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Sous Vide Cooking.

maxflinn

maxflinn

pfm Member
Anyone here into it? I got my water bath and Anova unit today and tried a couple of ribeye steaks seasoned with sea salt, black pepper and garlic powder. Two hours at 135f, then patted them dry and blow torched them until they had a nice sear.

Absolutely delicious! Very tender and flavourful. I'll try some thicker steaks next time though as these were only around 3/4 inch, and after searing were a touch more done than I'd like.

I can retire the frying pan now!
 
maxflinn said:
Anyone here into it? I got my water bath and Anova unit today and tried a couple of ribeye steaks seasoned with sea salt, black pepper and garlic powder. Two hours at 135f, then patted them dry and blow torched them until they had a nice sear.

Absolutely delicious! Very tender and flavourful. I'll try some thicker steaks next time though as these were only around 3/4 inch, and after searing were a touch more done than I'd like.

I can retire the frying pan now!
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yes. I've had 2. I got rid of the first through underuse, I eventually realised I didn't like what it did to steaks etc...

But I recently got an Anova Pro, specifically for vegetables, some fish, but I will not be using it for steak in a hurry.

I sous vide some spuds instead of parboiling for roast potatoes- brilliant. Sous vide some salmon a few nights ago (45mins @ 45C) brilliant
 
Sorry, Finny, the torture you inflicted on those animal remains made me throw up, as, I'm sure, the taste would for most people.
 
Really good steaks, which are an uncommon thing, need nothing but a light splash of oil/butter/other fat and 2-4 minutes each side depending on thickness and personal taste.

Why would anyone go the the, seemingly insane, OP's lengths to ruin one (or more)?
The whole thing sounds like more kitchen-cupboard/side-space-grabbing hard work.
 
gintonic said:
yes. I've had 2. I got rid of the first through underuse, I eventually realised I didn't like what it did to steaks etc...

But I recently got an Anova Pro, specifically for vegetables, some fish, but I will not be using it for steak in a hurry.

I sous vide some spuds instead of parboiling for roast potatoes- brilliant. Sous vide some salmon a few nights ago (45mins @ 45C) brilliant
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Sous vide fish is really, really awful.

Cooking food is not so difficult that you need to take hours cooking it like boil-in-the-bag without the boil.
 
I've used SV in food manufacturing as a means of developing a repeatable method requiring no skill to get good results. It has its place in catering too. Domestically? Too much farting about compared to a conventional pan used with a little skill.
 
I quite enjoy it, especially if cooking several things for several people. Steak for lots, for example, I can set some into SV and hold them at a temperature for next to as long as needed, and then finish off to final done-ness as needed. A lot less faff if I'm trying to be sociable at the same time. I've also done large chunks of venison fillet like this (15 people for dinner), and it gave me time to deal with other things while knowing I didn't have to keep my eye on the meat all the time.
I've found it quite useful for making confit (duck, fish, stuff like that) if I need the oven for something else, and I have tried cooking lamb in it for 48 hours - worked well, but I'm pretty sure I could have done it in the oven to similar effect in less time.
All in all it's a fun thing to play with, and for me it's great if cooking for many people.
 
I got an Anova some time ago, hoping it would be good for steak. I couldn’t get a decent result. You end up with a wet lump which is hard to sear (I can’t use a blowtorch). A good pan and a low oven is still best for me. Fish tasted awful. But I use it regularly for proving bread - it’s absolutely perfect because the temperature is accurate. And it’s also good for reheating stews as you can get them to a good temperature without overheating.
 
I never sous vide steaks now, unless they’re big lumps of a chewier cut such as rump, and never for longer than 90mins at 55°c, then onto a blazing hot bbq, or sometimes I just use the chimney starter, or into the skillet as hot as I can get it. It just over tenderises them otherwise and you end up with the aforementioned wet lump.

For joints it’s great, and I did some spuds in it, rather than parboiling, prior to roasting the other day and that worked really well, I didn’t have to worry about over boiling them for a start.
 
For cooking veg this seems like a poor substitute for a pressure cooker. And doesn't a lot of the flavour etc. end up in the water?

I guess that people are put off pressure cookers by all the hissing and then having to wash up a big steel container every time. They're very efficient though and cook veg really well.

My family used one for decades when we were growing up so you could say I'm a pressure cooker kid. But then that's another argument against them :)
 
I have an anova one and I’ve used it primarily for steaks when it’s too cold to bother with the bbq outside. Not sure why people say it tastes weird, it shouldn’t modify the flavour of the food unless you leave the food in the water bath for too long.

As a side note, anyone using a blowtorch along with sous-vide care to comment on which one they use and with what gas? I have a benzomatic but it’s always a PITA finding gas for it :/
 
Why would you even bother ? There's also the small matter of inefficient use of energy...
 
avole said:
Why would you even bother ?
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flavour - cooking some veg without contact with water (Inc steaming) preserves the flavour. Some foods have better texture

avole said:
There's also the small matter of inefficient use of energy...
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low temperature cooking requires low energy. It does use more plastic for the vacpac, and it probably uses more water than traditional methods.

Meat cooked in a sous vide is a waste time and enhances nothing. Some fish works very well, others don't. Texturely gentle sous vide cooks fish consistently throughout, without over or under cooking. Any fish you might normally poach works well.

Veg works exceptionally well.
 
2ManyBoxes said:
For cooking veg this seems like a poor substitute for a pressure cooker. And doesn't a lot of the flavour etc. end up in the water?

I guess that people are put off pressure cookers by all the hissing and then having to wash up a big steel container every time. They're very efficient though and cook veg really well.

My family used one for decades when we were growing up so you could say I'm a pressure cooker kid. But then that's another argument against them :)
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Don't you put the food in a plastic bag or vacuum pack it or something before cooking in those Sous Vide things?

I was brought up with the pressure cooker too, my wife is scared witless of them and refuses to use it other than as a big pan, shame, they are very good at cooking curry and the like
 
2ManyBoxes said:
For cooking veg this seems like a poor substitute for a pressure cooker. And doesn't a lot of the flavour etc. end up in the water?
Click to expand...

no you seal the food in a vacpac bag with aromats, perhaps a little olive oil. Seal the bag and place bag in the water bath. No food comes into contact with any water (apart from their own juices)
 
I love my sous vide. However I decided to send back the circa 40 quid jobbie from amazon, it was shit.

I got a semi decent one.

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And I got a decent vacuum sealer as well.

008eGmZEgy1gnhh7gu0d5j30zk0qodo4.jpg



I trained as a chef and have been in catering all my life, so basically I do all the cooking in the house and we cook everything from scratch, so I have some toys :)
 
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