamb tonight and chuck pot roast tomorrow. I bought both at Trader Joe's pre seasoned and vacuumed sealed. Frenched rack of lamb is difficult meat to cook correctly at medium rare using conventional method. Anova should excel with this difficult but expensive cut of meat. It should do very well with the cheap chuck roast as well but so will a slow cooker.

 

[Imported]

For you, I think the Anova would not be ideal. Look instead to a combo like this:

http://freshmealssolutions.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=73&Itemid=100086

plus

http://www.amazon.com/11-1-Max-Water...8432971&amp;sr=8-6

With this, you can use any vessel of your choosing, and as long as the heater's power rating is not less than the vessel's heat loss (to environment) at your desired temperature, it will work. If you want to use a garbage can, a big cooler, a water trough, etc. you can.

Doesn't the Dorkfood DSV do the same thing as that temp controller? Its also $70 less.

 

[Howard]

Doesn't the Dorkfood DSV do the same thing as that temp controller? Its also $70 less.

Yes, I suppose it does. Good find.

 

[zinfamous]

I have used the standard bags from Ziploc with great success. I actually didn't have great luck with the fancier bags (double seal or whatnot)

I am going to try the regular ones from Glad as well, as they are much cheaper.

Try to use bags that are marked BPA-free.

:thumbsup:

Thanks man. My main concern is leakage after being submerged for so long. I haven't had great experience in this department with various types of ziplocks.

 

[Howard]

:thumbsup:

Thanks man. My main concern is leakage after being submerged for so long. I haven't had great experience in this department with various types of ziplocks.

If you want to make sure you don't get any leakages, just do a leak test of each bag prior to use. Fill it with water and squeeze it in some brown paper towel or something.

 

[ponyo]

:thumbsup:

Thanks man. My main concern is leakage after being submerged for so long. I haven't had great experience in this department with various types of ziplocks.

From my reading, chance of leakage is greater when you're doing long extended cooks. Since I plan to use this mainly with brisket and roasts for 24-48 hour cooks, I don't know if I want to go the ziplock route.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Can you recommend some ziplock bags, if you have used them with success?

I was planning to do this without the vacuum sealer, so that kinda depends on my requesting one of these doohickies.

Regular ZipLoc bags are fine, so are regular Glad bags. 150*F isn't all that hot, most decent food-grade plastic bags should be able to take that without melting. If you're unsure just buy a small package and put an empty bag in the water as a test. If it survives the test it's okay to use it for food.

 

[Howard]

From my reading, chance of leakage is greater when you're doing long extended cooks. Since I plan to use this mainly with brisket and roasts for 24-48 hour cooks, I don't know if I want to go the ziplock route.

Big pieces of meat won't even fit into zip-top bags anyway?

 

[Rakehellion]

increased the temp to 150 F because of time.

That's not how sous vide works.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Big pieces of meat won't even fit into zip-top bags anyway?

You can get 2-gallon sized Ziploc bags and even a 1-gallon is plenty big enough for a really large roast or a whole chicken. You're not going to be sous vide cooking an entire leg of lamb, so size isn't a concern.

 

[DrPizza]

You can get 2-gallon sized Ziploc bags and even a 1-gallon is plenty big enough for a really large roast or a whole chicken. You're not going to be sous vide cooking an entire leg of lamb, so size isn't a concern.

You're not that "alternator sized is bulk beef" guy, are you? I just cooked a really large roast the other day; in the neighborhood of 16 pounds. A decent sized chicken is also going to have trouble fitting in a gallon bag.

 

[Imported]

You're not that "alternator sized is bulk beef" guy, are you? I just cooked a really large roast the other day; in the neighborhood of 16 pounds. A decent sized chicken is also going to have trouble fitting in a gallon bag.

They make bags big enough for turkeys. I'm sure there is a bag for a 16lb roast.

 

[zinfamous]

You can get 2-gallon sized Ziploc bags and even a 1-gallon is plenty big enough for a really large roast or a whole chicken. You're not going to be sous vide cooking an entire leg of lamb, so size isn't a concern.

 

[ponyo]

I don't know if I would cook really big and thick piece of meat using this thing. Small trimmed chuck roast, brisket, or even small boneless leg of lamb, yes. Large piece of pork butt/shoulder, no. I don't know if the meat will be pasteurized in time. Pork butt/shoulder, I'm sticking with my smoker. I want the smoke flavor.

Nice thing about sous vide is you don't necessary have to wait for the frozen food to thaw before you start the cooking process. You can go from the freezer straight to the water if you want. The rack of lamb wasn't 100% thawed when I placed it in the 130 F water bath little over an hour ago. I'm going to add about another hour to the total cooking time to compensate. The entire process is so automated and simple that it almost feels like cheating. I don't have to baby sit and watch the process at all. Just set the temperature and the optional timer and then go do something else while the machine does its thing.

 

[DrPizza]

They make bags big enough for turkeys. I'm sure there is a bag for a 16lb roast.

Well, sure. And you can use big 80 gallon garbage bags if you need to. But, you're not fitting a "large" roast into a gallon bag.
Still pondering this.. have the page open, just need to click buttons.

 

[Howard]

Well, sure. And you can use big 80 gallon garbage bags if you need to. But, you're not fitting a "large" roast into a gallon bag.
Still pondering this.. have the page open, just need to click buttons.

I still think you should go with something that can control an external heat source.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

That's not how sous vide works.

Well that's not the point of sous vide, but there are compromises I had to make and temp does influence cooking time.

This is from the Serious Eats low temperature chicken article.

I'll try lower temperatures for comparison.