Few questions before buying an Anova. sousvide

I recently learned about the existence of sous vide cooking and I have a few questions before buying my own Anova. Hope this is a good place to ask !

1. Can I cook frozen meat? I've read this article but can this be done the exact same way with Anova?

2. I'm considering the WiFi version to start cooking remotely. How would I handle my typical day?

   • Leave home for work at 8am.
   • Probably start remote cooking around 4-5pm
   • Come back from work/gym around 7pm to a ready to eat meat.
   • Is it safe to put my sous vide (using ziploc bag) meat in icy water in the morning until 5pm? If not, would it be safe with frozen meat?

3. How much time can the meat still cook after the recommended cooking time? If for example I have too cook a steak at 129F for 2 hours. What will happen if it cooks for 4-6 hours?

4. Can I cook using only Ziploc bags? Event for longer period? (12-24h+) I've read it could be dangerous...

5. How do you reheat your cooked meat? Let's say I cook a big piece of meat for the week and cut it in pieces then put them in the refrigerator/freezer?

Submitted December 29, 2017 at 09:26AM by dggg http://ift.tt/2CkkNaq sousvide

Dairy-Free Eggnog sousvide

Based on the ChefSteps Eggnog Recipe

Ingredients 800g cashew milk
16.5 clarified butter
160g sugar, granulated
120g egg yolks
1.5tsp nutmeg (I prefer freshly ground)
1tsp clove

Directions
1) Mix ingredients in large bowl and whisk.
2) Transfer to blender and blend on high for 10 seconds to distribute the butter throughout the mixture
3) Transfer to pint-sized mason jar(s) closed fingertip tight
4) Cook 60 minutes at 162
5) Chill (ice bath or refrigerator)
6) When thoroughly chilled, some of the butter will have returned to being tiny clumps. Place in blender and blend on high for 10 seconds. This may cause the egg nog to become warmer than your preferred drinking temperature, but additional chilling won't cause re-clumping of the butter.
7) Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Notes
Fat and Cream - Egg nog generally calls for heavy whipping cream and whole milk, both of which are obviously not dairy free. Instead, I used cashew milk for its creaminess and replaced the fat with some no-milk-solids butter. I based the amount of fat on the nutrition information on the heavy whipping cream I bought for my full-of-dairy egg nog. I ignored the fat difference between whole milk and cashew milk because it was easy. I found I didn't miss it, but there's room to bump it up a little if you notice the difference.

Spices - I removed some of the spices from the original recipe to help me figure out if I was making a good base. It's possible it's even more delicious adding in the other spices that ChefSteps suggests. Also, I switched to volume measurement, which I'm normally against, because my scale wouldn't register such a small amount of nutmeg.

Thick and Thin - This doesn't produce as thick an eggnog as I preferred back when I was ignorant of my dairy allergy, but it's close. I think it's possible some experimenting with the amount of yolk or a small amount of emulsion additive could dial this in a little more. I ran out of time before Thanksgiving to test it.

Enjoy!

Submitted December 02, 2017 at 02:13AM by modnar42 http://ift.tt/2BrUFIT sousvide

Sous Vide Supreme Meat Size Limit? sousvide

Will the size of a 8 pound roast adequately fit the Sous Vide Supreme 11 liter water oven without affecting performance?

What is the upper limit of size/weight that won't fit or not perform?

Any Sous Vide Supreme issues with getting up to temperature with 8lbs of meat out from refrigerator (37 degrees F)?

Or is the Sous Vide Supreme designed for meats like steaks?

Thanks in advance.

Submitted November 09, 2017 at 10:59AM by jjohnjohn http://ift.tt/2ylJzEh sousvide

Sous Vide Supreme Meat Size Limit? sousvide

Will the size of a 8 pound roast adequately fit the Sous Vide Supreme 11 liter water oven without affecting performance?

What is the upper limit of size/weight that won't fit or not perform?

Any Sous Vide Supreme issues with getting up to temperature with 8lbs of meat out from refrigerator (37 degrees F)?

Or is the Sous Vide Supreme designed for meats like steaks?

Thanks in advance.

Submitted November 09, 2017 at 10:59AM by jjohnjohn http://ift.tt/2ylJzEh sousvide

Guidelines for restaurant sous vide cooking safety in British Columbia sousvide

I just came across this document and thought I would share.

http://ift.tt/2hcVH3n

~~~

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Sous vide is a style of cooking under vacuum that allows slower and lower temperature preparation of foods in vacuum sealed bags. It requires very precise control steps and monitoring to minimize food safety hazards. Foods cooked in the sous vide style for service in food premises are acceptable if the following food safety criteria are met:

(1) Recipes and preparation methods must be written out in a food safety plan. Information in the food safety plan must include:

a. Time and temperature of immersion circulator (or steam convection),

b. Internal temperature of food, and duration (time) food is held at that internal temperature during sous vide pasteurization,

c. After food is removed from pouches, and immediately before service to the customer, the internal temperature of food is measured for the recipe. This will account for additional changes in temperature from finishing steps,

d. Recipes are assessed for temperature/time combinations that provide a minimum bacterial destruction of 6.5-log 10 for all sous vide pasteurized foods, except poultry, which requires a 7-log 10 reduction of bacteria.

(2) Internal digital probe tip thermometers accurate to ±0.1°C must be used to monitor temperatures. Thermometers should be calibrated, traceable, and certified.

(3) Food grade sous vide pouches (polyethylene, polypropylene) must be used to package foods.

(4) Vacuum packaging machines should be set to deliver enough pressure that sous vide pouches do not float – machines should be able to deliver 90 to 95% pressure.

(5) All sous vide pouched foods stored under refrigeration must be labelled with date, time, discard date and identity.

(6) The minimum acceptable sous vide cooking temperature is 55°C for all meats, except poultry for which the minimum acceptable sous vide cooking temperature is 60°C.

(7) All sous vide pouched foods must be stored in the refrigerator, at temperatures of 3°C and lower (using ice or equivalent). The food safety standard maximum acceptable refrigeration temperature for sous vide packaged foods is 3.3°C.

(8) The maximum storage time for refrigerated raw (un-pasteurized) sous vide pouched food is 2 days.

(9) Sous vide pasteurized foods must be used within 3 days of refrigerated storage. The food safety standard maximum storage time for refrigerated fully pasteurized sous vide pouched food is 7 days.

(10) The optimal cooling rate for sous vide pouched foods after pasteurization is to bring foods to below 3°C within 2 hours using a 50:50 ice water slurry. Food safety standards for cooling rates are to bring foods to below 4°C within 6 hours (2 hours from 60°C to 20°C and 4 hours from 20°C to less than 4°C). Due to the risk of botulinum in vacuum packaged foods, the food safety standard must be further reduced to cool and store at a minimum of 3.3°C.

(11) Seafood sous vide style cooking that does not meet a 6.5-log 10 reduction of bacteria requires an additional control of freezing for parasite destruction.

(12) Sous vide cooking below 55°C must not exceed a period of 4 hours. Foods held at temperatures below 55°C for longer than 4 hours must be discarded.

Submitted November 08, 2017 at 10:37PM by AdventureSeeking http://ift.tt/2iEuJCh sousvide

Creme Brulee Sous Vide Fail (foamy with bubbles after cooked) sousvide

Hello. I followed the recipe from ChefSteps exactly and yet the composition came out foamy with bubbles as you can see here. One more here.

• I whisked the composition until it was smooth.
• I didn't heat the cream (it says it's ok this way too).
• I slowly poured the cream into the mixture.
• I strained it and allowed to rest about 30 minutes.
• I skimmed the bubbles before I put it to sous vide.
• I poured it slowly into jars.
• Flashed the bubbles from the top of the jar with a blowtorch very quickly.
• Closed the jars “fingertip tight” (bubbles came out when dropped it in water to sous vide)
• Cooked for 1 hour at 80*.
• When I took them out they already looked like in the picture.
• Anyways I cooled them at room temperature.
• Transfered them to an ice bath and then to refrigerator.

It seems that I did everything as I should and yet you can see the result in the picture. Any ideas what went wrong?

Submitted October 21, 2017 at 04:13PM by jesuispoisson http://ift.tt/2yYcF0h sousvide

Sous vide chicken frozen for later? sousvide

I was curious if I could sous vide a larger batch of chicken breast and freeze prior to searing with the intention of defrosting in the refrigerator over night and then searing when I got home from work the following day?

It is what I have been doing with frozen grilled chicken with no problems but everything I have read suggest going straight from frozen to a new water bath a few degrees below the desired temp to defrost and then searing but that doesn't seem to save any time.

Thanks!

Submitted July 12, 2017 at 09:02PM by yman89 http://ift.tt/2uixIsb sousvide

Chicken breasts straight from sous vide to refrigerator... oops? sousvide

I picked up two boneless/skinless chicken breasts with the intention of shredding them cold for a chicken salad. Cooked the breasts for a little over two hours at 158 F in a sealed (FoodSaver) bag and once done, threw them directly in the refrigerator to cool overnight.

I'm now reading on every site on the Internet that this was a bad move, that I should have used an ice bath, that I should have removed them from the original sous vide bag, and that I'm a terrible chicken breast owner. Is it safe to assume that I need to throw these away to avoid instant death, or is there hope for them still?

Submitted July 05, 2017 at 01:19AM by mythlabb http://ift.tt/2tJdRBn sousvide

I basically screwed up every part of making a steak and accidentally found a foolproof cook and sear recipe. sousvide

First things first, buy chunk of meat, ideally something with some thickness (bottom round and thick top round sirloin work great). Immediately throw it in the freezer and forget about it for a week. After a week, pry off the plastic and Styrofoam and vacuum seal the frozen ball of meat, then throw it back in the freezer. Promptly forget about the meat for another two weeks. After two weeks have gone by, remember you have the steak at 11pm on a weekday night. Say, “Ah, screw it, I’ll throw this in overnight and sear in the morning. Good old steak and eggs!” Set your circulator for 129F, throw it in at 11pm.
 
Good morning, it’s 7am, you have to leave for work in half an hour, and the last thing you want to do is sear a steak. Well the steak’s already been cooking for 8 hours, probably shouldn’t go any longer, so take it out and throw that sucker right in the fridge, bag and all (health note: ideally you should dunk this in an ice bath first to rapidly cool it down). Go to work. Have a deeply unsatisfying lunch. Get home.
 
Hey, there’s a steak in the fridge! Take it out, open the bag. If it’s a super thick chunk of meat, slice it up into 1.5in to 2in steaks. Here’s where things get interesting, you’ve always been bad at searing, and today, you’re going to keep up that tradition. Pay dry (or not), put a tablespoon of butter on a cast iron pan, and heat that sucker up!!!!...
 
…to about a 6-7/10. Why 6-7 and not 10? Because you have a super sensitive smoke alarm, your girlfriend gets mad at you for opening all the windows, and half the time you end up burning the butter and adding a thin layer of charcoal to your steaks if you go to 10. But here’s the thing, your steak right now is at about 40F, which means it has a WHILE to go to get anywhere past 129F. So throw your steaks on and sear them bad boys. Immediately remember you forgot to salt and pepper them, so quickly and frantically do that while trying not to burn yourself.
 
How long do you sear for? No idea! Your 6-7 and my 6-7 are almost certainly different. Eyeball it. Keep peeking under the steak to see how the sear is coming along. Try to remember if it’s better to flip once or flip a bunch of times. Choose one of those options and when it’s where you want it on both sides, sear the sides a little and throw that 22-day project right on a thick stack of paper plates because you can’t find any cutting boards.
 
Now, slice up the whole thing immediately because you’re tired from work and figure you may as well get it all done now. Take a few slices, prepare to experience disappointment, and...wait.
 
What?
 
The steak you seared for much longer than you would other sous-vide steaks is…great? It’s well seared on the outside, still pink and juicy on the inside, it’s not leaking like a traditionally prepared steak would right off the pan, and as an added bonus, contact with the air (I guess) is taking your pink slices and turning them a beautiful rosy red (I still don’t understand this). You chow down and think about how far this steak has come, and how surprised you are that your girlfriend is enjoying your cooking for once.
 
I’ve made this recipe now at least a half-dozen times, most recently with a 2 inch thick sirloin, and each time it makes me feel like I actually know how to cook. Below is the condensed, not frenetic recipe version for those that don’t feel like starting a 22 day process.

---

Ingredients:

Thick Steak – Bottom Round, Eye Round, Top Round/Sirloin, any other cheap, lean steak

Salt – to taste

Pepper – to taste

Butter – 1 (heaping) tablespoon

---

1) Vacuum seal steak in vacuum or Ziploc bag.

2) Set sous-vide immersion circulator for 129F (medium-rare).

3) Sous-vide your steak for 2-8 hours or overnight. For thicker steaks, sous-vide at least 4 hours to ensure the center gets up to temperature.

4) Remove steak from water bath, keep bag intact, (dunk in an ice bath for a few minutes), and place steak in an isolated part of your refrigerator for 6-8 hours or until (roughly) fridge temperature.

5) Remove steak from bag, pat dry (ideally), salt and pepper both sides.

6) Set cast-iron pan on stove, set burner to 6 to 7 (out of 10). Add tablespoon of butter and swish around the pan. (Tip: Don’t grab cast iron handle to swish butter without a pot holder or oven mitts.)

7) Once butter is fully melted, add steak and sear on each side to preference.

8) Remove steak, slice immediately, enjoy!

Submitted June 02, 2017 at 11:46PM by TheWindsAndTheWaves http://ift.tt/2rNKyxv sousvide

Pasteurization Question sousvide

I was just looking at the pasteurization tables on Douglas Baldwin's site, i understand that it kills the bacteria present, but what does that mean for storing the meat outside of a refrigerator? Is this similar to canning, where the end product would become shelf stable?

http://ift.tt/2rIb8oi

Submitted May 22, 2017 at 06:19PM by termeric0 http://ift.tt/2r91LkC sousvide

Has anyone tried leaving their meat and Anova Wifi Sous Vide maker in their refrigerator and cooking it from work? sousvide

I'm curious to know if the Anova Wifi Cooker could heat up to temperature while inside a refrigerator and cook the meat inside the refrigerator. I am well aware of the ice bath trick, but the ice cube maker in my fridge is broken so going out to buy ice just for the ice bath is kinda a pain in the ass.

Submitted March 10, 2017 at 01:00PM by brandontranlee http://ift.tt/2nltyrW sousvide

One cooker, multiple meats... sousvide

Ok, apologies if asked before (I found one similar question in my search here). Planning to have a dozen or so people over and I just picked up my Anova from the Amazon Treasure Truck yesterday.

If I were to do a BBQ for a dozen or so people and wanted a mix of chicken, steaks and burgers - what's the best way to sous vide it all? Sous vide then ice bath/refrigerator? What about when it's time to hit the grill? Warm it all up together in the water again then hit the grill?

Submitted March 10, 2017 at 06:36AM by Newfangled http://ift.tt/2m5ELvE sousvide

Notes on Brats sousvide

I tried cooking some bratwurst today and just had a few notes I wanted to share:

I started with half frozen and half from the refrigerator and cooked both for 1 hour at 155 and then browned them under the broiler for about 3 minutes.

There was a slight difference in the "pinkness" of them. My wife had reservations about eating the frozen ones since they were a little too pink for her.

The reason I froze some was to see if it helped the problem of squishing the brats in the vaccuum sealer. Turns out this really isn't a problem and it didn't need solving.

So, my recommendation is to not used frozen brats, they will come out a little to pink for non-SV-junkies and getting squished really isn't an issue. That being said, these were the juiciest brats I had ever had!

Submitted January 22, 2017 at 01:48AM by e6c http://ift.tt/2iY95XL sousvide

Notes on Brats sousvide

I tried cooking some bratwurst today and just had a few notes I wanted to share:

I started with half frozen and half from the refrigerator and cooked both for 1 hour at 155 and then browned them under the broiler for about 3 minutes.

There was a slight difference in the "pinkness" of them. My wife had reservations about eating the frozen ones since they were a little too pink for her.

The reason I froze some was to see if it helped the problem of squishing the brats in the vaccuum sealer. Turns out this really isn't a problem and it didn't need solving.

So, my recommendation is to not used frozen brats, they will come out a little to pink for non-SV-junkies and getting squished really isn't an issue. That being said, these were the juiciest brats I had ever had!

Submitted January 22, 2017 at 01:48AM by e6c http://ift.tt/2iY95XL sousvide

Cutting meat into smaller portions sousvide

Hi everyone! I received an Anova sous vide for Christmas so I'm pretty new at this, but it's something I haven't seen covered while reading this subreddit or any of the sous vide sites. So far I've only cooked and seared whole steaks/chicken breasts, then eaten part of them and put the rest in the refrigerator to reheat later in the week. But it occurred to me that it might be better to cut the meat into smaller portions earlier and keep them seperate so I sear them right before I eat them. So for anyone that's tried it, would it be better to:

1. - Cut the meat into 4-6 oz portions and put them in individual ziploc sandwich bags. Then put the sandwich bags within a one gallon ziploc to sous vide - Sear the one I want to eat, then put the others in an ice bath to cool and refrigerate - Later in the week I can take out one of the individual bags to re-heat/sear and eat

2. - Same as #1, but skip the individual bags. Just put all the pieces in a one gallon ziploc

3. - Sous vide the entire piece of meat at once, then after it's done cut it into the smaller portions - Sear one to eat, then put the rest in an ice bath to refrigerate and then reheat/sear later

I guess the main question is if there is any advantage to have the whole piece of meat in the sous vide together, or if it would turn out the same even if it was in much smaller pieces.

Submitted January 18, 2017 at 08:44PM by JenTravers http://ift.tt/2iR27a1 sousvide

Question re Alcohol Infusions: sousvide

So I make an "apple pie bourbon" every year, and its become relatively popular with family and friends. I use a hefty amount of apples compared to most recipes I've found online, and I was wondering how that would affect the required refrigeration and how long you all would expect something like this to last in a refrigerator.

Recipe for one handle of Burrrrbon:

• Roughly 8-10 apples (mostly granny smith, a few honeycrisp)
• 6 cinnamon sticks
• 1/2 vanilla bean (or more depending on how I'm feeling)
• 1.5 tbs fresh grated nutmeg

VS and cook around 150 for 4 hours. Strain through mesh, then through Chemex coffee filters 1-2 times.

Should I be worried about this going bad? It goes through a paper filter, so I would've thought that most of the spoilable fruit parts would be left out of the final product. I'm still worried though and want to know if I'm making any critical errors anywhere.

What are your thoughts/experiences?

Submitted January 09, 2017 at 09:27PM by Theczarcasticone http://ift.tt/2iaQjiD sousvide

Sous vide lobster in shell? sousvide

Hello,

I'm doing a sous vide steak and lobster tail dinner for New Year's Eve. My girlfriend kind of wanted a more intense lobster favor by cooking in shell. I wasn't too sure how it would work, since I couldn't find any in-shell sous vide recipe.

So, I did two test runs: One tail following Kenji's recipe which was blanched, ice bath, deshelled, butter, fresh tarragon, vacsealed. The second tail was vacsealed straight from the refrigerator with butter and tarragon. Both were immersed simultaneously at 134F for 60 minutes.

I thought the first tail was excellent, buttery and tender. It was as just a little firmer than the second, probably due to the cooking time. The second lacked the nice butter flavor, but did have a stronger lobster flavor, which my girlfriend appreciated.

I'd like to split up the total weight between the two methods, so everyone has a choice. Is there any reason to not cook it in shell, e.g. safety?

Submitted December 30, 2016 at 09:35PM by PeruvianPotato http://ift.tt/2ixAHnr sousvide

Safe to eat after 4 days? sousvide

Due to some poor planning, I took a a thick 2.5 lb pork collar roast (rolled) and sous vide it for ~6-7 hours at 138° on Monday night. Took the bag out and immediately moved it into the refrigerator.

I had planned to let the roast warm up and then crisp it up in a very hot oven for ~30 minutes or so the next day, but life happened, and the pork roast is still in the bag in the refrigerator!

Will the pork still be safe and good to take out and cook at high temp for a short time in the oven on Friday night (4 days since cooked)? I'm thinking that by being in a sealed bag and having spend ~7 hours at 138°, safety shouldn't be an issue.

Submitted December 22, 2016 at 10:27PM by SlowBoatXfer http://ift.tt/2ifXpDE sousvide

Trying to figure out what went wrong with my wagyu new-york strip. sousvide

I bought a piece of Wagyu New-York Steak a little over a week ago from a local butcher. I put it in the freezer as soon as I got home (roughly 30~45 minutes). I decided to cook it today @131F for 1:30.

Pre sous vide, I took it out of the freezer, seasoned it with salt and pepper and vacuum sealed it and let it rest in the refrigerator for the next 3 hours.

Post sous vide, I get a rancid smell as soon as I cut open the bag. Was it something I did that ruined the meat or was it the way it was packaged by the butcher?

I've read that sometimes the smells can be attributed to the meat being packaged incorrectly or certain bacteria that don't get pasteurized. I've done steak this way multiple times and this is the first time its come out smelling like this.

Submitted December 15, 2016 at 11:59AM by MvP-WuTangClan http://ift.tt/2hw9cwR sousvide

Storing Cooked Eggs sousvide

I was reading the other day about storing eggs after they've been sous vide and Kenji's article on Serious Eats says the following:

"The best part? Once cooked, you can chill the eggs in an ice bath and store them in water in the refrigerator for up to a few days."

Why store them in water? I'm really scratching my itchy head trying to figure that out. Why can't you just cook, rapidly chill, and just toss them in a Tupperware container or something and leave them in the fridge like that?

Submitted December 01, 2016 at 06:09AM by PandyFackler14 http://ift.tt/2gMoVnE sousvide