I got my Anova today!

[Kaido]

In measured doses

Share with us your sous vide knowledge!

I'm still pretty much just making plain chicken (for use in other dishes) & the occasional steak, haha.

 

[Ns1]

guys am I doing it right?

 

[MrSquished]

Share with us your sous vide knowledge!

I'm still pretty much just making plain chicken (for use in other dishes) & the occasional steak, haha.

I read this entire thread and I kind of came to the conclusion that about all I'd be using it for is to do exactly that. Seems that's what most posters were doing as well.

Considering I don't eat white meat chicken much, dark meat chicken is easy to keep moist via other cooking methods, and Alton Brown's cast iron cooking method makes damn good ribeyes already, what's the point?

 

[gorb]

I ordered one from amazon today since they were on sale for $100. I hope I actually use it

 

[AznAnarchy99]

I ordered one from amazon today since they were on sale for $100. I hope I actually use it

It really is amazing for my meal preps. Sometimes though, I don't want to wait an hour for a steak so I'll do it the old fashion way.

 

[Kaido]

I read this entire thread and I kind of came to the conclusion that about all I'd be using it for is to do exactly that. Seems that's what most posters were doing as well.

Considering I don't eat white meat chicken much, dark meat chicken is easy to keep moist via other cooking methods, and Alton Brown's cast iron cooking method makes good ribeyes already, what's the point?

It is fantastic for white meat chicken & steak. Like you said, dark meat is easy to keep moist. Like with chicken thighs, I just always bake them & they come out perfect - pretty hard to mess up. If you like AB's method, check out the reverse sear, one of my favorite ways of making steak:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ4xl7XJM08

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=104sWyAS4vY

I also use my Instant Pot to make white chicken a lot, so it's kind of a toss-up as to what I'll be using which day. Appliances are definitely useful on an individual basis, so if you don't really see yourself using it, I wouldn't bother picking it up. It's a neat device for sure, but if your eating habits aren't in the same vein, it's not going to do you much good.

 

[Howard]

How did you make out on this?

I'm assembling my GG tomorrow & it can do Neapolitan, so I'm pretty excited. Been waiting a year for it! Not 100% sure if I'll use it for finishing sous vide tho (unless I'm doing a bulk cook) because I have a slick Nuwave induction plug-in single-burner cooktop & an outlet outside, so since I'm usually only doing a couple steaks, I just quickly heat up a pan & sear in that. But I'll have to see if my Baking Steel fits on my GG because that would be the booooooooomb!

Too busy last year to make any headway. Will jump back in this spring.

 

[smackababy]

Made adobo pork belly in mine tonight. Turned out a lot better than I expected. I did have to do some searing with a torch though.

 

[Kaido]

BraveTart's Ultimate Guide to Sous Vide Desserts:

http://www.seriouseats.com/2017/01/bravetarts-ultimate-guide-to-sous-vide-dessert.html

It's not a list of recipes, but rather a set of questions about what not to do for desserts in a pressure cooker:

1. Would this recipe be better with the texture of a wet sock?
2. Does the recipe mention stirring or whisking?
3. Does it bubble or boil?
4. Does the recipe involve eggs and sugar?
5. Does it go in the oven?

 

[Imported]

Only dessert I've utilized my Anova for is a custard base for ice cream. I only did it to avoid the lumps I usually get when doing it on the stovetop..

 

[smackababy]

I've made biscuits in mine, but I didn't like them. The dough was moist and good, but no crust. I did it in mason jars.

 

[Kaido]

Serious Eats: Why You Should Add Ping-Pong Balls to Your Sous Vide Bath

http://www.seriouseats.com/2017/01/how-to-insulate-sous-vide-water-bath.html

 

[Kaido]

Serious Eats: How to Keep Sous Vide Bags Submerged

http://www.seriouseats.com/2017/01/how-to-keep-sous-vide-bags-submerged.html

I found a nice rack on Amazon from LIPAVI that I'm thinking about getting, but for $60 I'm pretty sure I can rig something up myself, haha:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PKGBMBA

 

[ponyo]

I drop small dinner bowl or plate on top and that keeps the bags submerged. It's free and it works well.

 

[Kaido]

I drop small dinner bowl or plate on top and that keeps the bags submerged. It's free and it works well.

Yeah, I usually use a glass Pyrex bowl, but if I'm doing a bunch of items at once, it gets to be a pain because my tub isn't huge & stuff starts floating up.

 

[Pantoot]

I drop small dinner bowl or plate on top and that keeps the bags submerged. It's free and it works well.

I was always afraid that putting a plate on top would inhibit the heat transfer, but thinking about it more I guess it doesn't really matter.

 

[Xellos2099]

I got a question. I try using anova to made rib eye steak from costco. I did 131.5 degree for 90 minutes and then pan fried it with butter. It is very tender but there is not much flavor in it. Before anyone ask, I used salt and pepper of course. Any good suggest on how to get it to work with chicken breast? As in how long and what temperature. I was thinking of hammering ti down, put it in anova and take it out to made a good chicken fried steak.

 

[Kaido]

I got a question. I try using anova to made rib eye steak from costco. I did 131.5 degree for 90 minutes and then pan fried it with butter. It is very tender but there is not much flavor in it. Before anyone ask, I used salt and pepper of course. Any good suggest on how to get it to work with chicken breast? As in how long and what temperature. I was thinking of hammering ti down, put it in anova and take it out to made a good chicken fried steak.

That's odd, ribeye is usually pretty meaty, and Costco usually has pretty decent meat. As far as sous vide fried chicken goes, Chef Steps has a really good procedure:

https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/can-t-f-it-up-fried-chicken

Basically:

1. Cook at 155F for 2 hours (dark meat), then add white meat and cook for an additional hour

2. Bread the chicken

3. Heat oil to 400F and cook breaded chicken for 2 to 3 minutes (no need for a long fry time since it's already cooked!)

I use a wok to deep-fry (no overflows with the bubbling & reheats quick, even on a portable butane burner), along with a spider spatula (drains the oil off quickly).

 

[PJFrylar]

Hmm, do you guys often run into trouble with floating bags? I have really only ever have had at most one uncooperative bag, which I just tuck under another one to keep it down. Either way, I definitely wouldn't worry about covering it to keep things down. When I did a rather large batch of ribs, I found I not only needed to cover the top of the water bath, but I also needed insulate the outside of the container (I wrapped it in towels) to prevent heat loss.

 

[MrSquished]

When I did a rather large batch of ribs, I found I not only needed to cover the top of the water bath, but I also needed insulate the outside of the container (I wrapped it in towels) to prevent heat loss.

do you live in an igloo?

 

[PJFrylar]

do you live in an igloo?

Nah, just Wisconsin.

It was around a 10 gallon water bath for a rather large amount of ribs (I don't exactly remember how many lbs.) for labor day. Overall It was a giant pain in the ass trying to get the temperature stable and keep refilling the water over about 36 hours. Next time I make ribs, I'm going to go with the instant pot as @Kaido has suggested a few times.

 

[Kaido]

So an update on 2 pieces of equipment:

1. Electric Namath: The indoor electric Namath got picked up by QVC & got the price slashed in half: (now $299)

http://www.qvc.com/Joe-Namath-Multi-Function-Electric-Super-Grill.product.K45204.html

It's basically a 672F infrared broiler. It is huge. Right now, I have mixed feelings about it. I'm doing a steak test tomorrow to determine whether or not I'm going to keep it, but right now, I think it's going to go back. Originally, I had their outdoor model, which was great until it blew up. Currently far cheaper at $170 though:

https://www.amazon.com/EdenPURE-EY101-Namath-Rapid-Cooker/dp/B00NJYT3M0

It was extremely difficult to light (and dangerous, because the gas would build up & the built-in ignitor worked like crap, so you'd have to wait five minutes until the gas dissipated & start over) & had a faulty regulator (which is apparently a common issue). I later learned that a lot of people light theirs manually & that worked pretty well, and if I were to do it again, I would probably attach a standard 20-pound tank with some kind of attachment or separate regulator system because mine caught on fire & was extremely scary. It basically had a mini-explosion & I ended up trashing it because it was out of warranty & customer service was awful and didn't want to sell me a replacement regulator. Also, quality-control issues on the pull-out handle (holes were punched in the wrong places on the metal shelving).

However, the gas model worked really really really well. It's basically the cheapest salamander broiler wannabe you can buy. To be honest, it was probably my favorite way to make steak, ever. I tested out an Anova'd steak finished in the gas Namath & a steak cooked only in the Namath & I preferred the Namath. Although I don't always cook outdoors & the Anova is simple for frozen, vacuum-packed steaks. Burner surface temp on the gas model is advertised at 1400F; the electric model is half that & it shows. Doesn't cook nearly as well. Nothing near my Searzall or basic cast-iron pan.

The electric infrared does give it a bit of a nice crispy-crunchy crust (note, it was a thin outer crust), but doesn't really kick off the Malliard effect like a cheap cast-iron pan does. It didn't smoke much at all, although the liquid fat from the steak did kind of drip out of the front when I flipped the steak & the droppings would flare up flames inside of it momentary, which was kind of disconcerting. So basically, not a huge fan of the electric. I'm going to do a few more cooks on it before I decide to return it, but it's not looking good right now. I may consider going with another gas model & just using a long trigger lighter & sealing up their regulator with some thread sealant & a long gas hose to a standard 20lb tank. But the whole point of the electric was to be able to do it indoors with minimal smoke. Will report back after a side-by-side cook with say the electric Namath & maybe my Breville toaster oven set to broiler.

2. Commercial panini press: I traded out some of my old equipment for a heavy-duty cast-iron panini press. There are a lot of really excellent panini places popping up locally, but they charge like $10 for an adult-sized panini, which makes it a very expensive habit if you want to grab a hot sandwich out on a regular basis. Most shops use something like a Waring unit, although after reading a bunch of reviews, I decided to go with an Avantco P78, which is basically the off-brand version:

http://www.webstaurantstore.com/ava...andwich-grill-120v-1750w/177P78 120.html

$210, 1750 watts (standard plug tho), dual heated elements (top & bottom), cast-iron plates, grooved top & bottom (I like my sandwiches with texture on both sides, although they also sell them in flat + grooved & flat + flat configures, as well as a double-wide version, although it has two plugs due to the wattage requirements & has to be on separate circuits), and a 120F to 570F temperature range. Looks pretty easy to replace the wear & tear parts (heating elements etc.) too. Very heavy & large. The hinge flips the top plate with a wobble mechanism, so you can fit overstuffed sandwiches without pushing the ingredients off, which was a problem I had with clamshell electric grills like my George Foreman. Previously, I also had a small ceramic panini press off Amazon, but it never got as hot as I liked to get the bed really crispy-crunchy & was not big enough for a large sandwich (like on ciabatta or no-knead bread).

Easy to season, although the initial seasoning will smoke out your house, so either do it outdoors or stick it under a ventilated hood or put it near a window with a floor fan next to it. My first results were above expectation. Reheated the leftover half of my sandwich in the toaster oven (300F for about 10 minutes) & came out really excellent. This thing is a monster, but I'm happy to deal with it as it gives excellent results & I love me some crispy, melty sammiches! I originally got the idea for this from a chef who runs a small Italian shop that makes ridonculous paninis...I think he has to be using sous vide for how tender & moist the chicken comes out, so the combination of the Anova & Avantco at home is going to be the start of a beautiful friendship, especially for sandwiches that use chicken breast (whole, sliced into strips, or otherwise).

 

[PJFrylar]

You're killing me @Kaido. I've wanted a good panini press for awhile, but the whole dropping a grand plus a month going back to school stretches the resources a bit. You already got me to buy instant pots (2) and an anova. What more do you want from me man?

 

[Kaido]

Hmm, do you guys often run into trouble with floating bags? I have really only ever have had at most one uncooperative bag, which I just tuck under another one to keep it down. Either way, I definitely wouldn't worry about covering it to keep things down. When I did a rather large batch of ribs, I found I not only needed to cover the top of the water bath, but I also needed insulate the outside of the container (I wrapped it in towels) to prevent heat loss.

Nah, just Wisconsin.

It was around a 10 gallon water bath for a rather large amount of ribs (I don't exactly remember how many lbs.) for labor day. Overall It was a giant pain in the ass trying to get the temperature stable and keep refilling the water over about 36 hours. Next time I make ribs, I'm going to go with the instant pot as @Kaido has suggested a few times.

I have a basic plastic tub for my Anova, no ping-pong balls or lid. I just top it off at the sink as needed (I have one of those cheap pull-out faucet nozzles, works great for refills). I do have a problem with floating bags sometimes; still thinking about buying that LIPAVI rack with the hooks, but at $59, ouch!

Yeah, there are some things I use my Anova for & there are some things I use my Instant Pot for. Like say corn on the cob...the Anova can do some neat things with corn, but the IP cook time is 4 minutes for in-husk, de-husked, fresh, or frozen corn-on-the-cob, so...meh on waiting, haha. If I'm doing shredded chicken (like for say crack chicken), I just do it in the IP, but if I'm doing whole chicken breast for a sandwich or to slice up or whatever, I'll use the Anova, especially if I have vac-sealed frozen chicken breast handy that I can just chuck in the tub.

I'm sure ribs would be fine in the Anova, but they only take 20 minutes in the IP & the first time I did them, the bones literally fell out when I picked the ribs up (before saucing them up to broil & caramlize), so again, special results vs. speed. I wouldn't do like a steak in the IP or plain chicken breast to eat whole or cut into strips because I really like how moist the Anova makes it, but I do make whole chicken breast meals in the IP based on what I'm making (been doing a lot of Olive Garden copycat recipes lately) because those specifically cook in the sauce & require some sauteing usually, so I just use the one-pot method with the IP using the saute & then the pressure-cooking features.

I know a lot of cookbooks push for actually learning how to cook (re: the codes of cooking & all that), but with machines that can replicate results as well as the Anova & Instant Pot, it's so much easier to just use pre-existing delicious recipes & optionally tweak to your preference. Globally-speaking, I think there are over a million documented recipes worldwide. If you live until you're 100 & do say 7 small meals a day (that's how I roll now! 3 smaller main meals, plus snacks/desserts/etc.), that's still only about 250k meals you'll eat, and so rather than re-invent the wheel, you can 'stand on the shoulders of giants' & follow existing recipes. In all my years of cooking, I've really only created two original recipes that are truly unique; I find that using other people's recipes, which have already gone through the research phase to create a great final product, is the most efficient way to add recipes to my personal collection.

Anyway, back on topic, did you do 10 gallons with the Anova??

 

[PJFrylar]

Yeah I was able to do a about a 10 gallon water bath with the Anova .... but it was a giant pain in the ass. Like I alluded to earlier, it involved insulating and covering the tub, as well as baby sitting the water level. I got a lot of compliments on how those ribs turned out, but my conclusion is it wasn't worth the effort. Kinda feels like I would have been just as well off cooking all those ribs on the spot in my 2 IPs (though I say that not actually having tried it).

I've seen that same LIPAVI rack and can't believe how expensive it is. The profit margin must be off the chart