I bought the Azrsty on Amazon. Included a few vacuum bags and a hand pump. Well made and works great! Perfect steaks are easy. Next up is BBQ chicken quarters; cook all the way through, then char some BBQ sauce on 'em. Unlike my steak, my chicken is cooked to done through, so the sear/char time is more forgiving.

One of the nice things about sous vide is that you can cook it to perfect doneness, slap in in the Kelvinator, then later heat it up in the sous vide bath for a shorter time before the high heat (grill or pan) is applied. Sous vide cooking times have to take into account long bacteria killing times of the low temperature sous vide bath water. Not so for reheat. and, the meat does not overcook (turns mushy) unless you leave it in for a looong time.

My Anova has cooked some incredible steaks. As you did, sear on a cast-iron skillet when done (not much time needed) and you have some amazing steaks. Has Bluetooth, but prefer to cook without it. Welcome to the club!!

Used mine today to do a half ham in the cooler and then finish it off with a glaze in a hot oven. Came out fantastic. And made that .99/lb ham taste like the expensive deli stuff.

If these things keep coming down I'm gonna get a bunch and make my own hot tub. Or at least use the one I have now to keep the footbath from going tepid so fast.

As indicated, I bought the 800 watt Anova with bluetooth, which I did not really want (bluetooth, that is). I used it several times as is, but that blue knob started to stare at me, or something. Anyway, this morning, I got the app in my iPad, and just now used it to cook some carrots, and will cook chicken in awhile for tonight’s dinner.

I have to take back almost all the bad things I said about it. The app asked me to activate Bluetooth, paired right up with the Anova device and I have the controls available on the iPad now. The device is not especially user friendly, or intuitive, lots of button mashing to figure out which mash does what after how long. The app simplifies all that.

The app did not ask for my Faceplant link or anything. It did want my e-mail address to send notifications, recipies, updates, but did not insist on it. The app has a built in manual and loads of recipes for dishes I will never make. No harm there.

I hate worrying for nuthin.

My fiance and I exchanged gifts tonight and she got me the Anova, can't wait to use this thing. Several friends have them and swear by them.

I have the ANova as well. I've made steak, chicken, pork, fish, crème brule, and caramel.

I love the thing. My local grocery store will have value packs of ribeyes every once and awhile and I'll buy a bunch. I half the steaks(I could eat a full one, but shouldn't), season them with garlic powder salt and pepper, vacuum seal them and freeze them.

I cook my steak at 130 degrees for an hour.

Good stuff.

J,

Try that again with the same cheap cut of meat. This time, instead of SVing it for just an hour, let it sit for 8-10 hours. See if there's a difference. The low and slow cook may have the same effect of breaking down the meat as a long smoke would.

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:
Our Anova arrived today from Amazon, so I had to give it a try.

I decided to start with chuck steak imitation short ribs. I never have heard of such cuts, but they were cheaper.

Anyway, into some freezer bags they went with salt and pepper, I figured out the button mashing after a little initial muttering, no cursing involved. A bit over an hour later at 130F, I took them out, and popped them in a cast irom pan to sear. That went pretty smoothly.

The meat was beautifully done, that medium rare pink most of us like all throughout, but we’re not talking alchemy here. Sous vide did not turn these lower quality cuts into prime rib no knife needed tender, but these were flavorful. OTOH, I normally would not buy meat like this otherwise.

I’m encouraged to try a sirloin tip next, and maybe a really good cut eventually. So far, so good!

I'll sell you my anova precision cooker 800w wifi. Never used. Got it last Christmas and just never bothered with it...

Made scrambled eggs with mine for breakfast yesterday. I think I want to try fried chicken next.

quote:

Originally posted by a1abdj:
Made scrambled eggs with mine for breakfast yesterday. I think I want to try fried chicken next.

I didn't try fried chicken but made a bunch of dark meat pieces last night. Salted and peppered, into a large freezer bag, 150 degrees for 3 hours then finished in a hot pan with a dash of olive oil. Tasty, tender, delicious.

The carrots were very good too. I used the recommendations in the Anova guide for both.

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:
Anyway, into some freezer bags they went with salt and pepper, I figured out the button mashing after a little initial muttering, no cursing involved. A bit over an hour later at 130F, I took them out, and popped them in a cast irom pan to sear. That went pretty smoothly.

The meat was beautifully done, that medium rare pink most of us like all throughout, but we’re not talking alchemy here. Sous vide did not turn these lower quality cuts into prime rib no knife needed tender, but these were flavorful. OTOH, I normally would not buy meat like this otherwise.

I agree with BBMW - time in the sous vide is just as important as temperature.

One of the benefits of sous vide is being able to bring something to an exact temperature every time - e.g., steaks to a perfect 130* medium rare in the sous vide, then slapped in a smoking iron skillet for 30 seconds a side.

The other benefit is being able to bring something to an exact temperature and hold it there for as long as you want. At any temperature 130* or above, you can leave food in the sous vide indefinitely with no food safety concerns (130* for more than 2 hours will actually pasteurize food).

While the food in a sous vide reaches temperature pretty quickly and stays there, that doesn't mean nothing happens after it reaches temperature - chemical reactions still occur, particularly the breaking down of connective tissue. The longer you hold the meat at temperature, the more connective tissue will break down and the more tender the meat will get. Fall-apart tender short-ribs in restaurants are cooked at a low temperature for hours and hours and hours - it's pretty common to see 72-hour braised short ribs on fancy restaurant menus. And of course, being a Texan, you know about slow-smoking brisket for 8-12 hours.

Check out this link:

http://www.seriouseats.com/201...sous-vide-steak.html

In particular, read the section "Does timing matter?" in which the author cooks identical steaks in a 130* sous vide for intervals ranging from 1 to 48 hours and describes how the texture changes depending on sous vide time.

With a tougher cut of meat with more connective tissue, you would want to sous vide it longer than a steak in order to break down more connective tissue.

I saw those, and am in the process of becoming a believer.

Last night’s chicken after 3 hours at 150F was impressive. I have in mind getting some lesser cuts of beef and letting them go for 3-4 hours, maybe more, at 130F.