Sous Vide Folks

From the title I was afraid this was a thread discussing new ways To Serve Man!

I picked one up too on Prime Day, so looking for interesting recipes to prepare. Steak and chicken ideas are bountiful, so what else farkers?
TIA,
Mike

I really only use mine for steaks and reheating barbecue, and both justify the device IMO. I'm not really into doing things like....sous vide brisket for 4 days then shock chill then reheat on the smoker etc. Too many steps for me. Certain things like chicken that are not perfectly flat are hard to pan sear (IMO) to get the proper texture and flavor on the outside, you can use a torch (I have a Searzall) , but again, I can get such good results on the grill with a fairly straight forward process I don't find the added hassle to be worth it. One benefit though to SV is that the contents of the unopened bag are essentially pasteurized and you can store them in the fridge for a good bit before having to cook/reheat them.

But heating steaks to an exact temperature for a quick sear in a pan or the grill, or reheating vac bags of barbecue, I think they're great for.

Dmakkk said:

I just picked up the Anova wifi and all the essentials. As i am doing my research I started asking myself is it really worth it. Longer cook times along with more cost of foodsaver bags/ziplock as well as additional steps. I am figuring once i get over the natural excitement of it and cook what I want to cook is it going to be buried in my pantry. So i am reaching out to those sous vide folks to let me know their thoughts and if they feel that this is an essential tool for cooking and how much do you really use it.

Thanks all in advance.

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1) Re: cook time - It's inactive cooking so once you prep + vac seal or place in ziploc, all that's left to do is drop it in the bath. You also have flexibility you do not have with traditional cooking methods as to when you're food is done/timing of the meal. Example being if you're cooking steaks for guests, the steaks can hang out in the bath for quite a while if you're needing to finish up sides before you pull them and finish them with a quick sear.

2) Foodsaver equip - This is an essential tool for serious bbq cooks anyway, imo. I don't always cook a brisket for guests, so when it's just our small family, it really nice to be able to vacuum seal and freeze leftovers for a rainy day.

3) I've had a 1st gen Anova for years and I still use mine on avg of once a week. I absolutely love it.

I was one of the first to join the Anova bandwagon, and currently have 3 of them, because I joined the first 2 kickstarter's for the product.

I keep a plastic container with the Anova in it on my counter, as another cooking appliance like my microwave or toaster.

I use mine quite a bit and generally buy chicken breasts, steaks/roasts, in bulk, vacuum seal them in portions for a meal with marinades/seasonings and throw them in the freezer. Then its a "set it and forget it" for a few hours when I get home for work or on a weekend. For large cuts, roasts or Short ribs, I'll go ahead and cook them for the long period of time, then freeze them directly out of Sous vide and pop them back in for a few hours on the "day of" to heat back up before searing.

A couple of my favorite things to do:
- Tacos - Chicken Breasts with Mexican Marinades Sous vide for a longer time then just press on the bags to "Pull" the chicken.
- Eggs - Look up a guide on Sous Vide Eggs for Soft Boiled and Poached
- Short Ribs - 72 Hour Short ribs are a culinary experience!
- Butter Poached Shrimp or Lobster Tails or Salmon.
- Dulce De Leche - Pop a can of Sweetened condensed milk in the Sous vide for 8 hours to get awesome caramel for Apples or pies.
- Easy Roasts - Grab a Chuck roast, carrots, and potatoes and a pouch of Campbell's Slow Cooker Sauce and Sous Vide away. Once done, drop the juices into a pan with some butter and flour for a gravy.

Since you already bought it.....

I have one and unfortunately I don't use it as much as I thought I would. Mostly because my wife doesn't like the "boiled food". (I know, no matter what I say or how the food comes out...it's just her).
But, I'm gonna make it a point to use it this weekend now!

I have 2 SV devices. Yes I can make things just fine with other means but it does offer things you can't create with traditional cooking methods. If you are just a bbq guy then it might be worth it for the reheat process. But if you do more than just man a grill/pit and love cooking/food then look into some of the things SV can achieve. I made 36 hour chuck roast for about 15 people at work one day and now 5 of them own one.

sudsandswine said:

I really only use mine for steaks and reheating barbecue, and both justify the device IMO. I'm not really into doing things like....sous vide brisket for 4 days then shock chill then reheat on the smoker etc. Too many steps for me. Certain things like chicken that are not perfectly flat are hard to pan sear (IMO) to get the proper texture and flavor on the outside, you can use a torch (I have a Searzall) , but again, I can get such good results on the grill with a fairly straight forward process I don't find the added hassle to be worth it. One benefit though to SV is that the contents of the unopened bag are essentially pasteurized and you can store them in the fridge for a good bit before having to cook/reheat them.

But heating steaks to an exact temperature for a quick sear in a pan or the grill, or reheating vac bags of barbecue, I think they're great for.

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Almost exactly what I was coming to say. Boneless chicken breasts for things like salads come out really nice because you can cook them to a lower temperature. Because they're pasteurized in the bag they store well so you can do several separate bags on a weekend and have your protein ready to go for a busy week.

But steaks are the thing that really shines sous vide for me. No stress, never overcooked. You just drop them in sous vide a couple hours before you want to eat = I build a fire in my grill around the same time and let it go pretty low. When you're about ready to eat - and there's no issue with sooner or later than you thought as long as it's been long enough for the steak to heat through - you crank the grill to nuclear, pull out the steaks and let them cool a bit, then sear the crap out of both sides. (Cast iron works great here too but I like the hot, hot fire ) Perfect edge to edge in just a few minutes with almost no work. With the cost of good beef these days you can pay for a sous vide with just one round of overcooked steaks.

I make yogurt by the gallon in it

I mostly use for lamb or beef roasts where I want rare inside. So I’ll SV at 125 for many hours. Did maybe 18 hours on a leg of lamb once

Then I reverse sear on BGE at 550 + until crispy outside.

Sous Vide bacon, will change your life!
https://www.seriouseats.com/tags/sous vide

Like others i use it for:
Costco pork tenderloin, i cut into boneless chops, season with Q Salt and willies hog dust, seal 2-3 chops in a food saver bag and freeze.
Chicken Breast - seasonwith peppery lime or garlicky lemon seasoning seal a few per bag and freeze.
Brisket left overs - slice off a section, add some of the captured drippings, seal in a bag and freeze.
Pulled or chopped pork shoulder - same as above.

1 hour before i leave work i call the wife and she takes whichever meal and places it in the Sous Vide bath and by the time i get home - usually 2 hours after i call its ready, always cooked perfect just needs a sear for the raw foods (so set the temp a little under so the sear carries the final temp up where it needs to be) or the precooked is a juicy and tender as it was the day we originally had it. For us its a time saver and its expected results every time.

For those purposes to us it has paid for itself!

One thing I think that gets overshadowed is veggies. Carrots, corn on cob, asparagus etc.

Corn on the cob and sausage come out perfect too.

Love mine.

Jeff

I have 2.

Use them a lot.
I use mason jars whenever possible - cuts down on vacuum bags.

I can do things with cheap(er) cuts of meat that I can't do on a grill, smoker, or in the oven.
Makes complicated desserts like creme brûlée far easier.
I use it a lot for cold brew coffee.

But it is great for steaks - no one would ever say it taste boiled.

Also, if your doing large volume for parties, it is great.

Take chicken wings. I can sous vide them, cook them thoroughly and refrigerate.
When I go to fry them, they take 3 minutes per batch instead of 8-10. And they are much crispier.

Buy one. They are cheap now and they don't take up counter space. You can just chuck it in a drawer when you are done with it.

I use mine for all sorts of things. Don't sleep on the sous vide seafood. You can make the most buttery fish without any fear of overcooking.

As the sweet corn is coming up soon it will be butter poached corn on the cob. Seriously, throw some good sweet corn and a stick of butter in a ziplock bag, sous vide, and change your life. You will eat nothing but corn for dinner.

Next morning....uhh...but worth it.

I have 2 of them.

The Anova and Joule. I use them 3-5 times a week if not more.

It has been a game changer for me in the kitchen.

A few weeks ago I did a 10# brisket and a 6# pork shoulder that turned out great.

Getting ready to take a #3 leg of lamb out that has been in the bath for 24 ish hours.

It is a great tool to have into your rotation. I go on kicks with all my cooking toys, so it might fall out of the rotation for a while, but I will see or read something and boom, it is back up to bat Sus Vide eggs if you like poached eggs is a game changer. Never had such silky yokes before.

From your statement, you sound a little like my mom and Dad, well now just like my mom, since dad passed away. Anyways, I have bought them a Vitimix twice and they have returned it twice. Her reasoning is she does not use it enough. I tried to explain, it is a tool. I don't use my hammer or crescent wrench everyday, but it is sure handy to have when I need to fix things. lol Anyway, the price point is so reasonable now, I think everyone should buy one. I have the First Gen Anova and it is great. Have fun.

EricD said:

Since you already bought it.....

I have one and unfortunately I don't use it as much as I thought I would. Mostly because my wife doesn't like the "boiled food". (I know, no matter what I say or how the food comes out...it's just her).
But, I'm gonna make it a point to use it this weekend now!

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You want to try out big dry scallops once they're in season, or mussels, or even lobster. And other fish.

If you do short ribs the right way, no one will accuse them of being boiled.

And how about a round roast, or piece of "London Broil", or flank steak? Etc Etc.

I've had one since 2010. We go through phases of using a lot and not so much. There are two big things: you can cook things to texture and flavor that you couldn't otherwise (short ribs to medium rare?), and you can treat it like a "cooking Tivo" so you can arrange when you do the active parts of a cook to your convenience.

Don't forget to add smoke to the mix before and/or after the SV part!