Man of Honour
SeriousEats, ChefSteps. Both great but dial back the salt levels a little (I go for 50% - can always add more when serving).
Anova Precision Cooker - cook sous vide with your iPhone.
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SeriousEats, ChefSteps. Both great but dial back the salt levels a little (I go for 50% - can always add more when serving).
Cheers bud, I'll give them a check out as I work from home today!
Testing it out with some poached eggs as we speak
Soldato
I have some Currys vouchers to spend and i am thinking of going electric pressure cooker. As much as i would love a stove one, i often can run out of space when preparing meals for occasions and having another gadget i can store away would be handy.
How do these electric ones compare?
Was thinking of a pressure king pro as i have heard good things and am hoping for it to essentially replace my crockpot for cooking the wetter dishes.
How do these electric ones compare?
Was thinking of a pressure king pro as i have heard good things and am hoping for it to essentially replace my crockpot for cooking the wetter dishes.
Man of Honour
They're awesome. I have the Sage one and use it multiple times a week. It has replaced most of my other kitchen gadgets as my main workhorse.
I have a pressure king pro and I use it often, it’s easy use and easy to clean afterwards
As with all pressure cookers it’s awesome for quickly cooker very tender meat
Soldato
Thanks guys, what do you cook in them day to day?
Are things like Thai/Malaysian curries a bit on the thick side as sauce goes or will it be okay to do in it without burning?
Are things like Thai/Malaysian curries a bit on the thick side as sauce goes or will it be okay to do in it without burning?
Caporegime
Currently 6 hours into an 18 hour pork belly at 61c.
I am in a mission to recreate this at home. That pork belly was so soft and tender it was ridiculous.
I am in a mission to recreate this at home. That pork belly was so soft and tender it was ridiculous.
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Exciting times - never knew about the anova or similar until this thread - always figured sous vide unit would take-up loads of space.
Now have one on order and will be ready to have a crack at some dishes next weekend.
Is a vacuum sealer worth investing in or just stick with freezer bags?
Now have one on order and will be ready to have a crack at some dishes next weekend.
Is a vacuum sealer worth investing in or just stick with freezer bags?
Caporegime
Depends how often you use it. I prefer freezer bags because i don't need any more gadget and I don't use it every day. It's may be twice a month so 20 bags will last me a few months easy.
I would start with freezer bags, see how you get on with it. If you don't like it then get the machine, but it's better than way than get the machine and wish you hadn't.
If you find you can't get the water out or the food floats, put in a few metal spoon inside with the food to weight it down.
Caporegime
Steaks is done.
Man of Honour
Steak looks great 
Agreed with just using freezer bags initially. I vacuum seal for extremely long cooks (and also for other uses, e.g. curing). Freezer bags are cheaper and simpler for most things though.
Agreed with just using freezer bags initially. I vacuum seal for extremely long cooks (and also for other uses, e.g. curing). Freezer bags are cheaper and simpler for most things though.
I did the seriouseats 'fat duck inspired' pork belly a couple of weeks ago. Was really good. I used it twice, the first time to the recipe with some pickled apples. The second I reduced the stock with maple syrup and that was better in my view.
Did salt beef again too, which I really like.
From feeling like it may be a flash in the pan gadget for me, the annovas really are well used.
Did salt beef again too, which I really like.
From feeling like it may be a flash in the pan gadget for me, the annovas really are well used.
Soldato
Quick question - Im looking to test out my new Anova and going to do a plain chicken breast as per the Anova recipe site. I'll get more creative once I get the hang of it but the recipe just states 1 chicken breast but I want to do 2, do I need to adjust the recipe time or will I be able to do multiple of the same meat with the same timings? In theory could I cook up a big batch of chicken in the same time?
Man of Honour
Generally speaking the main thing that has a bearing on the time it takes is the thickness of the meat at it's thickest part. Assuming the breasts are separate within the bag there will be no difference in timing. Obviously if you go from 1 breast to 10 then it'll make a bit more of a difference but still, I'd not worry too much and just add half an hour to be safe. You can always watch the temperature monitor to see the effect of adding the thermal mass of the meat on the overall water temperature too.
Btw, my favourite for chicken breast is about 1.5 hours at 60C. Anything lower takes more time and I find the texture a bit too 'soft'. I wouldn't go above 62C if you want to experience something different to roasting in the oven.
Just did my first batch of chicken thighs. 63 for 2.5 hours. They were very nice although a little pink for my linking. Will try a 70c cook next time
Man of Honour
For chicken thigh I tend to prefer a high temperature, yeah. I often go as high as 75c on those.
to be honest I msiread my recipe this morning when dashing out to work and setting the ice bath up. The next batch is going in at 75 for sure
Surprised you go this high, I did some at 66c the other day for about 2 hours and they came out spot on. Gave them a quick finish under a pre heated grill.
I've been a bit lazy with my sous vide recently, but going to attempt some different stuff over the coming weeks, seen a risotto recipe which I really want to try out, and will make some more desserts now I have some jars to do them in.
Man of Honour
I've tried that type of temp and I found it a bit too 'chewy' but I think I'm so used to years of confit and pulled chicken thigh that it's just a weird food hangup I have.
I'll probably revisit lower temp thigh soon. Also interested to try out desserts sometime too.
If you haven't already got one I highly recommend an electric pressure cooker btw. Risotto is so incredibly quick and easy in one.
Understand that, I think the longer cook for it meant it came out just fine, not at all chewy.
Due to the size of my kitchen I'm at gadget saturisation point and don't have space for any more, although guess I could get rid of the slow cooker for a pressure cooker, as I was potentially looking at one.
I've only tried bread and butter pudding so far but it came out spot on.