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The newer Anova will work in a stock pot or dutch oven. The older Anova and the older Nomiku might have problems with the low volume, but I've
even done the newer Anova in a medium sized saucepan (obviously I was
doing something small like eggs). The insulation just affects how much
heat you'll lose to the environment which will affect the energy
consumption. A stainless stock pot isn't well insulated but it works.

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For now I use a stock pot since it's just me and my wife and I don't have long cook times. But I'm working on a setup for larger volume and longer cook times (24 hour plus) with a 20 dollar cooler and a sousvide supreme rack.

Thanks. That helps, too. I think I'm sold on it.

Finally got one and gave it a try. Cooked two beautiful new york strips from readfields. 129 at an hour and fifteen. Seared the ever loving hell out of it one minute to a side in canola and cast iron. Only used pepper and salt and then used a little garlic and butter for the sear.

Came out amazing. The missus was stunned. She was very skeptical about the whole thing but when the finished product was in front of her she shut up quite quickly. I of course forgot to take pictures. My first time so I'll tweak it a bit next time. Might add an aromatic and chop the time down to an hour and 5 minutes or maybe just an hour.

Overall though very impressed and delighted how easy it was.

That's really good information, thanks. I used to be pretty relaxed about this stuff, but my micro professor kind of scared me and said she only eats stuff well done. So what's a good temperature to kill the more common bugs, like campylobacter, EHEC, salmonella, etc, for like 12-24 hours of sous vide? Is 122F enough for pretty much everything common?

Also, how do I get better flavor penetration into something like a pot roast? Should I marinate before starting cooking? Inject it?

I think most recommend staying at 130 or above for long sous vide preparations . Take a look at this for a pretty readable discussion: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878450X11000035

Regarding marinades, I think flavors will penetrate pretty well if you just throw the spices into the bag when you start cooking. Some people say garlic powder works better than fresh garlic in sous vide. I've also read that you can sometimes accidentally cure your meat, giving it a different flavor and texture than you intended. I haven't played much with marinades.

i cooked a turkey breast sous vide for Thanksgiving a couple of years ago. I tasted like deli turkey meat when it was done. I think the salt and long cooking time cured it.

Is there any strategy for cooking and freezing? I was thinking that if I cooked the meat sous vide for 6 hours and then drain any excess fluid and freeze it, I could then warm it up and then brown it when ready to eat?

I'm just wonderin if there's a good way to sous vide in bulk. Or does the quality go down?

Bigtruck

I'm wondering the same thing. I cooked an extra chicken breast the other day and it went straight from the pot to the freezer to test that theory.

I think I've decided to pick up an Anova once they're on sale again to use to cook chicken breast or pork tenderloin during the week. I'm also curious to see what it could do to a steak.

Upon further examination there was a $50 off Father's Day coupon available, so I pulled the trigger. I look forward to trying it out.

trying a pork loin roast today. will report back

I've got a flank steak that is about to go down for a 24 hour soak at 135. I did a Kobe sirloin last night for an hour and a half at 127 and finished with the sear and torch method. After that, I can't see cooking a steak any other way. My only complaint is that some marbling didn't render all the way. I think I'll raise the temp to 131 or so next round and see what happens.

4 hours into a 72-hour short ribs bath

Will report back Wednesday night.

Any suggestions for a wine pairing?

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I've got a flank steak that is about to go down for a 24 hour soak at 135. I did a Kobe sirloin last night for an hour and a half at 127 and finished with the sear and torch method. After that, I can't see cooking a steak any other way. My only complaint is that some marbling didn't render all the way. I think I'll raise the temp to 131 or so next round and see what happens.

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Might want to give this a quick read over to give you some ideas on temperatures and timings: http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/06/food-lab-complete-guide-to-sous-vide-steak.html

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I've got a flank steak that is about to go down for a 24 hour soak at 135. I did a Kobe sirloin last night for an hour and a half at 127 and finished with the sear and torch method. After that, I can't see cooking a steak any other way. My only complaint is that some marbling didn't render all the way. I think I'll raise the temp to 131 or so next round and see what happens.

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Might want to give this a quick read over to give you some ideas on temperatures and timings: http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/06/food-lab-complete-guide-to-sous-vide-steak.html

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I used a similar guide for last night's steaks. My wife likes her steaks rare, but she wasn't fond of the unrendered fat. From reading online, it looks like you need to be >130 to ensure that the fat renders well.

I seasoned and shrink wrapped a chicken titty. I cooked it at 65C for 1:15. How long is it safe to eat in my fridge still shrink wrapped?

I saw several sites that said that flank steak could go for 24-48 hours. I did one for 24 and thought it was overdone. I think I'm going to dial it way back next time and see how it turns out. Next up I think I'm going to try sweet potato fries.

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I saw several sites that said that flank steak could go for 24-48 hours. I did one for 24 and thought it was overdone. I think I'm going to dial it way back next time and see how it turns out.

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Before I was introduced to sous vide I thought there was no such thing as steak that is too tender. Apparently 96 hours at 131F is a tad excessive...

I'm going to try sweet potato fries this evening, chicken tomorrow, and pork tenderloin and flank steak for tacos later in the week. So far my Anova has been worth the money. I wish I'd bought one sooner.

The Anova is on sale for $139.99 as part of Amazon Prime Day.

What did you do with the sweet potato fries?

We are trying pork belly this week.

I did them for 45 minutes at 180 and then flash fried them at 375 to finish them. They were ok, but nothing I'd do again.

Was it a flash sale? Showing as $179 for me.

Had no idea what was for dinner tonight. Briefly considered going out, but decided to stay in and do some steaks.

The NY strips (Choice) were frozen when I got home, but I thawed them out in the sink, seasoned them with garlic salt and black pepper, and put 'em in a Playmate cooler with the Anova set at 133*.

God, they were perfect Med-Rare and melted in your mouth. Some of the fatty membranes weren't as broken down as they would have been if the steaks had bathed for a few more hours, but mmmmm! they were good!

My wife steamed some broccoli and made bernaise sauce (for her, I don't like it.) Great meal, SOOOO simple.

Oh yeah, she likes her steaks done a little more than me, so she seared both sides of hers in a cast iron skillet with butter. I just used a brulee torch to do the top of mine. (normally I do this on the gas grill, but I'm out of propane right now.)

If anyone has hesitations on getting an Anova or similiar, I have to recommend trying one. I haven't even followed up on my grandiose plans to do other foods with mine, but the perfect steaks after perfect steaks after perfect steaks makes it WELL worth it!

Why bother with thawing them before the soak?

I throw frozen **** in all the time. I usually season the meat, throw in some herbs, seal and freeze.

Then just grab dinner out of the freezer, throw it in the water, turn it on and go to work.

I thawed them just so that I wasn't salting and peppering frozen cubes of steak. As long as an eighth of an inch or so on each side was thawed, that's all I wanted.

I guess I could season them completely frozen, but I have a hard time getting my head around that being "right" to do... probably just an example of old habits dying hard.

I do about half and half. You loose any flexibility when you preseason but it is convenient

I had thought of doing that (season, then freeze) but didn't trust whether the steaks would taste right if they sat in the freezer for 6 months or so... I really don't try new stuff with steaks, I like 'em how I like 'em - so I may start doing that.

I picked up one of the Anovas during the recent Amazon sale. I have a lot of frozen and vacuum-sealed meat in the freezer, but none of it is seasoned. Do I need to thaw or can I just throw seasonings/herbs in with whatever oil/fat and then reseal?

Also - any ideas for venison ham steak via sous vide?

Anyone have prefs over pan searing or torching?

I've done the pan searing and love it but it is a godawful PITA with all the smoke. Plus I have a smaller cast iron pan so it throws grease everywhere and i have to armor up to flip them. Is torching just as good?

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Anyone have prefs over pan searing or torching?

I've done the pan searing and love it but it is a godawful PITA with all the smoke. Plus I have a smaller cast iron pan so it throws grease everywhere and i have to armor up to flip them. Is torching just as good?

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If it's a small cut of meat or for doing touchups I use the torch. But the cast iron searing gets the job done faster and more evenly. I use a low smoke temp oil and I have to disable the smoke alarms around the kitchen but it's worth it. As for the grease splatter I use this:

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Anyone have prefs over pan searing or torching?

I've done the pan searing and love it but it is a godawful PITA with all the smoke. Plus I have a smaller cast iron pan so it throws grease everywhere and i have to armor up to flip them. Is torching just as good?

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The torch method works well if you are only doing a couple steaks. Any more than 2 and I will use a combination of cast iron skillet and torch with searzall to keep the top side hot. .

Finally got a decent cooking torch. I only cook for two so it is much easier than pan searing. Thanks for the advice.

I made sous vide burgers for the first time with a toasted but sauted onions and roasted green chilis. I doubt a grilled burger will ever match it.