Any of you ever cooked "sous vide" style?

[Arik]

You can dial the done-ness to the 1/10th of a degree. It took each of us awhile to tweak the cooking temps and figure out each of us likes their steaks cooked. I will typically cook my wife's steak to 134, mine and my daughter's to 139, my son's 145, etc. I have the preferred temps of just about everyone I likely cook for. There are many in my circle of likely dinner companions that use sous vide. That's convenient because they can just tell me the cooking temp that they prefer. The accuracy and consistency is entirely related to the cooker itself, which is calibrated to some scientific standard (not consumer/commercial) and is accurate to 0.1 degree C.

When cooking to different temps/done-ness, I cook the most done first, leave it in the bath and dial the temp down to the next steak, same for additional steaks working from most-done to least-done. I keep them all in the bath at the last temp when finished until everyone feels like they're ready to eat or when the sides/veggies are done, then sear them on the BGE.

Do you keep the steak in longer for your wife at 139° vs your son's at 145° or is it all the same time

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[Hmac]

on a rib eye from frozen vs fresh using this method (been wanting to try this for years now) how much dif in taste ? I know I have tried to freeze (vacum) rib eye but the break down of the meat when thawing is always horrid compared ? looses moisture texture etc... after thawing etc...
tend to use grill or steel for cooking meat finding I prefer good french steel pans over cast iron these days.

Absolutely no difference in taste than I can perceive. I put the vacuum sealed steak right from the freezer into the water bath, add an extra 30 minutes for the thawing. The steak will be fine anywhere from 2 hours to 4 hours in the water bath. If I know we're cooking steaks the next day, I usually will pull them from the freezer and put them in the refrigerator the night before...let them thaw slowly in the fridge. But I never hesitate to cook from frozen.

Do you keep the steak in longer for your wife at 139° vs your son's at 145° or is it all the same time

All the same. It takes about 1.5 hours to cook to any given temp, an additional 30 minutes if the steak was frozen. If the temp on the cooker is set to a water temp of 134 degrees, the steak will cook to that medium-rare temp, then stops cooking. It can sit at that temp for 4 hours. It won't cook any more than that medium rare temp. After about 4 hours, you might start getting some protein breakdown and it can change the texture of the meat. I've never noticed but have only very rarely gone that long with meat in the water.

[donlapalma]

I'll second no difference in taste or texture going right from freezer to sous vide bath.

As we speak, I have some chicken breasts brining in the fridge waiting for a swim tomorrow afternoon.

Also, note with the Joule that you can have it plugged in and ready to go when you leave for the day. When you're ready to head home after work you can turn it on from the app on your phone so it is heated up when you arrive. Can't speak for the Anova so maybe somebody who has one can chime in. Generally speaking, it takes 15-45 minutes to preheat depending on your temp and size of your pot.

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[Honu]

oh new toys thanks all for the response

[Arik]

I'll second no difference in taste or texture going right from freezer to sous vide bath.

As we speak, I have some chicken breasts brining in the fridge waiting for a swim tomorrow afternoon.

Also, note with the Joule that you can have it plugged in and ready to go when you leave for the day. When you're ready to head home after work you can turn it on from the app on your phone so it is heated up when you arrive. Can't speak for the Anova so maybe somebody who has one can chime in. Generally speaking, it takes 15-45 minutes to preheat depending on your temp and size of your pot.

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Has same option however I chose the one without the WiFi. Cheaper, plus I don't trust that stuff if im not home to make sure nothing happens. If I'm using that or the slow cooker I'm staying home and awake

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[Hmac]

Has same option however I chose the one without the WiFi. Cheaper, plus I don't trust that stuff if im not home to make sure nothing happens. If I'm using that or the slow cooker I'm staying home and awake

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My original-version Anova has both Bluetooth and wi-fi. I can monitor the cooking on my phone, even from across town. I’ve never really figured out a reason why I’d want told do that, however. I remember trying it a couple of years ago and thinking it was an interesting technology application, but when you’re cooking something with a 3-4 hour margin of error and an ordinary timer is you primary tool, I don’t really see the utility of monitoring it that closely. If I was to buy another one, I’d certainly skip the wi-fi

[Arik]

My original-version Anova has both Bluetooth and wi-fi. I can monitor the cooking on my phone, even from across town. I’ve never really figured out a reason why I’d want told do that, however. I remember trying it a couple of years ago and thinking it was an interesting technology application, but when you’re cooking something with a 3-4 hour margin of error and an ordinary timer is you primary tool, I don’t really see the utility of monitoring it that closely. If I was to buy another one, I’d certainly skip the wi-fi

I'm not monitoring the cooking. I'm making sure nothing happens. Last thing I want is to have a malfunctioning unit when im not home

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[ABNAK]

You can dial the done-ness to the 1/10th of a degree. It took each of us awhile to tweak the cooking temps and figure out each of us likes their steaks cooked. I will typically cook my wife's steak to 134, mine and my daughter's to 139, my son's 145, etc. I have the preferred temps of just about everyone I likely cook for. There are many in my circle of likely dinner companions that use sous vide. That's convenient because they can just tell me the cooking temp that they prefer. The accuracy and consistency is entirely related to the cooker itself, which is calibrated to some scientific standard (not consumer/commercial) and is accurate to 0.1 degree C.

When cooking to different temps/done-ness, I cook the most done first, leave it in the bath and dial the temp down to the next steak, same for additional steaks working from most-done to least-done. I keep them all in the bath at the last temp when finished until everyone feels like they're ready to eat or when the sides/veggies are done, then sear them on the BGE.

Okay, I'm new at this so bear with me...….the temps for ribeyes (for example) on the Anova website recipe section are around 130F for an hour. Is there a reason you use higher temps? My understanding is that even a few degrees can affect doneness to a large extent.

FWIW I like my steaks somewhere between medium-rare and medium.

[rjacobs]

If any of you buy an Anova from Amazon(or anywhere I guess) get an extended warranty.

I bought one on prime day last year(so basically a year old plus a few months) and it quit heating after I had only used it 3-4 times. Still turns on and the circulator works, but the heating does not work. Anova was basically no help since it was out of warranty... "un plug it for 15 minutes" uh no help... "hold down this button for 10 seconds, wait for it to turn off, unplug for 15 minutes"... uh no help "well thats all we got"...

I read on a lot of forums that its a common problem for them. They get moisture from steam into the top half of the unit where the "guts" are and they quit working.

Besides that, I like cooking with them and the method turns out fantastic food once you figure it out.

[Jer]

I've had the Anova WiFi/Bluetooth precision cooker (sous vide is the cooking method, not the device that does the cooking) for years now. Love it.

Much like my garage, I've got several tools and choosing the right tool for the job is important and makes the work go better.

One of my favorite things to do is hit up the local store when they have ribeye steak on sale in the multi-packs. I bring them home, vacuum seal them individually and toss them in the freezer after labeling them good (make sure you date your bags and put what it is too even if you know you'll remember what they are... you'll forget eventually) and keep them stocked and rotated. I had a couple of old coolers we don't use anymore so I used a hole saw to saw a hole in the corner of the lid of both of them just barely big enough for the precision cooker and then cut the lid in half so that I can lift half of the lid off. The day we want steak for dinner I get up about 5min early and before I head out the door I grab two steaks out of the freezer, throw them in the cooler and then fill with ice. I top off with water, replace the other half of the lid, make sure it's on my WiFi and then head out the door. I've monitored the temps for over 10hrs and it stays solid at ~32deg with minimal melting. About 2hrs before we're going to eat, no matter where in the world I am, I open the app on my smartphone and start the cook. By the time I get home the ice has long since melted and the steaks are perfectly medium rare in the bath. At this point I can sear them up, cook up some sides, do some chores, shower... whatever. They will remain perfectly cooked and ready for sear as long as I want them to. Moments before we eat I get the grill up to 550deg, heat a cast iron skillet on high on the stove, get out the searzall, the options are numerous for finishing. The continuing theme here is flexibility while maintaining perfection. That's where precision cooking shines IMO.

My absolute favorite way to cook a steak is from fresh, in the smoker at 150 deg for a couple of hours and then on the grill next to it to sear at 550deg for a few minutes. The flavor is absolutely epic. I use the pellet smoker which doesn't impart as much smoke flavor to overpower the flavor of the meat but it kisses it slightly and makes for a right mahogany color. They're epic. The problem is that that process is hours of commitment. Not something I always have. When we want steak but have a busy/full day the previously mentioned cooking method is 90% as delicious with about 2% of the effort & time invested.

You can use the Sous Vide method for cooking all sorts of things and it's quite fun to experiment. There's tons of videos on YouTube for inspiration and direction. You'll make some of the best food you've ever made with limited effort and knowledge with this gizmo. If it's in the budget don't overthink it just get one and start making stuff.