New Sous Vide Cooker

[ibglowin]

Yep, when I did my beef tenderloin last week I had the same problem. Just would not seal properly. I ended up just hitting the seal button after about 4 failed attempts. It was evacuated enough that it stayed under the water line which I guess is all that counts in the end. It makes you want to leave about 6 inches of extra bag length just so you can keep it dry along the sealing end.

I Don't know if anyone else has this problem, but when I try to vacuum seal something, if there is any liquid, it wants to vacuum out and then not seal because the bag is wet. When I did the peas in cream I threw the open bag into the freezer for 20 minutes before vacuuming and sealing and it worked great. Should work for sealing things with a marinade also.
Mike

 

[dcbrown73]

I finally got my Anova Blue Tooth last week as a replacement for the Nano that is behind in production schedule. I fired it up for the first time yesterday and although I think I picked the most fool proof piece of meat to practice on I was really impressed with the results. I cut a pork tenderloin into 1-1/2" think medallions, seasoned them with just salt, pepper, fresh thyme and bay leaves cooked at 2 hours at 137. Seared about 45 secs. on cast iron and threw in some butter when I flipped them. Perfect color, texture, taste. I also used a recipe from their website for Peas in cream and butter and shallots and nutmeg and cloves and YUM. It called for 1 hour at 180 but I threw it in with the pork (separate bag) for 2 hours then in a sauce pan for the last few minutes.

I Don't know if anyone else has this problem, but when I try to vacuum seal something, if there is any liquid, it wants to vacuum out and then not seal because the bag is wet. When I did the peas in cream I threw the open bag into the freezer for 20 minutes before vacuuming and sealing and it worked great. Should work for sealing things with a marinade also.
Mike

I was under the impression you just needed to get a majority of the air out so the water/bag/food is in contact and that the bag won't float. (again, so the water is in contact with the entire item being cooked)

Can you use standard zip lock bags? Or are there specific bags you are supposed to use with this device?

My device doesn't arrive until tomorrow. I suppose if I need to buy bags, I should start looking now.

 

[ibglowin]

You can use a good zip lock. The more air you remove generally the better and more importantly you don't want the bag to open during cooking and water to get in and ruin/dilute your seasoning(s). I bought a Food Sealer a while back for freezing sausage/meats etc so double the fun!

 

[Boatboy24]

I decided not to wait for the Nano and changed my order to the bluetooth model. Just decided that over the weekend, and I imagine it'll be a couple weeks before it arrives.

 

[ibglowin]

Trying sous vide Chicken Teriyaki tonight!

 

[dcbrown73]

So, on Saturday night I did my first sous vide ribeye steak. Still learning the correct temperatures for the exact result in how I like my steak, but otherwise. I'm quite impressed with the results!

My GF's torch immediately ran out of fuel and she didn't have any more, so I pan seared the steaks.

 

[sour_grapes]

Yesterday, I came home with a 3 lb boneless leg of lamb for small money. We certainly didn't need a big hunk of meat so close to T-day (still have leftovers), so my DW cleverly suggested I sous vide it for 2 days. On top of that, it was preseasoned and shrink-wrapped, so I just chucked it into the hot tub at 135F without ANY preparation.

Tomorrow, I plan to put it in an oven at full whack for ~1/2 hour to try to develop a crust.

 

[dcbrown73]

Wow, I wouldn't expect a sous vide device to support a 48 hour straight duty cycle!

Though I suppose these devices are meant to function for at least a few years in the kitchen at 1-3 hours at a time or so. Maybe they can.

Good luck!

 

[Kraffty]

Wow, I wouldn't expect a sous vide device to support a 48 hour straight duty cycle!

Though I suppose these devices are meant to function for at least a few years in the kitchen at 1-3 hours at a time or so. Maybe they can.

Good luck!

I had that thought at first but a number of recipes from the Anova site itself have some 24 and 48 hour cook times listed.

 

[Boatboy24]

I had that thought at first but a number of recipes from the Anova site itself have some 24 and 48 hour cook times listed.

Yep. There are some that will cook brisket for 72 hours in SV, not including some time in a grill/smoker. I haven't tried it, but I hope to at some point.

 

[sour_grapes]

Wow, I wouldn't expect a sous vide device to support a 48 hour straight duty cycle!

Though I suppose these devices are meant to function for at least a few years in the kitchen at 1-3 hours at a time or so. Maybe they can.

Good luck!

Well, a couple of pertinent comments. As Jim says, sous vide cooking is generally carried out for loooong periods of time, so any sous vide cooker worth its salt will be able to cook more or less indefinitely. Second, my sous vide device is pretty simple. It is just a temperature controller that I use to turn on an off a crock pot. Therefore, the controller itself is not responsible for any heating; it just flips a relay. It could go 24/7/365 without breaking a sweat. (If you think about it, we should really say "24/7/52" for consistency.)

Here is a picture of my ho-made SV controller:

 

[ibglowin]

It would have to be a very small brisket. Point and flat portions would be near impossible as a whole as the widest vacuum sealer bags are only 11" wide. Even a gallon ziplock bag is 11"x11". I bought a small Bone-in Rib Eye while it was on sale for T-Day and had to cut it into two pieces to get it sealed up for the freezer. Are their larger bags that would work for Sous Vide that I would work that I don't know about?

Yep. There are some that will cook brisket for 72 hours in SV, not including some time in a grill/smoker. I haven't tried it, but I hope to at some point.

 

[Boatboy24]

It would have to be a very small brisket. Point and flat portions would be near impossible as a whole as the widest vacuum sealer bags are only 11" wide. Even a gallon ziplock bag is 11"x11". I bought a small Bone-in Rib Eye while it was on sale for T-Day and had to cut it into two pieces to get it sealed up for the freezer. Are their larger bags that would work for Sous Vide that I would work that I don't know about?

Yep, to do a whole brisket would be quite a challenge. From the pics I've seen, I think most recipes are using just the flat, but I'm not certain. Ziploc does make some 2.5 gallon bags that you might be able to fit a whole packer into.

 

[ibglowin]

Yep that might do the trick. If you could get enough air out to keep it down.

Product Dimensions: 15.8 x 13.6 x 5.4 inches

Next problem is finding a large enough Hot Tub!

Yep, to do a whole brisket would be quite a challenge. From the pics I've seen, I think most recipes are using just the flat, but I'm not certain. Ziploc does make some 2.5 gallon bags that you might be able to fit a whole packer into.

 

[dcbrown73]

Well, a couple of pertinent comments. As Jim says, sous vide cooking is generally carried out for loooong periods of time, so any sous vide cooker worth its salt will be able to cook more or less indefinitely. Second, my sous vide device is pretty simple. It is just a temperature controller that I use to turn on an off a crock pot. Therefore, the controller itself is not responsible for any heating; it just flips a relay. It could go 24/7/365 without breaking a sweat. (If you think about it, we should really say "24/7/52" for consistency.)

Here is a picture of my ho-made SV controller:
View attachment 44941

That's interesting and and very cool setup! Though I will say it wasn't the heating portion that I was thinking about for the duty cycle. Mine seems to have some type of propeller inside it as it basically stirs the water while it's going. Most likely for even distribution of water temperature. It was what moving part I figured might have an issue with long duty cycles.

 

[sour_grapes]

That's interesting and and very cool setup! Though I will say it wasn't the heating portion that I was thinking about for the duty cycle. Mine seems to have some type of propeller inside it as it basically stirs the water while it's going. Most likely for even distribution of water temperature. It was what moving part I figured might have an issue with long duty cycles.

I see. Yes, I have no moving parts in mine. I certainly wouldn't mind having a circulator, but it has not been necessary for me. I generally stir mine a for a bit after putting the food in, but it settles down to a uniform temperature pretty well after that. Doubtless, there would be a lot more need for a circulator on a plastic-tub type arrangement, rather than on my crockpot, which gets fairly even heating by its design.

 

[dcbrown73]

Yes, a crock pot would definitely have more of an even heating than a plastic tub with a heating rod in it so that does make sense.

 

[Boatboy24]

It would have to be a very small brisket. Point and flat portions would be near impossible as a whole as the widest vacuum sealer bags are only 11" wide. Even a gallon ziplock bag is 11"x11". I bought a small Bone-in Rib Eye while it was on sale for T-Day and had to cut it into two pieces to get it sealed up for the freezer. Are their larger bags that would work for Sous Vide that I would work that I don't know about?

Ha! Was reading through this thread again and found this that I posted a while back.

Speaking of: I've seen some full briskets done for 24-72 hours, then smoked for 2-4. Looks awesome, but I need a big container if I want to try that. Not sure I could get one into a Foodsaver bag though.

 

[ibglowin]

Like a (bad) Tom Cruise movie.............. LOL

Ha! Was reading through this thread again and found this that I posted a while back.