sous vide cooking (fancy boil in the bag)

[wanye]

just took delivery of this bad boy...

been wanting one for a couple of years now, but finally decided to treat myself, and anova are doing the 1st gen unit for £74 delivered (less than half the price of the current gen bluetooth/wifi unit)

there was a thread here about sous-vide, but only a couple of others posting, so hopefully this one will be a bit more active. I'll be updating randomly as i experiment.

if youve not come across it before, you clip it to a big pot, stick water in, add your meat/fish/veg choices in sealed bags, and let it cook in warm water for a few hours. have a read of Rhik Samadder's grauniad review. usually he's quite scathing about most kitchen gadgets, but he really liked the anova...

theguardian/lifeands...ecision-cooker

another useful link to ideas is seriouseats: seriouseats/tags/sous%20vide

unfortunately, i didn't realise it was arriving today, and i've already got tonight's dinner out of the freezer (i'm a big believer in batch cooking) - so i have a tub of beef stew sat defrosting, waiting for some puff pastry to go on top when i get home.

but i'm already planning on getting a couple of steaks out of the freezer for tomorrow's dinner! and i'm thinking a couple of marinaded chicken breasts with vegetables for the day after...

my first attempt at beer cooler steak a while back was fantastic, one of the juiciest, most tender steaks i've ever had, so cant wait to try using the proper method

[barryp1]

I find the Anova site confusing. What is the difference between the model you have bought and the ones they advertise for £129 and £149?

Which vacuum sealer do you use?

[wanye]

Originally Posted by barryp1

I find the Anova site confusing. What is the difference between the model you have bought and the ones they advertise for £129 and £149?

Which vacuum sealer do you use?

See more...

the 129 version is bluetooth only, the 149 model is the 2nd gen wifi/bluetooth. i believe they made it 100w more powerful, and fixed a few issues (wifi connection problems for some users from what i can gather)

theres a new version out shortly, which i believe will be 300, but that will be a more powerful "pro" version.

i got a vacuum sealer from lidl a couple of years ago for 20 quid, does the job just fine. i also plan on using hefty ziplock bags for things i cant be bothered sealing properly

[wanye]

First attempt at sous vide cooking on the Anova. Realised I need to get a bigger cooking vessel! also, had to weigh the bags down with a heavy glass so they are submerged.

Attempting lemon and herb chicken breasts with vegetables (red pepper, baby mushroom, onion, garlic, baby carrot). Slow cooked for 2 1/2 hours at 146 degrees.

Let's see how we get on! All seemed straightforward enough so far, fire up the app, choose a similar recipe and hit go! May move it all into my coolbox though, as there's loads more room in there

[SMAX]

I have seen these but personally think it is all a bit of a faf. I am more organic and like to get things prepared and cooked in the oven or on the hob.

I will be interested in your results though and to see if it is time saving and better tasting than traditional cooking.

[wanye]

Had to nip out after work, so was cooking for just over 3 hours. Chicken is perfect. Veg is Al dente, but fully cooked. Pretty good first effort!

[wanye]

Faff was minimal. Prepare veg, Chuck in bag, add spices and a bit of olive oil. Same with the chicken (no oil needed tho)

Drop in pot, fill with water, turn anova on with the app.

Checked it twice while cooking. Flipped the bags over and added a bit more water, but would happily leave unattended next time.

Gf gets home about 7, so I'll fire up the app and turn it back on remotely while I'm out doing in about an hour so it'll be back up to temp when she gets home.

Love it!

Steak next...

[wanye]

ok, first attempt at steak last week. used a decent enough 30 day aged ribeye from lidl (or maybe aldi)

added salt, pepper and a bit of crushed garlic to both, and a bit of steak rub to mine... also did a bunch of sweet peppers and mini portobello mushrooms with butter and garlic in another bag...

cooked at 135 degrees for around 2.5 hours...

finished article looks quite grey, so to add a bit of colour, they were pan seared in some butter for around a minute per side...

served with caramelised fried onions and crinkle cut chips, using some of the garlic butter from the sous vide vegetables bag as a "sauce" on the chips

absolutely beautiful. next time i'll be doing a really cheap steak for several hours, see how that turns out.

[wanye]

also did some sous vide boiled eggs last week. they were done at 165 degrees for 13 minutes. turned out lovely, but i would probably make the yolk a little runnier next time. half of the white stuck to the shell too, so they came out like a slightly firm poached egg. by far the best egg i've ever cooked though!

the best thing about this was i did 6 eggs like this, then just moved the rest to the fridge for breakfast the next couple of days. i just cracked them open on a muffin, added a slice of plastic cheese and microwaved for 40 seconds

[wanye]

at the moment, the biggest faff is deciding what i want, defrosting it, and then putting in a bag with herbs and spices ready for sous vide...

but now, when i buy chicken breasts or steaks (or whatever), i'll be bagging them up ready to drop into the pot along with the relevant seasonings, and then putting in the freezer so i can just drop them frozen into a pot when i leave for work in the morning, turn it on while i'm at work to cook, so its ready for when i get home