Anova Precision Cooker - cook sous vide with your iPhone.

Rack of Lamb last night - 1 hour at 60C and the result was a perfectly done medium which literally melted in the mouth... Quite literally the best lamb I've eaten (that I've cooked!)
 
I tried cooking chicken breast from frozen yesterday for the first time. Tasted just as good as fresh and I felt happier that I could leave the bag in the water all day as the chicken kept the water cold
 
Did a couple of sirloin steaks from my local butcher at the weekend. They were about 3/4" thick so I did them at iirc 139.5F for about 50mins.

Can't argue with the evenness inside (was expecting medium) but I wasn't happy particularly with the texture - it was a lot firmer than I'm used to, and also to an extent, was lacking flavour.

The butcher is the best in my region so I'm not doubting the quality of the meat.

Is sirloin suitable for this type of cooking or would a fattier cut be better e.g. rib eye?

I think next time I'll try a lower temp to achieve a medium rare serving.

Does anyone have any other tips for cuts <1" thick?

Is it advantageous to delay the seasoning until the sous vide is done? I'm just wondering if the salt drew out a lot of the juices during the cook last time.

Thanks in advance for any advice!
 
Bought a Instant Pot Sous Vide from the rain forest at the weekend for £70 and i'm impressed!

Got some Pichana rump from Waitrose cooked it at 54 degrees for 1hr 30 and then seared with a blowtorch.

Amazing!

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Did sausages last night. Unfortunately the other half's train was delayed so they spend nearly 4 hours in the water...

But 4 hours at 63°C was interesting. Texture was a bit off, may be due to length of time in the water bath. But once blowtorched they were tasty. May try 66°C for 90 minutes next time.
 
Flibster said:
Did sausages last night. Unfortunately the other half's train was delayed so they spend nearly 4 hours in the water...

But 4 hours at 63°C was interesting. Texture was a bit off, may be due to length of time in the water bath. But once blowtorched they were tasty. May try 66°C for 90 minutes next time.
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I go for 66c personally (have you seen the SE article? http://www.seriouseats.com/2016/02/the-food-lab-guide-sous-vide-sausage.html).

Normally 1-1.5 hours is fine I find. Then I sear them in a screaming hot pan. If you place a heavy weight on top of them they'll sear in literally 10 seconds per side max.
 
A great result with a couple of fillet steaks - a little over an hour at 52C and seared on a griddle with some oil and butter - melted in the mouth and really good taste - imo better than the sirloin I had last week (though I think I only used oil and no better when searing that one)

Will be trying to confit duck legs next. Following the seriouseats guide so they'll be going in this evening @ 68C for around 24 hours - ready for dinner tomorrow tonight
 
Currently got a 1kg pork joint cooking. Will be trying to do post sous vide crackling too... May not be a success. ;)

FrenchTart said:
I go for 66c personally (have you seen the SE article? http://www.seriouseats.com/2016/02/the-food-lab-guide-sous-vide-sausage.html).

Normally 1-1.5 hours is fine I find. Then I sear them in a screaming hot pan. If you place a heavy weight on top of them they'll sear in literally 10 seconds per side max.
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Would have gone shorter, but had to wait for the other half. Spotted that article after I'd done the sausages. Should have searched first... :D

[edit]

Well, the crackling was an abject failure. Pork however was excellent. 62°C for 3.5 hours.
 
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Well the confit duck legs were a success - so tender it just fell off the bone and very tasty to match.

Only issue I had was that there appeared to be a small amount of water in one of the two ziplock bags - it was a separate layer to the fat but thankfully didn't have an appreciable impact on the cook.
There'll be more long cooks in the future so I think a vacuum sealer will be worthwhile investment - appreciate any suggestions on good devices?
 
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Successful sous vide weekend with ribeyes on saturday - 1 hour at 133f, next time will go at 130 to get them more on the rare side of med-rare. Tasted great after a quick sear with some oil & butter.

Sunday had some porkbelly that went in the morning for a 10 hour cook at 166f and finished off under the grill for 10mins to crispen up the skin.
Beautiful moist and tender finish so v.happy with that given the challenges of I typically face with pork ending up dry.

New vacuum sealer worked a treat as well!
 
Btw appreciate any tips on achieving the perfect finish on the crackling?
The results I had with the high oven/grill combo were probably best I've had in that it was a nice even crispness with no really chewy bits.
Nice to know how others approach it though
 
FlakGunna said:
Cooking with your phone?! the products we are blessed with these days!
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Thankfully the phone isn"t needed with the Anova and you can set everything up on the controls on the unit.
Mindyou there is a similar product from chefsteps which doesnt have that option - phone is mandatory :p even looks like it was designed with iPhone users in mind...
 
As I suck at pictures, I didn't get any, but yesterday cooked a 450g 2inch bit of Fillet Steak for 2 hours at 54.5c, quick 30 second each side sear and done, the result was what can only be described as perfect! Lovely pink with a bit of juice running out with a melt in the mouth texture. This is what sous vide is made for!

Served alongside Boulangere Potatoes (try them if you haven't before) Garlic Fried Asparagus, and Chorizo filled Large Flat Mushroom with a thick peppercorn sauce!
 
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I think I need persuading that I'd get use out of an Anova. The girlfriend gave me £100 Amazon vouchers for my birthday with that in mind, but I'm getting cold feet :o

EDIT: I'm firmly in the camp of pre-salting my steaks at least 45mins before cooking. The difference is very noticeable. How do you do that with sous vide?
 
Scam said:
I think I need persuading that I'd get use out of an Anova. The girlfriend gave me £100 Amazon vouchers for my birthday with that in mind, but I'm getting cold feet :o

EDIT: I'm firmly in the camp of pre-salting my steaks at least 45mins before cooking. The difference is very noticeable. How do you do that with sous vide?
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Simple - you pre-salt the steak 45 minutes before cooking :p You will no doubt find that the results with sous-vide are different though - and in all honesty it will take a while to dial it in to what you like. It's just like any other cooking tool in that sense.

I love my sous-vide but if I had a choice between that and my electric pressure cooker the electric pressure cooker would win at the moment. Being able to 'slow cook' meat in ~30 minutes is amazing.
 
FrenchTart said:
Simple - you pre-salt the steak 45 minutes before cooking :p You will no doubt find that the results with sous-vide are different though - and in all honesty it will take a while to dial it in to what you like. It's just like any other cooking tool in that sense.

I love my sous-vide but if I had a choice between that and my electric pressure cooker the electric pressure cooker would win at the moment. Being able to 'slow cook' meat in ~30 minutes is amazing.
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That'll change when the weather improves no doubt! :D I need to get on the pressure cooker bandwagon
 
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