I made yogurt in my sous vide. It has an excellent flavor, but the texture is looser because it doesn't have any binders in it. It couldn't be easier to make.
http://chefsteps.com/activities/easy-delicious-sous-vide-yogurt

What kind of Yogurt did you use?

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What kind of Yogurt did you use?

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I've done yogurt many times. The first batch you just use a single serving of plain yogurt, and then use some of what's left from your last batch from then on out as your 'starter'. When I get down to half a cup or so, I empty into a small bowl so I can clean my jar out and wash it well, to limit other things that tend to grow in it over time, mainly mold. I then add my milk while it's still hot, so that (in my mind, at least) it kills off anything left alive in there.

I did my last couple of batches at 111. No real reason, except I was aiming for 110, and when I stopped, I left it there. I let it go for 8-12 hours, depending on when I start it (usually leave it overnight).

I keep mine in one of these, because the wide mouth makes it easier to get a measuring cup into it, and it fits more volume than a quart mason jar:
50 oz blue lid jar

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I made yogurt in my sous vide. It has an excellent flavor, but the texture is looser because it doesn't have any binders in it. It couldn't be easier to make.
http://chefsteps.com/activities/easy-delicious-sous-vide-yogurt

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Are you cooking the milk before the soak?

You got to get them caseins to denature and get all tangled up and ****.

Don't you science bro?

Read the link bro.

That would make too much sense.

Bro, that'd be great if my HEB had that brand of yogurt. That's why I asked.

If the yogurt is plain and contains live cultures (it will say on the label if it does), you can use it.

I'm trying Yukult right now. I'll let y'all know how it goes.

I've had better luck with the freeze dried cultures that came in the little packets.
Check central market or a brewing supply store.

You can also add powdered milk to jack with the thickness

It smells and tastes like yogurt. Thickness of milk.

Yukult has the wrong culture to turn milk into yogurt. Use yogurt for your culture next time.

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It smells and tastes like yogurt. Thickness of milk.

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Sounds like kefir. Good for smoothies, at least.

I just use HEB brand plain yogurt, or chobani plain Greek yogurt. There aren't many plain yogurt selections in the small containers.

In the past, I used the Alton Brown recipe, which only precooks the milk to 140deg. Didn't thicken up enough. Getting it to the 180's has made all the difference.

Here's a 24 hour sous vide sirloin, shot for absolutely no reason with a 42 megapixel camera and macro lens.

24 hours is entirety too long for a sirloin

I agree, I intended to come home at lunch and eat it but got held up at the office. It still tasted ok, mainly wanted the picture.

Picture looks good

Picture is fantastic! I'm sure it probably had an interesting texture after the 24 hr cook.haha Nice work though!

I thought with a sous vide, it didn't matter how long the meat cooked because it never goes over temp. Am I wrong?

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I thought with a sous vide, it didn't matter how long the meat cooked because it never goes over temp. Am I wrong?

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Even though the meat never goes above a set temp, it still breaks down. I learned this the hard way when I followed a 24 flank steak recipe. The steak was medium rare, but it was so tender that it shredded when I tried to cut it.

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I thought with a sous vide, it didn't matter how long the meat cooked because it never goes over temp. Am I wrong?

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Even though the meat never goes above a set temp, it still breaks down. I learned this the hard way when I followed a 24 flank steak recipe. The steak was medium rare, but it was so tender that it shredded when I tried to cut it.

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Exactly. Part of the attraction to sous vide is the continual heat exposure releases enzymes that break down collagen and the connective tissue of tougher cuts of meat, essentially making a tough cut of meat feel like a ribeye. It'll break down the meat no matter whether it's tough or not, so the sirloin in that picture was pretty much mush because I left it in for too long. It still tasted like steak but the texture was very different.

For a sirloin anywhere from 1-10 hours is good, over that it turns mushy in my experience.

I personally don't ever shoot for more than 1.5-2 hours unless it is a super thick cut of meat

The thing to keep in mind is meat thickness and cooking time isn't linear, it's exponential. That being said, for any steak an inch thick or less, an hour is enough.

The polycarbonate box I bought as a sous vide container has developed cracks in the bottom and flooded the kitchen counter. Wondering if it was just bad luck or if this is a problem with this kind of material. And wondering what to replace it with.

I have a few of those in smaller sizes. They have been ok for me so far, but I haven't used them for sous vide. I have put them in the upper rack of the dishwasher, but I don't use the heated dry on them.

How do you do wash yours? Thanks for the warning.

I'm slightly confused about sous vide'ing. When you're cooking at say 130F, the temperature is not high enough to start breaking down the collagen so the steaks still retain their texture even though theyve been cooked for hours on end?

If you want the slow cooked texture (brisket, pulled pork, etc), then you need to set the water bath to a slightly higher temperature?

Time plays a big part in breaking down the collagen. At 130 it takes longer to break down but you can definitely reduce a steak to mush in a couple days (I did a good bit of experimenting when I first got started). I wouldn't cook a steak for more than 4-6 hr as you start to lose the steak texture.

I've cooked the tougher cuts like brisket and flank for 2-4 days and they come out fall apart tender.

Those polycarbonate boxes should work fine. It may have just been a product defect, or if it was ever dropped, that could have weakened it to cause it to crack.

For the other question about collagen breakdown and time and temperature: collagen breakdown depends on two factors, time and temperature (this is technically not true, but we'll say it is for this purpose). Lots of people like 72-hour short ribs because you get very tender rib meat that you can cook to a medium rare doneness. I've done pork spare ribs, but I cook those at 165dF for about nine hours because I like them that way. It really comes down to preference and what you are trying to achieve.

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The polycarbonate box I bought as a sous vide container has developed cracks in the bottom and flooded the kitchen counter. Wondering if it was just bad luck or if this is a problem with this kind of material. And wondering what to replace it with.

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I skipped on buying the cambro and just macguyver'd an old Igloo cooler for large jobs. I typically just use a stock pot covered in foil.

Thanks, all. It did last more than a year, and I don't recall if it had been dropped. I thought about doing a cooler, but the space they take up for the volume is a problem in our kitchen. I think I'll just buy a replacement, since the lid I customized should still be usable.

I just use my stock / pasta pots.

I have a large cambro (4 or 5 gallon?) that came with mine when I bought it several years ago, and it's held up fine. I bought a smaller one, like the one you linked to, for when I don't want to fill the bigger one. I've used stock pots as well. My circulator won't fit over the side of any of my smaller coolers, or I'd have been using one of them, to be honest. I actually did buy a cheap Styrofoam one at one point, but it wasn't water tight, leaching water through the walls.

I'm thinking about selling my Anova 2. I bought it a couple months ago, but I've only used it 4 or 5 times, and I figure I'm just not using it enough to make it worth holding on to. I reside in Temple, but will be driving to Houston for the holidays.

I've got a brother-in-law who might be interested potentially. I assume it is the Bluetooth version? Also, do you have a price in mind, or would it be better to discuss via PM here?

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I've got a brother-in-law who might be interested potentially. I assume it is the Bluetooth version? Also, do you have a price in mind, or would it be better to discuss via PM here?

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Sorry, I missed this before. It is the bluetooth version. $130?