Soldato
I hadn't thought of freezing - blimey that's a bit obvious! To be honest I haven't looked into it that much lately as i'm waiting to buy a house to fit out a kitchen properly and that probably won't be for a year or so
Sous-vide cooking and vacuum sealing
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I hadn't thought of freezing - blimey that's a bit obvious! To be honest I haven't looked into it that much lately as i'm waiting to buy a house to fit out a kitchen properly and that probably won't be for a year or so
I have no idea how well it would work, but the theory is sound enough. I guess it just requires a fair bit of prep to accomplish.
Mind you, if you're the sort of organised cook who will spend the weekend preparing various stocks, sauces and other liquid bases and then freezing them into ice-cube trays, simply popping your chosen cube into the bag with your other ingredients ought to be a doddle.
Hmm, it all sounds so easy when you write it down...
Well, I took the plunge and bought one, but I'm afraid to say it's going back already. The damn thermostat was faulty, which somewhat rendered the unit inoperable.
I'm in two minds about whether to get another one as there were a few things about it that left me a little underwhelmed, but nothing that you could really consider a deal-breaker when it costs a third of the comparable professional-quality device. I guess it just felt a little flimsy in certain areas (mainly the lid, which didn't have the same heft of the rest of the unit) but it looked the part and brought a smile to my face every time I walked into the kitchen and spotted it - which is a bit sad, now I think about it...
All that being said, I did manage to use it to make a few things which came out fairly decently, but ultimately I was effectively using nothing more than a glorified metal coolbox with a LCD display and some buttons on the front!
I'm in two minds about whether to get another one as there were a few things about it that left me a little underwhelmed, but nothing that you could really consider a deal-breaker when it costs a third of the comparable professional-quality device. I guess it just felt a little flimsy in certain areas (mainly the lid, which didn't have the same heft of the rest of the unit) but it looked the part and brought a smile to my face every time I walked into the kitchen and spotted it - which is a bit sad, now I think about it...
All that being said, I did manage to use it to make a few things which came out fairly decently, but ultimately I was effectively using nothing more than a glorified metal coolbox with a LCD display and some buttons on the front!
Just a little update on this, should anyone be interested.
Having finally received my refund for the faulty unit, I turned to my local trusty department store (probably where I ought to have gone in the first place) and bought a replacement machine. I didn't really get a lot out of the last one but my sous-vide itch hadn't been fully scratched and I really wanted to see what this machine could do with a working thermostat.
I've now spent a few days with the new unit trying to get to grips with it and while there are many positives to be drawn from my experiences, there are one or two niggles which may well result in me sending this one back. So far it has not been anything electrical at fault; more to do with the actual design of the unit and that bloody stupid lid I mentioned in a previous post.
Anyway, I digress. If anyone is really interested I'll put together a comprehensive review of the SousVide Supreme along with some proper photographs when I have time to do both those things justice.
For now though, I thought some of you may appreciate some poor-quality phone pictures of something I was messing around with earlier.
What we have here is a somewhat unappetising-looking piece of pork fillet having been cooked for 2 hours at 58ºC, taken out of the bath and patted dry with some paper towel:
However, one hot pan and some vegetable oil later; it carves into this:
Melt in the mouth tender pork fillet, perfectly cooked through and packed full of flavour. I've never tasted anything like it - this machine could just well find a permanent spot in my kitchen after all...
Having finally received my refund for the faulty unit, I turned to my local trusty department store (probably where I ought to have gone in the first place) and bought a replacement machine. I didn't really get a lot out of the last one but my sous-vide itch hadn't been fully scratched and I really wanted to see what this machine could do with a working thermostat.
I've now spent a few days with the new unit trying to get to grips with it and while there are many positives to be drawn from my experiences, there are one or two niggles which may well result in me sending this one back. So far it has not been anything electrical at fault; more to do with the actual design of the unit and that bloody stupid lid I mentioned in a previous post.
Anyway, I digress. If anyone is really interested I'll put together a comprehensive review of the SousVide Supreme along with some proper photographs when I have time to do both those things justice.
For now though, I thought some of you may appreciate some poor-quality phone pictures of something I was messing around with earlier.
What we have here is a somewhat unappetising-looking piece of pork fillet having been cooked for 2 hours at 58ºC, taken out of the bath and patted dry with some paper towel:
However, one hot pan and some vegetable oil later; it carves into this:
Melt in the mouth tender pork fillet, perfectly cooked through and packed full of flavour. I've never tasted anything like it - this machine could just well find a permanent spot in my kitchen after all...
Aye, I've read reasonable things about the SVM controller - http://freshmealssolutions.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=73&Itemid=100086
Would be interested. Do you think it's something you'll get a lot of use out of?
Soldato
Also interested here! 
Looks ace
Looks ace
Soldato
Just seen this! Really hard to comment really as you don't see much of anything going on and I've got nothing to reference. I applied last year and got a tel interview, but this year got a bit further. You cook for them but it has to be cold as you take it down there, rather than cook in front of them like the first show thing. That would have been cool.
This was much more "to see what you'd be like on TV" it seemed. Face fits and all that. Probably my face for radio or that I didn't have an interesting enough back story... (my excuse). They ask you some questions about motivations etc etc all in front of the camera and get you to plate up your dish.
Glad I didn't get it though really, which is weird to say, but I like the job I got now and since then have carried on doing a lot more cooking as well. Things will work out in a strange way.
Soldato
Having had a look at what prices are like nowadays - you can get a Polyscience Immersion Circulator for around £500 if you shop around. To me that looks a much better bet than an SVS?
Soldato
Absolutely.
Mostly that's because now I've tasted food cooked with this thing I don't really want to go back to anything else. I'm hooked.
But it also fits in really well with my cooking style. I can get in from work, get the SVS up to temperature, pop in a bag of food or three and get on with the rest of my afternoon before it's time to cook.
Okay, it's not going to be for everybody and it's somewhat useless for knocking up a quick dinner (unless we're talking fish, which is very quick) but if you've got time to plan these things through it works really well. I'm actually surprised at just how seamlessly it fits into my usual routine.
The only thing I need to figure out is whether making up a load of bags ready to cook at a later date is a good idea. Ideally you'd want to season the protein you're using before sealing the bag, but I'm not sure if doing this well in advance of cooking it would be a good thing or a bad thing.
Not to me.
If I had my way, and I could justify the expense, I'd have a Clifton Unstirred Digital Bath (either 8 or 14 litre) as that's what I've had previous experience with, but I really think the SVS is the next best thing to that.
The biggest problem with the Polyscience model is that you've got to find some sort of tank or container to use it with. On the upside it can be used with virtually anything, but that's still an additional expense. And then you've got to find somewhere to store the pieces and assemble them each time you want to use it.
What I like (and am growing to love) about the SVS is that it sits on my kitchen worktop, tucked away in the corner, taking up about the same space as a microwave or a bread maker would. And I can happily leave it full of water and ready to use, something that I don't see as being possible with the Polyscience unit.
Obviously that has portability that the SVS doesn't, but I'm not really planning on taking it anywhere - but if I did, it's just a matter of decanting the water into two large bottles, packing the unit away and off you go.
Soldato
Interesting - my mate was telling me earlier he had similar experiences when he had an IC in that you had the container problem. I thought there would be some kind of container accessory to the Polyscience that would be reasonably priced but that doesn't seem to be the case!
Storage wise I still think it would have some benefits though given it wouldn't be too big. I'd like to see some comparisons in terms of energy usage though.
In theory it's a great idea, in reality you need to find a suitable vessel to pair it with.
The general idea with an IC is that it would be used in a professional kitchen and they'd have a ready supply of suitable Gastronorm Containers to pair with the unit. Those of us without a fully-stocked kitchen to play with would need to buy one, but they're readily available from most kitchen equipment suppliers.
However, the stainless steel units aren't very large - certainly nothing like the size of the SVS unit, which is pretty much ideal. You can get polycarbonate Gastronorm Containers with more suitable dimensions, but I'd have thought you'd be losing a lot of heat from one of those.
There's certainly a size advantage and it packs away neatly into that little briefcase, but the benefits of the SVS outweigh any of the negatives when it comes to size, at least for me.
And the additional benefit of it being an all-in-one unit that is always ready for action just seals the deal even further.
In terms of energy usage and the SVS, according to one Mr H M Blumenthal of Bray, Berkshire; 'once it's brought up to temperatures, it uses power at a rate of 60 watts', which is good to know.
I'd like to do my own tests, but I've got no idea how to go about that. Anyone able to lend me a set of those energy monitors?
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Not specific to the SVS but still worthwhile, from one of QuickLink's links - http://www.sousvidecooking.org/sous_vide_electricity_energy_consumption/
Soldato
A lot of people will cook the meat (etc) and then ice bath it instantly for about half the time it cooked for to get the core temps right down then fridge it. Will last then for up to 10 days but about a week apparently is best. Then you just bath it at 50deg when you need it. This means it won't cook any more at this temp but just bring the core up. Then sear the outside and done. Good way for big restaurants to ensure the same cooking for meats.
Very interesting - thanks for taking the time to explain. I may well ask if I can pick your brains on that subject at a later date.
Do the Cool Box version first; it works just as well as you'll need it to and it's a lot of fun to play around with.
You will need an accurate temperature probe though - I'd strongly recommend a Thermapen as it will serve you for years to come.
I honestly think it will start to find a way into more and more homes as knowledge on the subject increases, but I doubt it will ever become as ubiquitous as the microwave.
I'd say this was pretty much spot-on.
Waitrose are certainly one of the supermarkets stocking an increasing amount of food that is ready to cook sous-vide, albeit apparently unintentionally, but there's a long way to go yet.
I know a couple of guys who are trying to introduce a range of gourmet ready meals that can be cooked sous-vide if you choose (namely by vac-packing everything for reasons of freshness and convenience) but they're not getting much support from the retailers.
Soldato
