Opinions on Sous Vide

Muahahaha

I'm just looking to get peoples opinions on sous vide cooking- is it as good as some say or just another fad courtesy of a multitude of cookery programs ?

The reason I ask is because when I last checked out the prices of sous vide equipment about 8 or 9 months ago the only dedicated product on the market was the Sous Vide Supreme water bath which retailed north of €350 which turned me off. Since then though a number of products have hit the market which are going to bring sous vide cooking into the homes of many in 2014 I suspect as the prices have just tumbled. The sous vide unit I was looking at is only £99 and also doubles up as a slow cooker too.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Andrew-James-Premium-Cooker-Function/dp/B00GSSUNLO/ref=lh_ni_t?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ARMMSTNREKUG7
Vacuum packers have also fallen in price, they used to be £100+ and can now be had for around £40
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Andrew-James-Quality-Vacuum-Sealer/dp/B001HBP7HW/ref=pd_bxgy_kh_img_y

Also there is the Sansaire which was funded by Kickstarter and is available now for preorder, shipping at the end of January. It's an underwater heater and circulator which attaches to the side of any large pot and brings sous vide cooking into the home without the need to buy a complete unit like the one linked above. It's coming in at $199, around €150 so again pretty affordable for most
http://sansaire.com

So with prices of sous vide equipment tumbling I'm thinking of giving it a try but am really keen to hear the thoughts of people who already have.

Markcheese

Wow that Andrew james one looks the biz for the money , but to be honest for most people and most things you could poach or cook en Bain Marie as well ...

Dubl07

Thanks for that, OP. I'd love to try sous-vide.

Minder

The only way to cook turkey breast. Perfect results every time.

dudara

I've tried it at home with good results. I get the meat vacuum packed by my butcher, then I just use a simple digital thermometer to control temperature. I did look at the Sansaire when it launched, seems like a good idea.

Muahahaha

dudara wrote: »

I've tried it at home with good results. I get the meat vacuum packed by my butcher, then I just use a simple digital thermometer to control temperature. I did look at the Sansaire when it launched, seems like a good idea.

That's a pretty good idea, is it some kind of thermometer with a probe that goes into the water and then you adjust the hob heat until it reaches 55-65c? Also what about circulation, some say it is needed for sous vide ?

Curry Addict

no doubt its a great cooking method. simpler and less power than deep fat fryer, so im guessing the price should botton out around 50€ :pac:

dudara

Muahahaha wrote: »

That's a pretty good idea, is it some kind of thermometer with a probe that goes into the water and then you adjust the hob heat until it reaches 55-65c? Also what about circulation, some say it is needed for sous vide ?

The thermometer has a thermocouple probe which I clip to the side of the pot and connect to the display which stands on the counter. I set the thermometer to alert me if it exceeds a certain temperature, which helps me control the cooking.

Heated water will have a certain amount of natural circulation (convection), so I've never worried too much about that.

Through trial and error, I've found that leaving my hob on its lowest setting works well, combined with leaving the pot half on, half off.

Minder

and what do you do if you want to cook something for many hours?

Markcheese

Make sure to top up the pot/poaching tray /kettle thingy, grand .
Have you tried using one of those heat diffuser yokes ? (sit on the hob spreading the heat)

the beer revolu

Some years ago, who would have thought that Boil in the Bag would become a big foodie phenomenon?

Minder

Except that most water baths won't go above 95c. I've never cooked anything in above 84c. Steak is rare at 52c, Turkey breast is cooked perfectly at 66c and a confit leg of duck is perfect at 82c, albeit after 8 hours.

GoodBridge

Some reviews in for this now: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Andrew-James-Premium-Cooker-Function/dp/B00GSSUNLO/ref=lh_ni_t?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ARMMSTNREKUG7.

I'm very, very tempted.

Markcheese

the beer revolu wrote: »

Some years ago, who would have thought that Boil in the Bag would become a big foodie phenomenon?

I vaguely remember sous vide being mentioned in catering college 20 something years ago.. It wasn't new then... It was touted as a bulk catering and portion control system for remote kitchens - cook 1000 portions sous vide ship them to restaurants/canteens to be reheated /served by semi qualified staff.. A bit different to now ...

Mellor

Markcheese wrote: »

It was touted as a bulk catering and portion control system for remote kitchens - cook 1000 portions sous vide ship them to restaurants/canteens to be reheated /served by semi qualified staff.. A bit different to now ...

Not all that different. Gordon Ramsey's gastro pubs were using centrally prepped meals, as in cooking liquid, bagged up etc, sent out to each location where they were finished in a sous vide.

Muahahaha

OP here just to report back on buying and trying out sous vide. I went for the Andrew James model on Amazon for £99, it's a slow cooker as well as a sous vide bath so will save space as my slow cooker gets relegated to a friend.

I've been using it a couple of weeks now and find it a revelation when it comes to steaks and fish. You can set the temperature to get your steak cooked exactly the way you like it, without any fear of over cooking it as the temperatures mean it can't happen. In a nutshell the technique is a no-brainier for people like me who always seem to over do things. For cooking fish it's a real bonus as fish is such an easy dish to get wrong. Steaks cooked in it look amazing and after seeing how uniform the line between pink and brown of the steak is when done sous vide I'm convinced that many Dublin restaurants are already using the technique. It doesn't surprise me, sous vide did more justice to my rib eye steak than any frying pan ever could, it was just sensational and melt in the mouth, I'll never go back.

Loire

Muahahaha wrote: »

OP here just to report back on buying and trying out sous vide. I went for the Andrew James model on Amazon for £99, it's a slow cooker as well as a sous vide bath so will save space as my slow cooker gets relegated to a friend.

I've been using it a couple of weeks now and find it a revelation when it comes to steaks and fish. You can set the temperature to get your steak cooked exactly the way you like it, without any fear of over cooking it as the temperatures mean it can't happen. In a nutshell the technique is a no-brainier for people like me who always seem to over do things. For cooking fish it's a real bonus as fish is such an easy dish to get wrong. Steaks cooked in it look amazing and after seeing how uniform the line between pink and brown of the steak is when done sous vide I'm convinced that many Dublin restaurants are already using the technique. It doesn't surprise me, sous vide did more justice to my rib eye steak than any frying pan ever could, it was just sensational and melt in the mouth, I'll never go back.

Thanks for the review. How long did it take to cook your steak?

Markcheese

Did you already have a vac-packer / heat sealer ? ? Presume you seared the outside of stuff on a griddle/pan,do you have to give long on the pan to colour ?

GHOST MGG

Well a vac packer is essential for sous vide..
I have in the past made my own sous vide bath,you can use a fish tank aerator and a heat probe.

The maillard reaction(the reaction of sugars and proteins on the surface of food once directly heated at a temperature of 165c generally) is extremely important when it comes to sous vide as the process of sous vide itself does not impart flavour to lets say a rib eye steak hence having to either blow torch it after set time in bath or flash seal in a hot pan.

You are correct in saying that a lot of restaurants are cooking sous vide at the moment but it will tend to be the higher end restaurants that do as opposed to bistro types.

rubadub

GHOST MGG wrote: »

Well a vac packer is essential for sous vide.

I have done it without it, using the ziplock bag in water technique.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVm6t8OMzq4

I do not believe super accurate temp control it is anywhere near as essential as some people think. I have not done blind tastes but would be interested to hear if anybody has, or links to people doing it. I have done it in a mini deep fryer I got in powercity for about €15, it allowed very low temp settings.

I believe the maximum temperature is important, but firmly believe it could swing a lot lower and still give good results, I think this +/-0.5C control is overkill, nice if you have it but you can probably get by fine with more. The only thing to watch for is that the lowest temp reached is not in any "danger zone" where bacteria would thrive.


Look at those steaks. My deep fryer seems to have about a 8C range with water, i.e. if it is set at a particular setting with water and you put in a thermometer which has max & min indicators it will be a min of say 55C and max 63C.

8C is about 14F If I set my deepfryer to 140F then it will probably swing from 133-147F. So I should set it lower to allow for the added rise, so I really want 140F as the max, which would mean a min of 126F. So it will never be at a temp that will bring it past the medium stage, and never dip below the rare stage. I see no problem with dipping in temp like this, overall it has spent less time at 140F than if it was in a fully controlled unit, so you might just have to leave it in a bit longer. Now if you wanted it rare you might have an issue with it dropping to too low a temp for too long a time.

Rew

I believe the super accurate temp is only needed for specific things like eggs. As long as you can get it in the right zone you get results. I have done it in the kitchen sink with hot tap water and plenty of sites talk about using a food cooler and a kettle.

For long cooks vacuum packing is important but for a steak ziplock or BPA free equivalent is fine. My understanding is you want a proper vacuum to ensure bacteria growth is retarded.

Thats based on my reading up and looking at getting a Sansaire or Anova.

GHOST MGG

you need to be careful when cooking sous vide..if your also going to store the food in the vac pac its better that the vac pac was heat sealed and the bag frozen..clostridium botulinum grows in an anerobic atmosphere at low temperatures so sticking to the recommened cooking temperatures and times are important..its ok to store the pacs under 5oc but anything over that your asking for bacteria growth as per standard food safety laws.

Muahahaha

Loire wrote: »

Thanks for the review. How long did it take to cook your steak?

I left the steak in an hour at 55 c as that's what sites I researched said I should do for a medium rare finish. It was perfect in that regard.

Markcheese wrote: »

Did you already have a vac-packer / heat sealer ? ? Presume you seared the outside of stuff on a griddle/pan,do you have to give long on the pan to colour ?

Nope I don't have a vac packer but may get one on ebay for around £40. For now though I put the meat in the bag and squeeze as much air as possible. The I do up the zip lock 90% of the way before inserting a straw and sucking any remaining air out and then quickly sealing the zip lock fully. It's worked fine so far but I think I'll get a vac packer as soon as funds allow.
5 minutes before I was taking the steak out of the sous vide I put a pan on full heat and the steak went straight in there. When it comes from the sous vide it already has a brown colour so it didn't need long, 60 seconds each side in a really hot pan and it was done.
I believe a lot of pro-kitchens finish their sous vide steaks with a kitchen blow torch which aren't that expensive so I just ordered ordered the budget model from Amazon for £9.50 and I'll buy the fuel for it locally for a few quid. I'm keen to test out the blow torch for finishing them as if it works well it now means I can have a delicious steak without any need for using oil or butter which can only be good for my health in the long term.

grey_so_what

Muahahaha wrote: »

OP here just to report back on buying and trying out sous vide. I went for the Andrew James model on Amazon for £99, it's a slow cooker as well as a sous vide bath so will save space as my slow cooker gets relegated to a friend.

Thank you so much for that review, I've been looking at this since before Christmas and you've convinced me I should take the plunge!...:)

The Sparrow

Hope nobody minds me resurrecting this thread. I'm very tempted to buy this new Anovo kickstarter sous vide cooker:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/anova/anova-precision-cooker-cook-sous-vide-with-your-ip

Here is a preview of the machine:

http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/05/new-anova-precision-cooker-best-cheapest-sous-vide-circulator-on-the-market.html?ref=title

It costs €140 delivered to Ireland. Any thoughts?

Curry Addict

i think its grossly overpriced. it has unnecessary bling addons. it is such a simple cooking method and requires less power than a deep fat fryer(for example) which means the heating method can be made cheaper. The temp control maybe more accurate than a deep fat fryer but this tech is so old and cheap to build. The real price point of a sous vide for home should be €50 imho.

Markcheese

Any new style appliance costs a bit more, I bet when deep fryers first came out they cost a packet. Also sous vide waterbaths arent exactly mass market (yet ? ) . So I don't know that 150 delivered is that bad...
Maybe when the Argos catalogue has 5 pages of water baths they'll be 40 /50 euros ...

The Sparrow

Curry Addict wrote: »

i think its grossly overpriced. it has unnecessary bling addons. it is such a simple cooking method and requires less power than a deep fat fryer(for example) which means the heating method can be made cheaper. The temp control maybe more accurate than a deep fat fryer but this tech is so old and cheap to build. The real price point of a sous vide for home should be €50 imho.

I take your point but considering there are no like for like sous vide machines for €50 it is not particularly relevant imho.

I suppose I could try and diy it but I'd much prefer something easy to use even if it costs a bit more. And whilst the bling features like smartphone control are not necessary, they do sound quite cool and useful.

vibe666

i have a slow cooker (€15 argos special) and i've used that in combination with a digital probe thermometer (a couple of quid on ebay) as a water bath and cooked steaks sous vide in ziplock bags manually vacuum packed using a plastic drinking straw jammed in the top of the almost closed bags with the air sucked out manually (by me) before sealing and it works perfectly and isn't at all hard to maintain the right temps by periodically using the high/low/warm dial on the slow cooker or adding a bit of hot or cold water.