My ANOVA sous vide circulator arrived!

[flamin lib]

http://anova.myshopify.com/

A bit larger than I expected at 2 5/8 diameter x 15 tall, but still small enough to store in the kitchen. Precalibrated to +- .01 C which is way overkill but the company makes scientific waterbaths and chillers so it's manufactured to that specification. It fits any container at least 7 inches tall so I'm using my 12 quart stock pot but it can be used with ice chests up to 1.5 inches thick. Now I van sous vide roasts or whole poultry if I want! Wonder how long a turkey would take . . .

I've been happy with my Aqua Chef (+- 1 C http://www.aquachef.com/ ) but even though the bath is too small cook more than two chicken breasts it takes up too much counter space so I store it in the garage when not in use and I had to modify it to make it more practical (added insulation, circulation pump etc).

The only thing is that they don't provide shipping confirmation or tracking number unless you ask for it and it takes 7-10 days to ship plus 5 days FedEx time. If you live in Texas you'll pay sales tax because it's manufactured in a Houston suburb (yea!).

Sous vide is becoming my cooking method of choice, partucularly for beef. Cooked beef short ribs at 128 F for 2 1/2 days and they looked/tasted medium rare but were as tender as tenderloin! Chuck steak cooked at 128 F for 12 hours tastes like medium rare ribeye. Because it's vacuum sealed I can prepare steak a day or two in advance and reheat without it tasting "left over". You do have to sear or brown the meat after cooking but that happens extremely fast.

[Sentath]

1. Have you found this method to be of any use for Chicken or Fish?

Dad says he is off Beef and Pork long term.

[flamin lib]

2. Oh yeah! Chicken breasts are moist and fish is never overdone.

I don't care for shellfish cooked this way but fin fish is easy and pretty quick. Salmon @ 124 F for 20 minutes is perfect to my taste.

Season with your favorite recipe and then seal. I like tarragon and lemon zest.

Veggies are good too. Carrots @ 183 F for 45 minutes are tender-crisp and taste more 'carroty' because there is no flavor leached out into the cooking water. I'm still working on other veggies to find my perfect temp/time. The good news is that whatever you do it will be EXACTLY the same next time you do it so you can refine the doneness to your taste exactly.

There are apps for your cell phone or android device and I-whatever that give you time and temp recommendations. Google is your friend.

[sir pball]

3. The separate bath is a must-have

The Aqua Chef, Sous Vide Supreme, and the other all-in-ones are OK, but I don't like the built-in container. With a separate unit, it's much easier to use oil as the cooking bath - which is actually the way I prefer to cook red meat. Short ribs cooked medium-rare in duck fat (that I didn't pay for!) and seared quickly are like nothing I've ever eaten before. Cleanup is a little bit of a pain but it's totally worth it.

[flamin lib]

4. Chill the fat and seal it in the sous vide bag with the food and cook in a water bath as usual.

The flavor of confeit without the cleanup.

[sir pball]

5. That works and I do it too

It's how I usually do duck legs; it's a great way to store them - bag them with fat, cook, freeze, reheat as needed. A full oil bath gives a certain extra je ne sais quoi that's totally worth it IMO...cleanup, just run the circulator in a small pot of 95 degree soapy water for a few minutes. Biggest problem at home is storing a gallon+ of oil.