I got my Anova today!

[DrPizza]

Since the container doesn't come into contact with the food, has anyone tried a 15 gallon storage tote to cook in? 11 T-bone steaks to cook today, going to give it a shot unless I see a compelling reason not to use the tote. At camp, and a lot of people have sampled some of my cooking this week - at least 5 more Anovas will be purchased as a result. Everyone thought the chicken was incredible for juiciness and flavor. Ditto for a London broil top round that I made a Southwest rub for (24 hrs 130 F, 3 parts chili powder, 2 parts salt, 1 part each cumin, onion powder, chili powder, pepper). Sliced thin and made wraps.

Tomorrow night, 10 split breasts, 5 leg quarters, marinated in a BBQ sauce.

Edit: now attempting to cook 16 steaks.

 

[DrPizza]

I let the storage tote warm up for a couple of hours to make sure it would be able to maintain temp. Steaks are now in.

 

[slayer202]

hope it goes well! I'm not sure what the deal is with container materials, though I've been looking to buy one and polycarbonate is the suggested material. But like you said, nothing should be touching the food anyway.

 

[DrPizza]

It worked awesomely. No problem maintaining 130 degrees. I used the top half of a fishing pole laid across the top, and used hair pins to attach the tops of the ziplock bags so that they dangled in the water and were spaced a little bit, with plenty of room for water circulation.

Seared most of the steaks in cast iron hanging just above a very hot campfire (used a tripod stand).

For my own steak, I used a brush burning torch with propane. It makes a regular propane torch or one of those searzall things look like a little kids toy. Or to put it another way, the noise from it was scaring the kids. Excellent results. Pics, and maybe video later.

 

[Howard]

did a split bone in skin on chicken breast at 135 last night. it was premarinated from the store if that makes any difference. I've come to realize that you only need a very very quick sear to get good color, though the skin was not really edible. I think I'll remove the skin and cook it separately next time if I want it.

The meat was definitely juicier this time. I think it was a bit less tender, a little chewier but still fine, compared to 140 degrees. I think I need to start working more on sauces or sides, because chicken is still a fucking bore even when cooked well...

Go with dark meat.

If you sous vide any kind of poultry skin, it won't crisp properly because it'll be waterlogged. You'll have to either cook it separately or if you do SV it, you'll have to refrigerate it uncovered for a while to let it dry out. Other techniques work too... but learning is half the fun.

 

[DrPizza]

Did enough BBQ chicken for 15 people tonight; reserved 3 split chicken breasts for sous vide. Same marinade, etc. did the main batch over charcoal for about 90 minutes. Sous vide batch at 140 degrees for 2 hours, then finished the skin over hot charcoal for about 15 minutes. No contest... Slow cooked had a tremendous amount of flavor compared to sous vide. I completely expected the opposite since it was cooked with the very strong marinade in the bag. Sous vide won on juiciness, slightly. Texture was excellent both ways. But, it simply couldn't compete with baste, let the skin start crisping, baste, repeat, for intense flavor.

 

[Kaido]

Did enough BBQ chicken for 15 people tonight; reserved 3 split chicken breasts for sous vide. Same marinade, etc. did the main batch over charcoal for about 90 minutes. Sous vide batch at 140 degrees for 2 hours, then finished the skin over hot charcoal for about 15 minutes. No contest... Slow cooked had a tremendous amount of flavor compared to sous vide. I completely expected the opposite since it was cooked with the very strong marinade in the bag. Sous vide won on juiciness, slightly. Texture was excellent both ways. But, it simply couldn't compete with baste, let the skin start crisping, baste, repeat, for intense flavor.

That's my wife's complaint - the sous vide chicken is flavorless. Plus it's hard to get a sauce to stick post-mortem, just kind of slides right off. I'm thinking about doing more of like a tikka masala where you can drown the cooked chicken in warm sauce.

 

[Kaido]

Edit: now attempting to cook 16 steaks.

15 sous vide steaks?!

I'd like to try sous vide for shish-ka-bobs...my main complaint is that the meat is always slightly too tough to pull apart with just your teeth, but sous video steak would be nice & soft on a kebob stick...

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Did enough BBQ chicken for 15 people tonight; reserved 3 split chicken breasts for sous vide. Same marinade, etc. did the main batch over charcoal for about 90 minutes. Sous vide batch at 140 degrees for 2 hours, then finished the skin over hot charcoal for about 15 minutes. No contest... Slow cooked had a tremendous amount of flavor compared to sous vide. I completely expected the opposite since it was cooked with the very strong marinade in the bag. Sous vide won on juiciness, slightly. Texture was excellent both ways. But, it simply couldn't compete with baste, let the skin start crisping, baste, repeat, for intense flavor.

This was my experience with sous vide as well. I found it to be one-dimensional compared to to other cooking methods. I am no chemistry major but my guess would be that cooking over charcoal, or other methods, produces flavor compounds that aren't/can't be reproduced via sous vide and subsequent searing.

Sure, sous vide can produce a certain level of tenderness/juiciness consistently. However, tenderness and juiciness isn't the end-all and be-all. It has to be combined with great flavors along with a certain bite; a form of al dente. ime, sous vide had a problem with both flavors and al dente.

 

[Kaido]

Has anyone heard of Cinder before?

https://cindercooks.com/

$499, shipping early 2016. It's a countertop grill type of appliance similar to sous vide, just with metal instead of water - accurate to within a quarter of a degree. Gizmodo has some more info back from March:

http://gizmodo.com/this-smart-countertop-grill-has-all-the-chef-skills-you-1689017439

 

[DrPizza]

15 sous vide steaks?!

I'd like to try sous vide for shish-ka-bobs...my main complaint is that the meat is always slightly too tough to pull apart with just your teeth, but sous video steak would be nice & soft on a kebob stick...

No, 16.
And every one of them came out perfect.

No pansyass metrosexual searzall for this guy. Here's how to sear a steak like a boss: https://youtu.be/gx7P9g5qc4M

When I get a chance, I'll upload some pics of the finished steak, along with how I arranged the steaks for cooking.

 

[Kaido]

Here's how to sear a steak like a boss: https://youtu.be/gx7P9g5qc4M

https://gifsound.com/?gif=i.imgur.com/xi2Yy3D.gif&v=KzGKsXPBILw&s=16

:biggrin:

 

[Kaido]

Ribeye @ 135F for 90 minutes:

45-second sear on each side at the end. Pre-seasoned with garlic salt before putting in the bag - I like the flavor this way, melts more into the meat. I've found I actually enjoy eating the fat on the steak because it's so soft & picks up a lot of the flavor.

I threw in a piece of chicken with it too & tried searing it at a high temp, but there's too much moisture in it. Doesn't sear well at all. Neither does the steak, but at least it turns it from a gray mass to something that looks more appetizing

 

[slayer202]

No, 16.
And every one of them came out perfect.

No pansyass metrosexual searzall for this guy. Here's how to sear a steak like a boss: https://youtu.be/gx7P9g5qc4M

When I get a chance, I'll upload some pics of the finished steak, along with how I arranged the steaks for cooking.

haha fucking boss

 

[DrPizza]

Come to think of it, I preferred the torch method. To pan sear those steaks in quick succession, I had to have a very hot fire. Not only did I sear the steaks, but simply putting them into and pulling them out of the pan resulted in burning the hairs off my arm.

 

[DrPizza]

Mmmm, chicken breast tenders, 1 part oil, 2 parts vinegar, a lot of chili powder, some poultry seasoning (rosemary, and whatever else is in there), some raw cane sugar, and an egg. Mix up everything but the chicken, toss chicken in, toss in at 140F for 2 hours. Don't blot dry - just toss right into hot cast iron to sear. The dissolved sugars quickly caramelize adding a bit of further texture to the surface. Outstanding flavor that was complimented nicely by fresh zucchini with olive oil, basil, oregano, and parsley.

 

[Chapbass]

So now I go looking for this thead after seeing this on the Amazon Prime day...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UKPBXM4?ref_=gb1h_tit_m-6_6222_b2b67c0a&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Whats the consensus? Awesome? Overpriced? Expensive but who cares?

 

[slayer202]

it was a bit cheaper recently but still worth it imo

 

[Imported]

Anyone try making an ice cream/frozen custard base via sous vide? Thinking about trying it out to avoid lumps when I do it on the stove top..

 

[LucJoe]

So now I go looking for this thead after seeing this on the Amazon Prime day...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UKPBXM4?ref_=gb1h_tit_m-6_6222_b2b67c0a&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Whats the consensus? Awesome? Overpriced? Expensive but who cares?

I have the previous version, from a lightning deal for the same price I think.

No regrets. I love it. Though it seems to get less use during grilling season...

 

[slayer202]

Made a pork chop last night @ 138 degrees. Seared for maybe a minute on each side and I was disappointed/surprised with how dry it was. It was ~medium

cooked a pork chop at 132 tonight. still seemed to be overdone but much better than 138. will post a couple pics tomorrow

few nights ago I did a boneless center cut chop at 130 for a bit over 2 hours. The first couple bites I thought I finally found success. Color and texture was really nice. But further towards the middle of the meat was very tough and chewy. Longer cook time needed? I still wish I could go even lower temp...

 

[Howard]

few nights ago I did a boneless center cut chop at 130 for a bit over 2 hours. The first couple bites I thought I finally found success. Color and texture was really nice. But further towards the middle of the meat was very tough and chewy. Longer cook time needed? I still wish I could go even lower temp...

Some cuts of pork just won't work well... I've had some chops that really could've just been leather to begin with.

Try scouting out some nicer pork (pastured Berkshire or Old Spots) and let us know.

 

[Imported]

Anyone try making an ice cream/frozen custard base via sous vide? Thinking about trying it out to avoid lumps when I do it on the stove top..

Went ahead and tried it out according to some recipes online with a lemon head ice cream.. 185º for an hour and mixing the bag every now and then. Turned out awesome. Ended up buying the Foodsaver on sale for $60 at Costco after doing it though.. trying to get the air out of the Ziploc was a nightmare.

 

[slayer202]

made some great salmon tonight, 118 degrees for 30 minutes. I'm curious how a higher and lower temperature would compare, but the korean bbq marinade from whole foods was delicious.

 

[Kaido]

few nights ago I did a boneless center cut chop at 130 for a bit over 2 hours. The first couple bites I thought I finally found success. Color and texture was really nice. But further towards the middle of the meat was very tough and chewy. Longer cook time needed? I still wish I could go even lower temp...

I've found temp & time vs. meat thickness has a big effect. I did a couple 2" steaks yesterday & they came out fairly dry (I did them for longer than my 1" steaks due to the size). They were good, and tender, but oddly a bit dry. So far my experience has been that the best results come from locking down a procedure for a specific type & thickness of meat. I can nail BSCB & 1" steaks every time no problem now, but even altering it by an inch-thicker steak causes enough changes to warrant a procedure update.