I got my Anova today!

[Kaido]

Also, I did end up springing for the Mellow. The first pre-orders have begun arriving; I believe mine is due at the end of October. I was originally going to get an Anova Nano (far cheaper!), but the integrated "fridge" feature was awfully compelling as I'm on the road a lot these days & being able to have a steak ready to sear when I get home at whatever time I get home sounds really really awesome. Like tonight I did steak (2 hours SV), potatoes (70 minutes in the oven), and croissants (2 minutes in the toaster oven), so even thought I got home before 5, I didn't end up eating until almost 8:00pm. I can make the potatoes ahead of time & heat up the dinner rolls as needed, but the steak still takes time, even if you pre-cook it & throw it in the fridge for quicker heat-up times. So being able to have stuff "ready to go" as soon as I walk in the door, especially proteins (steak, burgers, carnitas, pork tenderloin, chicken breast, etc.), sounded awfully nice...I hope the machine works out as solidly as my Anova has!

Also, I blame Hayabusa Rider (OP) for all of this. Can't believe this thread is 4 years old now!

 

[Kaido]

Came across another interesting gadget - a Steak Dry Ager:

https://www.thesteakager.com/

$249. Holds up to 22 pounds of beef. Lives in your fridge. Interesting. I've only ever had one dry-aged steak, from Whole Foods, and I wasn't impressed. But that's not really enough to base an opinion on. Bookmarked.

 

[smackababy]

Came across another interesting gadget - a Steak Dry Ager:

https://www.thesteakager.com/

$249. Holds up to 22 pounds of beef. Lives in your fridge. Interesting. I've only ever had one dry-aged steak, from Whole Foods, and I wasn't impressed. But that's not really enough to base an opinion on. Bookmarked.

I dry age my steaks myself and that thing is likely a bullshit project. A mini fridge and a small fan does the job so much better.

 

[QueBert]

Used mine the 1st time last week, made Prime NY Strip, 90 minutes then torched it and finished with a herb butter I made. Steak was very good, but it needed a bit more searing. Since I like to have some sort of potatoes with my steak, I made Au Gratin Potatoes.

Recipe:

Yukon Gold Potatoes
Gruyere Cheese
Parmigianino Reggiano
Cream
Pepper
Butter
Paprika


I Mandolined 5 layers of potatoes in a buttered glass pan with a mixture of the cheeses in between each layer. Wisked the pepper and cream and poured it on top. then put dots of better on the top and baked it @ 350 for 1.5 hours. Fucking delicious! I used all of both blocks of cheese, they were like 5.2ozs.

 

[Kaido]

I dry age my steaks myself

...

A mini fridge and a small fan does the job so much better.

Do you like dry-aged steaks? I've never had one at a restaurant, so I don't really know if they're amazing or not because I've only ever picked one up from Whole Foods & cooked it at home and it was pretty meh, just an overpriced regular steak. But then again, I've learned not to be dependent on a single opinion because I grew up thinking steak was awful because my mom cooked them well-done & only ever got stuff like london broil, so I wasn't a fan of steak until one of my roommates took me out for my birthday and got me a filet. And thus my world was changed forever

Yeah, my buddy does that, with an old fridge & a fan. He's got some pastramis in there that are going for like 300 days or something nutty. Neat setup!

 

[Kaido]

Used mine the 1st time last week, made Prime NY Strip, 90 minutes then torched it and finished with a herb butter I made. Steak was very good, but it needed a bit more searing. Since I like to have some sort of potatoes with my steak, I made Au Gratin Potatoes.

Recipe:

Yukon Gold Potatoes
Gruyere Cheese
Parmigianino Reggiano
Cream
Pepper
Butter


I Mandolined 5 layers of potatoes in a buttered glass pan with a mixture of the cheeses in between each layer. Wisked the pepper and cream and poured it on top. then put dots of better on the top and baked it @ 350 for 1.5 hours.

Ooh nice, I'll have to try that potato recipe! For steak, try searing on a cast-iron pan (it can take a long time with a torch!). Also, you may like Egg Bites:

https://anovaculinary.com/easy-homemade-sous-vide-egg-bites/

I've been working on them a lot lately & have been getting pretty good results. I have a batch in right now with eggs, arrowroot starch, diced ham steak, cheddar chunks, and cottage cheese (blend up the eggs, starch, and cottage cheese, pour into 4oz Mason jars - the straight up & down kind, so they'll slide out easier - and then add your fillings to sink down). Optionally torch before eating to give it a bit of a crust.

Been experimenting a ton with my Anova this summer...ice cream base (custards require cooking because of all of the eggs), creme brulees, etc. Planning on doing a lot more with sous vide/freeze/reheat/sear for meal prep. That & the Instant Pot make a great dinner team!

 

[smackababy]

Do you like dry-aged steaks? I've never had one at a restaurant, so I don't really know if they're amazing or not because I've only ever picked one up from Whole Foods & cooked it at home and it was pretty meh, just an overpriced regular steak. But then again, I've learned not to be dependent on a single opinion because I grew up thinking steak was awful because my mom cooked them well-done & only ever got stuff like london broil, so I wasn't a fan of steak until one of my roommates took me out for my birthday and got me a filet. And thus my world was changed forever

Yeah, my buddy does that, with an old fridge & a fan. He's got some pastramis in there that are going for like 300 days or something nutty. Neat setup!

I haven't had the Whole Food ones, but I have seen them. I can't speak on how good they are. Though, I do love me some dry aged steaks. Generally, around 90 to 120 days is the sweet spot for me. It concentrates the beef flavors is probably the best way to describe it. And, you can render that dried fat off for stuff, which is awesome too.

 

[ponyo]

Do you like dry-aged steaks? I've never had one at a restaurant, so I don't really know if they're amazing or not because I've only ever picked one up from Whole Foods & cooked it at home and it was pretty meh, just an overpriced regular steak. But then again, I've learned not to be dependent on a single opinion because I grew up thinking steak was awful because my mom cooked them well-done & only ever got stuff like london broil, so I wasn't a fan of steak until one of my roommates took me out for my birthday and got me a filet. And thus my world was changed forever

Yeah, my buddy does that, with an old fridge & a fan. He's got some pastramis in there that are going for like 300 days or something nutty. Neat setup!

I don't like dry aged steaks. I do like wet aged steaks and I do that for free at home by just leaving the sealed cryovac beef in the fridge for about a month before using. I pretty much wet age all the beef I eat. Sometimes by choice. Sometimes by necessity if I have too much beef and no freezer space.

 

[Kaido]

My SV Egg Bites are improving...today's batch were the first ones I actually enjoyed eating. #TeamFoodTechnology They are dirt simple...blend up the eggs & pour into small jars, add your mix-ins, then cook for just over an hour:

Ingredients:

• 8 whole large Eggs
• 1/2 cup Cottage Cheese
• 1/2 tablespoon Arrowroot Starch
• Half of a precooked ham steak (the kind they sell in individual vac-sealed bags)
• 1/2 pound of Cabot Jack cheese (it's a hard cheese with jalepenos in it)
• Shortening

Tools:

• Sous vide setup (machine & tub filled with water)
• (10) 4-ounce Mason jars (the straight up & down shot glass ones, not the bell-shaped ones...you want the egg bites to slide out)
  
• Paper towel
• Blender
• Knife & cutting board
• Metal tongs (the kind with grippy teeth)

Directions:

1. Preheat water bath to 172F
2. Grease the jars with shortening & a paper towel
3. Blend the eggs, cottage cheese, and starch in the blender until smooth
4. Pour the blender mix evenly between all ten 4oz jars
5. Chop up the ham steak & hard cheese into bite-sized cubes
6. Distribute the meat & cheese evenly between jars
7. Seal the jars fingertip tight (they need to release air, otherwise they can break)
8. Cook for 75 minutes
9. Remove with tongs & let cool for 15 minutes upside-down
10. Use a butter knife to slide them out (pro-tip: remove the ring; the lid will be stuck on, use the nails on your three middle fingers to pop the lids off easily)
11. I salt & pepper them at this point
12. I like to torch them (broiling can work too), helps with the flavor & texture. Can be eaten immediately, stored in the fridge, or flash-frozen & then stored in the freezer.

If you haven't made egg bites in your sous vide machine before, they are pretty easy to do. It's basically an omelet the size of a small muffin...different texture from a baked frittata. You have a ton of options for making them:

• Whole eggs, or egg whites
• Cottage cheese, or cream cheese
• Any kind of hard cheese you want (hard moz, cheddar, cabot, etc.)
• Any kind of meat you want (ham, sausage - browned or unbrowned, bacon, etc.)
• Any kind of veggies you want (mushrooms, bell peppers, tomatoes, onions - raw or caramelized, etc.)

Sliding the egg bites out of the jars has proven to be the most difficult part of the entire process. They tend to stick to the sides. I've used Pam, olive oil, shortening, etc. So far shortening has proven to best the best, but pieces of egg still get stuck to the jars, so they don't all come out perfect. Putting them in the fridge makes them stick even worse. Next batch, I will try using my baking goop (it's a mix of flour, oil, and shortening, works awesome on cakes) to see if that helps. Still looking for the magic bullet for egg release! As far as the exterior goes, some ideas I'm going to try on future batches:

• Breaded & deep-fried, like an arancini or croquette (kind of like a Scotch egg)
• Wrapped in puff pastry, sort of like an egg croissant sandwich (I use the refrigerated Wewalka brand, works awesome!)
• Wrapped in bacon & torched, with maybe some shredded cheese to glue the bacon to the egg bite

If you're not familiar with the whole egg bite idea, it originated at Starbucks. They currently sell two flavors:

https://news.starbucks.com/news/starbucks-sous-vide-egg-bites

Bacon & Gruyere: (solid in a pair, 310 calories & 19g protein for the combo)

• Whole eggs
• Gruyere cheese
• Monterey Jack cheese
• Applewood smoked bacon

Egg White & Roasted Red Pepper: (sold in a pair, 170 calories & 13g protein for the combo)

• Egg whites
• Monterey Jack cheese
• Cottage cheese
• Spinach
• Fire-roasted red pepper
• Cage-free egg whites with Monterey Jack and creamy cottage cheese, accentuated by spinach and fire-roasted red pepper. Two Egg White and Roasted Red Pepper bites have 170 calories per serving and 13 grams of protein.

Starbucks partnered with Cuisine Solutions to create the dish. Cuisine Solutions has been doing sous vide commercially for 30+ years & offer both sous-vide products as well as menu development services for commercial kitchens. That would be a way cool place to work at!

So Starbuck's solution is to sous-vide the egg bites & then reheat/broil them using a Turbochef oven (super fast-cooking compact convection ovens, some of which also offering combination microwaving elements), which unfortunately are about $10k each. My solution was to Searzall the bites after cooking. Left is torched, right is untorched in the picture below. The torched version has a better texture & it also brings out the flavor a little bit more. I'm still experimenting with reheating methods, especially straight from the freezer. Microwaving at 50% power seems to keep the texture pretty well, and then broiling for 4 or 5 minutes in a toaster oven helps to melt the cheese & solidify up the outside just a bit. So, still a work in progress, but this was the first batch of egg bites I've done where it was actually tasty & enjoyable, not just "food". I think these would be good with some kind of sauce as well, like maybe a melty cheese sauce or some gaucamole on the side. I did some pepper & bacon egg bites the other day & ate them with salsa for breakfast, they were pretty decent. I would say this recipe is about 80% developed; I still need to try some more combinations & techniques (such as whisking the mixture instead of blending, to see how the cottage cheese cooks out in chunks rather than pureed, and also doing an outside crust of some kind), but this batch gave me hope that this could actually be one of my go-to staples for meal prep. These plus a couple of small sausage links would make a pretty nice keto-friendly quick breakfast!

 

[Kaido]

The Anova Nano has been delayed to May 2018: (estimated)

https://anovaculinary.com/important-announcement-anova-precision-cooker-nano-customers/

A little bit off the October 2017 target date...

 

[zinfamous]

The Anova Nano has been delayed to May 2018: (estimated)

https://anovaculinary.com/important-announcement-anova-precision-cooker-nano-customers/

A little bit off the October 2017 target date...

holy crap I didn't even get an email! >< this is way later than the delay on the first bluetooth model (that ended up being a very late wedding present because of that)

 

[Kaido]

holy crap I didn't even get an email! >< this is way later than the delay on the first bluetooth model (that ended up being a very late wedding present because of that)

They have several options:

1. Trade in for a Bluetooth model, for the same price
2. Wait until May of 2018 (or later, no promise on a firm delivery date)
3. Cancel the order to (1) get a full refund, but (2) also be kept on a list for the original asking price if you DO want one next year

Alternatively, you can go with a Joule, which is also fairly small & can now be linked to other Joules via the app, only catch is that it's double the price. So 2x the price vs. waiting another 10 months.

Anova will be in pretty hot water (hehe) if Joule decides to cut their price in half; Joule has an amazing ecosystem between their app, recipes, and videos, plus being more powerful at 1,100 watts per unit.

 

[Kaido]

I have modified my Butterbean ice cream recipe (New England farmstand-style chewy ice cream) to work in the Anova. It takes longer, but makes less mess, is easier to make, and offers better consistency (without the risk of over-cooking the mixture). The basic procedure:

1. Preheat
2. Whisk
3. Sous vide
4. Strain & Chill
5. Churn & Freeze

1. Preheat:

• Preheat the Anova to 185F (helps to start with hot water, makes it go faster)

2. Whisk: In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the following together:

• 8 Egg Yolks
• 1 & 1/2 cup Heavy Cream
• 1 & 1/2 cup Whole Milk
• 3/4 cup Sugar
• 1/4 cup Light Corn Syrup
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 2 teaspoons Arrowroot Starch
• Scant 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt (scant = just a little less than a full teaspoon...you don't want salty ice cream!)

3. Sous vide:

• Pour the mixture into a gallon-sized ziploc bag (you can also vac-seal it)
• Cook submerged at 185F for 1 hour

4. Strain & Chill:

• Strain mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a sealed container (another ziploc bag or a bowl with a lid or whatever)
• Chill in the fridge overnight

5. Churn & Freeze:

• Churn for 20 to 30 minutes in an ice cream machine (I have a freezer-bowl Cuisinart ICE30BC unit) to achieve soft-serve consistency
  • You can eat some now, but there are better recipes out there if you want soft-serve...this is designed to be frozen after churning
• Scoop into a sealed tub (I use this one) and freeze overnight to harden (makes it scoopable)

This can be modified into a chocolate ice cream quite easily (I haven't perfected it, but this worked out decently: added 2oz unsweetened chocolate, 3oz bittersweet chocolate, 3T Dutch-processed cocoa) & also accepts mix-ins & swirls extremely well. Never thought that I would say that my Anova makes really excellent ice cream, but there you go! As far as scheduling goes, it's pretty much a 2-day process. For integration into your schedule, you can cook it before you go to bed, chill it overnight, churn it before work the next morning & throw it in the freezer, and then eat it when you get home.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Haven't used my Anova in a while but used it to make some amazing lobster rolls last night.

 

[Kaido]

My Mellow arrived. First cook was pork loin. Recipe:

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2016/07/sous-vide-pork-tenderloin-recipe.html

Story:

http://www.seriouseats.com/2016/07/food-lab-complete-guide-sous-vide-pork-tenderloin.html

Thoughts on the Mellow: (so far)

+ Smaller than I thought. It looked huge in the pictures. It's still very large for a kitchen appliance, but not ridiculous.
+ Looks better IRL than it does in pictures. The design looks nice in-person.
+ Great packaging, everything looks very professional.
+ Easy to assemble.
+ Account setup & iPhone pairing procedure was super easy.
+ iOS app is great, very easy to use.
+ They included two boxes of bags, didn't know it came with any (it's $19 for (20) 11 x 8.5" sealable SV cooking bags on their website).
+ Looks like they are keeping the $399 price (for now, at least).

- $399 is still dang expensive for a kitchen appliance. My entire oven/flat-top glass stove combo was like $450...
- The liquid container is quite a bit smaller than I thought. Definitely limited on how much you can cook at once. You'll need something like an Anova if you're cooking for a crowd. My pork loin just barely fit inside. Like, it could fit two jumbo ribeyes in there...and that'd pretty much be it. This is not an appliance for large families.
- Noisy. Like cheap fish tank noisy, due to the bubbler.
- The water jar is wobbly on the base. Not sure if that's normal.
- The power cord is ridiculously short, like 12". I had to rearrange my limited countertop space to plug it in lol.

I will be testing the usual fare (BSCB, NY strip, 6oz burgers, etc.) over the next week or two. Excited to try out the chilling feature. That's really the main reason I got it...because I'm on the road a lot, I never know what time I'm going to get home...could be 3:00pm, could be 6:00pm. It stinks getting home & then having to wait hours for a piece of SV meat. This way, I can un-bag & sear as soon as I walk in the door. I'll have to experiment with doing multi-cooks with stuff like potatoes, carrots, etc. as well.

 

[slayer202]

Came across another interesting gadget - a Steak Dry Ager:

https://www.thesteakager.com/

$249. Holds up to 22 pounds of beef. Lives in your fridge. Interesting. I've only ever had one dry-aged steak, from Whole Foods, and I wasn't impressed. But that's not really enough to base an opinion on. Bookmarked.

I've had them from whole foods and am not a big fan. But a good aged steak is incredible. Even a burger made from some aged beef is great

 

[Kaido]

Tasty is shipping the One Top next month:

https://tastyshop.com/collections/tasty-one-top

* Same idea as the Paragon (induction cooktop with wireless temperature monitoring & control), but half the price (same manufacturer, even)
* $175, although if you pre-order, $149 shipped, or $225 with a 4-piece induction cookware set (skillet, short pot, tall pot, lid) with a pre-order price of $184
* 1500w with a 450F max temperature
* Black or blue colors available
* iOS app initially, Android app to follow; app follows 1,700+ recipes (basically paint-by-numbers, it sets the temps for you) & can also do manual mode
* Bluetooth LE 4.0 wireless thermometer for liquid & solid food, accurate to within 1F, plus an integrated surface sensor that tracks the surface temperature of your pots and pans (so dual sensors)
* Sous vide, deep fry, pan fry, stir fry, grill, simmer, saute, slow cook, sear, poach, etc.

I have an 1800w Nuwave induction cooktop, which can get up to 575F. The trouble is that I've noticed temperature inconsistencies based on what cookware I use. I recently got a Field Skillet, which is a modernized cast-iron skillet, and because it's like half the weight of a regular cast-iron skillet, the temperature settings are way way off when using the induction cooktop. Like, I'll set it to 375F and it will actually get up to like 550F, which is annoying due to the inconsistencies. So the One Top uses a wireless Bluetooth pen, which you can stick in oil to deep-fry or in a piece of meat to verify the temperature, and have it control the temperature accurately. That sounds awfully nice for the price, at least compared to the other options on the market! Bonus, you can use it as a sous vide machine if you don't have one already. I have not used a sous vide machine without a circulator (or without .1 precision), but I'd imagine in a regular-sized pot, it wouldn't be an issue.

 

[Kaido]

Update on the Suvie:

https://thespoon.tech/the-founder-o...einvent-cooking-with-robot-cooking-appliance/

* From the lady who started & eventually sold Reviewed.com
* They have raised $3.75 million in seed money so far
* Kickstarter for additional funds is in February
* Uses a compressor (fridge-style) for chilling
* Synced multi-zone cooking so everything finishes at the same time
** Sous vide for the protein
** Steam for the veggies
** Water dispenser/chamber for the starches
* Optional meal service (you can DIY as well)
* Open design platform for food vendors

The food distribution platform sounds pretty neat...it sounds like they're designing an open-source initiative for any food vendor to vac-seal their food or whatever to be compatible with not just the Suvie, but with any similar type of device...so rather than being stuck with say the Nomiku way of doing things (i.e. barcode/RFID bags), you can get ready-to-go food packages from anyone (veggies, meat, etc.).

The idea of having an AIO machine that can cook an entire dinner sounds pretty neat too, especially if all you have to do is choose what you want to eat from your freezer storage. That's basically what I'm doing now...I have a large upright deep-freezer, most of my stuff is vacuum-bagged, so I can do steak in the sous vide, baby potatoes in the sous vide, broccoli in my Instant Pot, and then something like no-knead bread, for convenience. There's an enormous mental difference in just having to heat up food (via sous vide/IP/searing/baking a prepared product) vs. actually having to cook the food, which involves prep plus cook time.

Very curious to see how this goes...this could be the beginning of something big!

 

[JSt0rm]

I've had them from whole foods and am not a big fan. But a good aged steak is incredible. Even a burger made from some aged beef is great

I've been buying my beef at crowd cow. Its all small farm stuff. No hormones. You can pick your different farms so if you like grass fed you can get that and if you like corn finished you can get that as well. The great thing is you can get bone marrow and stuff like that along with your order. Its all very clean tasting. The only drawback has been the vacuum sealed bags sometimes crack from the dry ice. So you need to keep an eye on the bags to make sure they arent broken.

Here is my referral link. I get $25 bucks in beef if anyone buys. I think you get $25 as well? not sure.

https://www.crowdcow.com/l/u1898044856

 

[Kaido]

I've been buying my beef at crowd cow. Its all small farm stuff. No hormones. You can pick your different farms so if you like grass fed you can get that and if you like corn finished you can get that as well. The great thing is you can get bone marrow and stuff like that along with your order. Its all very clean tasting. The only drawback has been the vacuum sealed bags sometimes crack from the dry ice. So you need to keep an eye on the bags to make sure they arent broken.

Here is my referral link. I get $25 bucks in beef if anyone buys. I think you get $25 as well? not sure.

https://www.crowdcow.com/l/u1898044856

How do you like Crowd Cow so far? I've been thinking about trying them. Some of the prices are bananas though...$75 for 5 pounds of chicken breasts, lol.

PS - Delorean avatar FTW

 

[JSt0rm]

How do you like Crowd Cow so far? I've been thinking about trying them. Some of the prices are bananas though...$75 for 5 pounds of chicken breasts, lol.

PS - Delorean avatar FTW

The meat is top quality. I havent had the chicken yet though but I bet you can taste the difference. The beef tastes clean. A big thick ribeye sous vide and then finished on the grill is amazing. I also stock up on the ground beef as I think its a good value for the quality. Right now I have 4 or 5 beef shanks 6lbs of beef soup bones and 3lbs of marrow along with a bunch of ground beef. All the steaks are gone but I have about 2lbs of prime rib ready to go. Im done buying super market steaks unless its something from costco.

Thats me recording the car

 

[MaxDepth]

I've seen some of the shares offered by Crowd Cow. $110 pounds for essentially 5 1/2 pounds of meat. Now I know there are three different cuts in the share (Tenderloin,Top Sirloin, ground beef) but still $20/pounds plus shipping.

Luckily I live in an area where my closest meat fabrication place is just 20 miles away. The guy is a die hard Trump supporter but hey, you can't have everything.

 

[ponyo]

I've seen some of the shares offered by Crowd Cow. $110 pounds for essentially 5 1/2 pounds of meat. Now I know there are three different cuts in the share (Tenderloin,Top Sirloin, ground beef) but still $20/pounds plus shipping.

Luckily I live in an area where my closest meat fabrication place is just 20 miles away. The guy is a die hard Trump supporter but hey, you can't have everything.

lol @ Crowd Cow. I love beef but I'll switch to eating pork, chicken, fish, etc before I pay that kind of prices for beef. Those are laughable prices for anyone in the US.

 

[JSt0rm]

They also get a5 wagyu but only sell it to previous buyer as it disappears fast.

 

[ponyo]

They also get a5 wagyu but only sell it to previous buyer as it disappears fast.

meh. I can get a5 wagyu delivered from Costco year round. The bigger untrimmed NY Strip loin, ribeye, and tenderloin roasts are around ~$77 /lb during sales and ~$100 /lb regular price. The smaller trimmed a5 steaks are ~$165 /lb. https://www.costco.com/CatalogSearch?dept=All&keyword=steak0119
But when I can get USDA prime National, Excel, Swift, etc beef primal cuts for fraction of the price of a5 wagyu, it's hard to justify spending so much on wagyu even for special occasion. Is a5 wagyu 10 times better than USDA prime? No way.