I got my Anova today!

[Kaido]

Namath has a new indoor broiler out: (electric, not gas)

http://www.namathproducts.com/namath-electric-rapid-cooker/

It's an electric infrared broiler capable of going up to 700F. Pricey at $547 (my flat-top oven was less than that!), but I've never seen anything like it for indoor use. Has a switch for the broiler (700F) and griddle (400F). The griddle portion appears to be on top:

I'm curious to see some reviews. My outdoor Namath works great & is my preferred method for cooking steak & also for finishing steak from sous vide. Being able to do that indoors would be the bomb! There are some interesting cooking options like the June Oven coming out, but that one in particular only reaches like 500F on the broiler & runs like $1500. Anyway, if the Namath Super Grill works as advertised, that'd be the ultimate combo with a sous vide machine.

 

[ponyo]

If I want to use a broiler, I'll use the one in my regular oven. Namath is waste of kitchen counter space and money. If I want to use the griddle, I'll do it on the stove or on the outside grill.

 

[Kaido]

If I want to use a broiler, I'll use the one in my regular oven. Namath is waste of kitchen counter space and money. If I want to use the griddle, I'll do it on the stove or on the outside grill.

How hot does your oven's broiler get?

 

[ponyo]

How hot does your oven's broiler get?

Never measured but I'm assuming around 500-550 since the bake dial stops at 500 and then it's broil setting.

 

[Kaido]

Never measured but I'm assuming around 500-550 since the bake dial stops at 500 and then it's broil setting.

Yeah, I know my broiler gets hotter than just oven temp, but I'm not sure exactly how hot. My outdoor Namath is great, easy for tailgating/camping too, and actually makes my favorite steak (3 minutes per side, boom, done). Would be nice to have indoors, but $500+, ouch!

 

[shimpster]

I made this.

Sous vide chicken with sun dried tomato vinaigrette

I made a few changes to the vinaigrette, and increased the temp to 150 F because of time.

I also did brussel sprouts sous vide with garlic and a bit of olive oil and salt, which I finished in the oven by roasting briefly.

Everything came out perfectly.

I'm sold.

congratulationz

 

[GagHalfrunt]

If I want to use a broiler, I'll use the one in my regular oven. Namath is waste of kitchen counter space and money. If I want to use the griddle, I'll do it on the stove or on the outside grill.

That. A bad solution to a problem that doesn't exist.

 

[Kaido]

That. A bad solution to a problem that doesn't exist.

I beg to differ - I've had great results with my outdoor unit. My oven's broiler definitely doesn't hit 700F. My outdoor Namath is advertised at 1400F; my IR gizmo says 800F (for whatever that's worth being reflected off a metal surface), which is still way hotter than I can get indoors. Steaks come out amazing on it & it does a great job finishing my sous vide projects. I typically do sears in my cast-iron skillet if I'm doing it indoors. Just wish the indoor electric one was like maybe $199 instead of ~$550. It's a good concept, they just priced it bananas. But then again, they sell the gas one for $399 on their site & $199 at PC Richards, so if they can cut the price in half like that, I'd be willing to consider it. Hi-temp broiling is awesome!

 

[GagHalfrunt]

I beg to differ - I've had great results with my outdoor unit. My oven's broiler definitely doesn't hit 700F. My outdoor Namath is advertised at 1400F; my IR gizmo says 800F (for whatever that's worth being reflected off a metal surface), which is still way hotter than I can get indoors. Steaks come out amazing on it & it does a great job finishing my sous vide projects. I typically do sears in my cast-iron skillet if I'm doing it indoors. Just wish the indoor electric one was like maybe $199 instead of ~$550. It's a good concept, they just priced it bananas. But then again, they sell the gas one for $399 on their site & $199 at PC Richards, so if they can cut the price in half like that, I'd be willing to consider it. Hi-temp broiling is awesome!

Other than marginally reducing cooking time, what is the benefit? You can cook a drop-dead perfect steak without a 1400* broiler and you can finish your sous vide cooking without a 1400* broiler. It's a whole lot of counter space to park a $500+ white elephant to accomplish tasks that can be done easily with tools you already have.

 

[Kaido]

Other than marginally reducing cooking time, what is the benefit? You can cook a drop-dead perfect steak without a 1400* broiler and you can finish your sous vide cooking without a 1400* broiler. It's a whole lot of counter space to park a $500+ white elephant to accomplish tasks that can be done easily with tools you already have.

Totally true! But this is ATOT. If my sous vide came with a VR goggle cooking accessory, I would have no choice but to get it

 

[Howard]

Other than marginally reducing cooking time, what is the benefit? You can cook a drop-dead perfect steak without a 1400* broiler and you can finish your sous vide cooking without a 1400* broiler. It's a whole lot of counter space to park a $500+ white elephant to accomplish tasks that can be done easily with tools you already have.

Neapolitan pizzas might turn out extremely well with it...?

 

[Kaido]

Wow, found a new use for the Anova today:

http://skillet.lifehacker.com/drizzle-delicious-savory-egg-yolk-on-everything-with-t-1781928747

"Savory egg yolk sauce". Basically recreate that ultra-yummy sauce when you have an easy-over egg & cut open the runny yolk onto your eggs, toast, etc. Just mix a few yolks with a couple pinches of salt & sous vide it up at 149F for 32 minutes. There's some example uses towards the end of the video - put it on burgers, noodles, pizza, etc. I bet that'd be AMAZING!

 

[slag]

I'm confused on steak cooking times. I read on serious eats sous vide that a 1 to 1.5 inch steak is best and it should take about an hour to cook thoroughly to medium rare at 129-130 degrees with the greater time just allowing the meat to break down more: http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/06/food-lab-complete-guide-to-sous-vide-steak.html
Looks like at 129-130 degrees, I would want 2.5 hours max according to this site.
Medium-rare 129°F (54°C) to 134°F (57°C)
1 to 4 hours (2 1/2 hours max if under 130°F/54°C)

However, on a practical guide to sous vide cooking, http://www.douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html#Table_5.1, the table shows you should cook a 30 mm (3 cm) (1.1 inches) thick steak for 3 hours at 131 degrees just to make sure the bacteria are all dead. Granted, this says for people who might have compromised immune systems as well, but to be safe, it says 3 hours.

So which is it? 1 hour or 3?

I'm getting a few 1.5 inch thick sirloin steaks tonight and will put them in the sous vide bath at 5:30 or 6:00. I won't be home to eat them until around 8:30 or so. Will they be done if cooked at 130 degrees? I know I'll still sear them on the cast iron pan, but is that enough time to get them medium rare? Or, is it too much?

 

[Kaido]

I'm confused on steak cooking times. I read on serious eats sous vide that a 1 to 1.5 inch steak is best and it should take about an hour to cook thoroughly to medium rare at 129-130 degrees with the greater time just allowing the meat to break down more: http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/06/food-lab-complete-guide-to-sous-vide-steak.html
Looks like at 129-130 degrees, I would want 2.5 hours max according to this site.
Medium-rare 129°F (54°C) to 134°F (57°C)
1 to 4 hours (2 1/2 hours max if under 130°F/54°C)

However, on a practical guide to sous vide cooking, http://www.douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html#Table_5.1, the table shows you should cook a 30 mm (3 cm) (1.1 inches) thick steak for 3 hours at 131 degrees just to make sure the bacteria are all dead. Granted, this says for people who might have compromised immune systems as well, but to be safe, it says 3 hours.

So which is it? 1 hour or 3?

I'm getting a few 1.5 inch thick sirloin steaks tonight and will put them in the sous vide bath at 5:30 or 6:00. I won't be home to eat them until around 8:30 or so. Will they be done if cooked at 130 degrees? I know I'll still sear them on the cast iron pan, but is that enough time to get them medium rare? Or, is it too much?

I personally prefer the texture of steaks cooked shorter times via sous vide. Regarding lower temps, one of the things Kenji mentioned is:

Steaks cooked under 130°F (54.4°C) should not be cooked longer than two-and-a-half hours at a time for food safety reasons.

I like to do my steaks (1" thick) for 90 minutes at 135F (typically NY strips). Here's a ribeye: (more meaty flavor)

The thickness changes the time you need to cook it at...I've had some pretty dry thicker steaks, so you have to figure out what works for you. My typical sous vide steak procedure is:

1. Get a 1" steak
2. Pre-season with garlic salt
3. Sous vide at 135F for 90 minutes
4. Pat dry & sear for 45 seconds per side in a hot pan

I do chicken in a similar way:

1. Get boneless skinless chicken breast (BSCB)
2. Pound down slightly to 1" thick (I use a cheap marble rolling pin & ziploc bag)
3. Sous vide at 140F for 75 minutes

BSCB is virtually flavorless if you just stick it in with nothing else in the bag, but it comes out so moist & soft that you can do a ridiculous number of things with it. This is just with some BBQ sauce added after cooking it:

http://i.imgur.com/MdXBo61.jpg

You can chop it up for putting in panini sandwiches (I use my big George Foreman clamshell grill for smashing sandwiches), put it on top of pizza, slice it into rectangle sticks to serve cold on salads, etc. The key is basically to experiment & take notes on what works, what doesn't, and what your preference is. When I do steak or chicken with my Anova, it comes out perfect 100% of the time because I've figured out what works best for me. Those kinds of repeatable results is really nice because I always know my dinner will be perfect & not screwed up haha.

 

[slayer202]

It's pretty confusing, but from what I recall, most of the suggested times are more or less overkill, basically getting to a point where there is a 100% chance you've killed bacteria or whatever else that may not be there at all. For example, for a decent steak, you could eat it raw and be fine. So no matter how you cook it, as long as it gets to the temp you want, you should be fine. But it doesn't hurt to cook it a bit longer to be safe. However, the max times are important, because you don't want a piece of meat within a certain range of temperatures that promotes bacteria growth (the range being, for example, a rare steak at lower than a completely "safe" temperature)

I've also found that the suggested times and temps vary a lot depending on the source, and you really need trial and error to find what you prefer. I've cooked some chicken and pork that really didn't turn out that well.

 

[slag]

I personally prefer the texture of steaks cooked shorter times via sous vide. Regarding lower temps, one of the things Kenji mentioned is:



I like to do my steaks (1" thick) for 90 minutes at 135F (typically NY strips). Here's a ribeye: (more meaty flavor)

The thickness changes the time you need to cook it at...I've had some pretty dry thicker steaks, so you have to figure out what works for you. My typical sous vide steak procedure is:

1. Get a 1" steak
2. Pre-season with garlic salt
3. Sous vide at 135F for 90 minutes
4. Pat dry & sear for 45 seconds per side in a hot pan

I do chicken in a similar way:

1. Get boneless skinless chicken breast (BSCB)
2. Pound down slightly to 1" thick (I use a cheap marble rolling pin & ziploc bag)
3. Sous vide at 140F for 75 minutes

BSCB is virtually flavorless if you just stick it in with nothing else in the bag, but it comes out so moist & soft that you can do a ridiculous number of things with it. This is just with some BBQ sauce added after cooking it:

http://i.imgur.com/MdXBo61.jpg

You can chop it up for putting in panini sandwiches (I use my big George Foreman clamshell grill for smashing sandwiches), put it on top of pizza, slice it into rectangle sticks to serve cold on salads, etc. The key is basically to experiment & take notes on what works, what doesn't, and what your preference is. When I do steak or chicken with my Anova, it comes out perfect 100% of the time because I've figured out what works best for me. Those kinds of repeatable results is really nice because I always know my dinner will be perfect & not screwed up haha.

Ah, yeah. I'm going with a sirloin with a little longer to see if it breaks down a bit more. I'll put it in at 6.45 and check it at 8:30. Going cheap to test it out before spending more money on more expensive cuts of beef.

Thanks for the info.

Slag

 

[Howard]

I'm confused on steak cooking times. I read on serious eats sous vide that a 1 to 1.5 inch steak is best and it should take about an hour to cook thoroughly to medium rare at 129-130 degrees with the greater time just allowing the meat to break down more: http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/06/food-lab-complete-guide-to-sous-vide-steak.html
Looks like at 129-130 degrees, I would want 2.5 hours max according to this site.
Medium-rare 129°F (54°C) to 134°F (57°C)
1 to 4 hours (2 1/2 hours max if under 130°F/54°C)

However, on a practical guide to sous vide cooking, http://www.douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html#Table_5.1, the table shows you should cook a 30 mm (3 cm) (1.1 inches) thick steak for 3 hours at 131 degrees just to make sure the bacteria are all dead. Granted, this says for people who might have compromised immune systems as well, but to be safe, it says 3 hours.

So which is it? 1 hour or 3?

I'm getting a few 1.5 inch thick sirloin steaks tonight and will put them in the sous vide bath at 5:30 or 6:00. I won't be home to eat them until around 8:30 or so. Will they be done if cooked at 130 degrees? I know I'll still sear them on the cast iron pan, but is that enough time to get them medium rare? Or, is it too much?

Obviously the shorter time does not pasteurize the meat. But then again, most steaks traditionally cooked don't, either, so do whatever you want. My preference also is to cook a little shorter than the pasteurization time.

 

[slag]

Steak last night was so good. 132 for 2 hours was just about right for us. One of my sons wanted it a little less pink so i upped the last piece to 140 for 40 mins and then he ate it and was very satisfied. So tender, juicy, and easy to sear and eat....

Well worth the price.

 

[notposting]

We have found that a traditional "medium" temp of 135 for beef works great and satisfies virtually everyone. You get the fats going liquid and luscious, the meat isn't "bloody", perfectly pink throughout and tender as desired based on cut and cook time.

Remember pasteurization is dependent on time and temp. Lower temp means longer time. Under 130 the concern is the time needs to be too long to be practical, and I believe some bacteria actually thrive in the higher range there.

I generally find Kenji's preferences a bit undercooked for my taste - we usually do our chicken at 150 (2.5 hours from frozen), lamb we do higher, maybe 140?

Next up for sous vide this summer: baby food.

We've made our veggie/fruit stuff at home previously, wife usually steams them. This time I suggested we sous vide them (carrots, peas, potatoes, bananas, etc) - any juice in the bag can be saved as well for getting the mush just right or maybe cereal flavoring.

(We use ice cube trays and freeze up single serve portions of baby edible goop.)

 

[slag]

I generally find Kenji's preferences a bit undercooked for my taste - we usually do our chicken at 150 (2.5 hours from frozen), lamb we do higher, maybe 140?

One or both of these temps is not correct. Genuinely interested due to cooking chicken tonight or tomorrow.

 

[tailes151]

Coooked a couple of chicken breasts last night to 149.5f, seared for less than a minute in a hot cast iron pan.

Next time, I'll go with a lower temp. Wasn't dry, but was not the best thing I've cooked with my Anova. Probably aim for 143ish on my next go around. Increase the cook time a bit as well.

Also, might try skipping the vacuum seal and doing the water immersion technique to see if it makes much of a difference.

 

[Kaido]

I've also found that the suggested times and temps vary a lot depending on the source, and you really need trial and error to find what you prefer. I've cooked some chicken and pork that really didn't turn out that well.

That's really what it boils down to. With my Instant Pot (electronic pressure cooker), I tell people to do a recipe three times before bringing it public...first time by the books to see how it turns out, second time to tweak it, and (hopefully) by the third time, you've got it nailed for where you want it. That way if you have a company potlock or a date or whatever, you know going in that you're going to get solid results :thumbsup:

 

[Kaido]

Ah, yeah. I'm going with a sirloin with a little longer to see if it breaks down a bit more. I'll put it in at 6.45 and check it at 8:30. Going cheap to test it out before spending more money on more expensive cuts of beef.

The nice thing is, you can get some pretty good dinners out of cheap cuts of meat with sous vide because it makes everything so tender. Also, I'd recommend learning some sauces & compound butter. Pretty much every restaurant I've been to that has amazing food has some kind of off-the-hook sauce that they use to pack the flavor in. I just started my journey into sauces a couple months ago using this book:

https://www.amazon.com/Modern-Sauces-More-Recipes-Every-ebook/dp/B009SM6LE0/

Also, compound (flavored) butters are stupid easy to make & can really add a lot to a steak. Excellent tutorial here, literally only takes a minute or two to make:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/emofly/how-to-make-compound-butter

btw, I just tried sous vide corn-on-the-cob, which came out pretty good:

http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/08/sous-vide-your-way-to-the-best-corn-food-lab.html

TL;DR - chop off the ends but leave it in the husk, add butter (and optionally aromatics like cilantro, scallion, garlic, or dried chilies) & seal it up, and sous vide at 183F for 30 minutes. Pretty bulletproof! I'm a big fan of convenience tools & the Anova has been amazing for easy, consistent results :thumbsup:

 

[Kaido]

Coooked a couple of chicken breasts last night to 149.5f, seared for less than a minute in a hot cast iron pan.

Next time, I'll go with a lower temp. Wasn't dry, but was not the best thing I've cooked with my Anova. Probably aim for 143ish on my next go around. Increase the cook time a bit as well.

Also, might try skipping the vacuum seal and doing the water immersion technique to see if it makes much of a difference.

Yeah, I haven't crusted my chicken very well yet. Kenji has a good pictorial here:

http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/07/the-food-lab-complete-guide-to-sous-vide-chicken-thigh.html

He sous vides it, then does an ice bath (you can store it up to 3 days at this point), and finally pan-fries it to get the crispy skin. I rarely do chicken thighs tho, and when I do, I almost always use this recipe: (~30 minutes in the oven with like 60 seconds of prep time, always comes out awesome!)

http://asweetandsavorylife.com/grilled-or-roasted-spice-rubbed-chicken-thighs-my-go-to-easy-dinner/

Serious Eats has another approach for turkey, oven-roasted for crispy skin after cooking via sous vide:

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/...y-breast-crispy-skin-recipe-thanksgiving.html

I still need to try these sometime...for the turkey, it's like 2.5 hours in the water bath, then another 30 to 45 minutes in the oven, so it's one of those things where I need to test it out to see if it's really worth it over just oven-baking, especially for stuff like chicken thighs which are so dang easy & come out great in the oven with almost zero effort. With BSCB, I like to do it sous vide because it's so easy to dry out, so I either do it water-bath or else just pound it down in a ziploc & pan-fry.

 

[Kaido]

Interesting, Target has partnered with Anova:

http://jyed83kwvc1495mtp10f4c82.wpe.../2015/08/PressReleaseTargetAnnouncement-1.pdf

They'll have Anovas in every store by this October. Curious to see how well they sell...