Anova Precision Cooker - cook sous vide with your iPhone.

What cheap sous-vide machines are out there? I have an Anova model which is great but I'm thinking of getting a sous-vide for my Mum, but I don;t kow if the market has changed much in the last years?
Budget itslef is not critical but I don't want to spend more money than I need to as I think only a basic model will suffice. My mum isnl;t tech savy so any kind of bluetooth connectivity is pointless.
 
SoliD said:
Pretty sure the Anova is one of the cheapest available and so simple to use I wouldn't recommend anything else. I got my parents one and they love it.
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Well the standard Anova model is £199.00 from their website, that seems quite a lot more than what I paid a few years ago.
They have a Nano version for half that but I don;t know how much you give up.


On Amazon there are various knockoff models form under £50 so I was wondering if anyone had any experience of these? E.g. Wancle Sous Vide Precision Cooker gets good reviews on Amazon but I don;t trust Amazon reviews, similar this one Sous Vide Cooker VPCOK

If the ANova nano is reccomended then i'll get that
 
I have the older Anova (before they made the Nano and Pro versions) and I just checked; it's 900w. The new 'regular' model is 1000w and the Nano is 750w. I haven't read any reviews etc. but I'd trust the Nano from Anova over any 'knockoff' models from Amazon etc. Think about it this way, your Mum is a home cook right? If the Nano isn't suited to a home-cook Mum then what the heck would they have made it for? :) I'm sure it'll be perfect.

My Anova has wifi etc. but I just spin the dial and set it going. No faff, no app needed.
 
D.P. said:
Well the standard Anova model is £199.00 from their website, that seems quite a lot more than what I paid a few years ago.
They have a Nano version for half that but I don;t know how much you give up.


On Amazon there are various knockoff models form under £50 so I was wondering if anyone had any experience of these? E.g. Wancle Sous Vide Precision Cooker gets good reviews on Amazon but I don;t trust Amazon reviews, similar this one Sous Vide Cooker VPCOK

If the ANova nano is reccomended then i'll get that
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Didn't realise they started at thta price now, I've always got mine in the sales (one bt and one WiFi) just get a nano, would definitely be plenty capable as said above for the home cook.
 
I did a piece of topside yesterday at 53c for about 10 hours. Seared it first. It was really decent. It's not a cut I would ever buy really but it was very good indeed.
 
I imagine that was quite rare wasn't it? I normally do my steaks at 57 because the wife likes it medium after a flash fry to seal.
I do find you can get nice results with some of the leaner cuts like topside. Haven't tired a budget wellington with topside but it's on my to do list.
 
Skidder said:
I did a piece of topside yesterday at 53c for about 10 hours. Seared it first. It was really decent. It's not a cut I would ever buy really but it was very good indeed.
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On Sunday we had a piece of topside that I cooked at 50c for 24 hours, like you I gave it a sear before whacking it in the bag. It needed a longer time as there was a big bit of sinew running through the middle. After searing the beef I gave it some more seasoning then put in a couple of frozen cubes of mushroom ketchup and worcester sauce.

The end result is gorgeous, it was like butter!
 
the-evaluator said:
On Sunday we had a piece of topside that I cooked at 50c for 24 hours, like you I gave it a sear before whacking it in the bag. It needed a longer time as there was a big bit of sinew running through the middle. After searing the beef I gave it some more seasoning then put in a couple of frozen cubes of mushroom ketchup and worcester sauce.

The end result is gorgeous, it was like butter!
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That sounds good. I may try longer and lower next time. Certainly it was the best topside I have had. Normally we would get rib and spend a small fortune.

PlacidCasual said:
I imagine that was quite rare wasn't it? I normally do my steaks at 57 because the wife likes it medium after a flash fry to seal.
I do find you can get nice results with some of the leaner cuts like topside. Haven't tired a budget wellington with topside but it's on my to do list.
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Certainly pink. 53 is heading towards medium rare.
 
Skidder said:
That sounds good. I may try longer and lower next time. Certainly it was the best topside I have had. Normally we would get rib and spend a small fortune.
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It was epic! It was part of a larger piece, the other half of which we roased a few weeks back and it was awful. So chewy that we gave up. So chewy that even the cat gave up.
 
the-evaluator said:
On Sunday we had a piece of topside that I cooked at 50c for 24 hours
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Can someone explain how this is safe?

I know this will have something to do with temp-bacteria reduction graphs and different bacteria having different tolerances.

But surely there will be bacteria on this meat that will reproduce at 50c?

I did cook a leg of lamb for 3 days once but that was at 65C...

Can someone explain so I can learn why 50 is safe?
 
The idea about safety temperatures for bacteria (especially salmonella as a good example) isn't that above X temperature it is safe, but that being at X temperature for a certain period of time kills bacteria. Figures plucked from the air, but say bacteria starts dying at 30C and rapidly / near instantly dies at 60C. Holding at 60C for a few minutes will kill an awful lot in short time, but holding at 30C for hours will also achieve the same thing - it's the rate of death that is important here.

That's also assuming that the meat is coming from a refrigerated environment which would have stalled any propagation of bacteria in the first place.
 
bJN said:
The idea about safety temperatures for bacteria (especially salmonella as a good example) isn't that above X temperature it is safe, but that being at X temperature for a certain period of time kills bacteria. Figures plucked from the air, but say bacteria starts dying at 30C and rapidly / near instantly dies at 60C. Holding at 60C for a few minutes will kill an awful lot in short time, but holding at 30C for hours will also achieve the same thing - it's the rate of death that is important here.

That's also assuming that the meat is coming from a refrigerated environment which would have stalled any propagation of bacteria in the first place.
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Salmonella is a good example, as I believe from my research prior to ordering the Anova is that Salmonella appears to be fine in sub 55C temperature range, but at 55C it would take an hour of exposure to kill. It seems to be why most places I've found say 55C is the absolute minimum you should cook at.

If you cook below 55C you're essentially gambling on the safety of the food chain of whatever you're cooking.
 
Pudney said:
Salmonella is a good example, as I believe from my research prior to ordering the Anova is that Salmonella appears to be fine in sub 55C temperature range, but at 55C it would take an hour of exposure to kill. It seems to be why most places I've found say 55C is the absolute minimum you should cook at.

If you cook below 55C you're essentially gambling on the safety of the food chain of whatever you're cooking.
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This is exactly my understanding. You have to know which types Of bacteria tend to exist on different foods and cook accordingly.

I'd be really nervous cooking something for 24 hours at a temperature that didn't kill bacteria.
 
Hodders said:
I'd be really nervous cooking something for 24 hours at a temperature that didn't kill bacteria.
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So don't. It's personal preference and for our tastes cooking the topside thay way I did gave us a really tender piece of beef. We are putting trust in the food chain, but I trust the butcher we use so I have no second thoughts about cooking topside at 50'c or in getting some fillet steak and turning it into steak tartare.
 
the-evaluator said:
So don't. It's personal preference and for our tastes cooking the topside thay way I did gave us a really tender piece of beef. We are putting trust in the food chain, but I trust the butcher we use so I have no second thoughts about cooking topside at 50'c or in getting some fillet steak and turning it into steak tartare.
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Sorry if you though I was having a dig - I really wasn't - much more to do with understanding.

I know that steak tartare should be lightly seared as a whole fillet to sterilise the outside, then trimmed and then prepared based on the principle that the inside is effectively sterile. Again, if I were to prepare it, that's what I would do. What you do is up to you!

I agree it is totally a personal choice, so apologies, if I upset you.
 
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