I just got a searzall. Anyone have any tips for use? How long, for instance do you spend searing a steak? Any tried and true techniques?

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I just got a searzall. Anyone have any tips for use? How long, for instance do you spend searing a steak? Any tried and true techniques?

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I like to use mine along with a cast iron skillet. I typically get the cast iron screaming hot and do about 45s per side using the searzall to get the edges and touch up the top.

You can do the entire sear using the searzall but takes too much time in my opinion if you are doing more than a couple steaks...

Pictures

Time and temp?

125F for 3 hours I think, after salting and leaving on a cookie rack uncovered in the fridge for a day

Bump

I just got a Joule for my birthday. One general question I have and I have not done too much research. How many pieces of meat can you add to one 1 gallon bag? Say my family of four wants steaks can I sous vide 4 steaks in one bag? Same goes for all other protein. 4 being the magic number.

Btron said:

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Bump

I just got a Joule for my birthday. One general question I have and I have not done too much research. How many pieces of meat can you add to one 1 gallon bag? Say my family of four wants steaks can I sous vide 4 steaks in one bag? Same goes for all other protein. 4 being the magic number.

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I would probably stick to two steaks per 1 gallon bag. And be sure to use freezer bags. They are a little sturdier.

Some meats you have to keep each piece of meat separate, like salmon, otherwise the pieces of meat can fuse together. So far I have only seen this with salmon and cook other meats in a bag together.

Edit: I feel like I should clarify. If you can have everything in one layer, feel free to put the steaks in one bag. I'm not sure it would matter, but I just wouldn't want two or more pieces of meat stacked.

I've done three steaks in a bag no problem, but I make sure they aren't touching. Why? I'm not real sure, but that's just how I've done it. If you're using a gallon bag, I would limit it to three, but if you're using a vacuum sealer, you can get away with a little more, and I've got some filets and chicken breasts I've got 4 to a bag.

The limiting factor on number of steaks in a bag is only the ability to make sure the bag stays submerged and doesn't open. The point of sous vide is that given sufficient time, everything gets to a uniform temp. So it doesn't matter if you bag each steak separately or all together, they will all end up the same.

Any of y'all watch this youtube channel? This guy does a bunch of sous vide experiments at a better scale and frequency that I'd be able to do myself. Answers a lot of questions about what types of meat sous vide in what ways and what spices/flavors translate better to the meat in sous vide, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpFuaxD-0PKLolFR3gWhrMw

I've watched him...for some reason I find him to be a bit of an idiot.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a brand of preseasoned pork tenderloin that you can just pull off the labels and drop in a sous vide pot without repackaging? I cooked one the other night like this and it was awesome to just sous vide, sear, and eat with no prep.

Even though it tasted great, I emailed the company's consumer affairs group whether it was OK and got a reply that "their products are non cook in bag that are not recommended to be cooked in the bag even at the lower temperatures." The bag structure/seal was fine. My only concern was the food safety of the packaging material. I specifically asked what the packaging was made of thinking I'd be OK with LDPE, HDPE, or PP. They, so far, haven't responded.

Anybody have a brand/product they know to be safe?

I've done it with the HEB prepackaged pork loins. Sometimes the plastic isn't as thick on the bottom of some prepackaged stuff and I would be weary of that, but if it's solid I go for it. No idea on the safety depending on the type, but I mean it would likely be leeching plastic in to the food anyhow since the food is stored in it.

Even if it's something that you'd think would be food safe, it likely isn't a pure polymer and may have other things leaching out that we know are bad for you, or are bad for you but no one has found evidence linking it to harm yet. Some researchers looked at BPA free bottles a few years ago and found that they not only still had BPA in them, but they had other chemicals leaching out.


On another note, what's the best cut of beef to sous vide? Like which cut is the perfect mix of fat and meat that you can only really get tender by long and low heat? Like some people like tenderloin for it's tenderness, but that's a waste in sous vide, and it's not really as flavorful as some other cuts. Doesn't have to be a steak cut either.

I really like tri tip done sous vide. Makes a cheap, easy, flavorful "roast" and with the flexibility of sous vide, you have plenty of time to do whatever other sides you want to go with it.

awesome sauce said:

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Does anyone have a recommendation for a brand of preseasoned pork tenderloin that you can just pull off the labels and drop in a sous vide pot without repackaging? I cooked one the other night like this and it was awesome to just sous vide, sear, and eat with no prep.

Even though it tasted great, I emailed the company's consumer affairs group whether it was OK and got a reply that "their products are non cook in bag that are not recommended to be cooked in the bag even at the lower temperatures." The bag structure/seal was fine. My only concern was the food safety of the packaging material. I specifically asked what the packaging was made of thinking I'd be OK with LDPE, HDPE, or PP. They, so far, haven't responded.

Anybody have a brand/product they know to be safe?

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I received a reply back that "we've reached out and confirmed with our package supplier that the packaging can be heated safely to this temperature for sous vide. I know you've already used this cooking method, but we wanted to reach out and verify with you that it's safe."

It was a PrairieFresh preseasoned pork loin from Walmart. They have several different seasoning flavors. I will buy it again. It is nice to not have to deal with repackaging and cleanup.

Amazon Prime Day Deal - Anova 800 Watts $99.
https://www.amazon.com/Anova-Culinary-Bluetooth-Precision-Cooker/dp/B00UKPBXM4/ref=gbps_tit_m-6_f45d_2181f1a5?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=c624455a-ed52-4f78-9f81-675ed6faf45d&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-6&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=13887280011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=089AWK0CXSQ5YKYAWRCW

Tursiops93 said:

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Amazon Prime Day Deal - Anova 800 Watts $99.

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About to pull the trigger on this one. There's also a Wi-Fi version available for 30 bucks more, but I don't really see the need -- does anyone wish theirs had Wi-Fi?

I have wifi. I have used it but don't think it's worth more than maybe $10 extra.

I pulled the trigger myself. Now to get past the, "this is gonna be cheating" thought! LOL

So I've been intrigued by SV lately and have been doing some reading and following along here and went ahead and bought that PrimeDay deal.

I'm diving into this a complete newbie to SV.

When cooking how do you determine the temp and time?

And if I'm marinating meat say pork chops...I usually marinate them for a couple hours in Italain dressing and grill. Do I need to marinate them with SV or can I just pour meat and dressing in a bag and go?

You could marinade, or just throw in a bag and go. We basically sous vide everything now, hit me up for any recipes.

i got sucked into the prime day deal as well.

Ag_07 said:

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So I've been intrigued by SV lately and have been doing some reading and following along here and went ahead and bought that PrimeDay deal.

I'm diving into this a complete newbie to SV.

When cooking how do you determine the temp and time?

And if I'm marinating meat say pork chops...I usually marinate them for a couple hours in Italain dressing and grill. Do I need to marinate them with SV or can I just pour meat and dressing in a bag and go?

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Kenji Lopez-Alt at Serious Eats has a really well put together sous vide section. It gives lots of details on time and temp combinations for a wide variety of foods. I use that a lot as my reference guide.

Anyone that is thinking about trying sous vide should jump at that Anova price. I've had that one since Christmas and it's great, highly recommend.

http://www.seriouseats.com/tags/sous%20vide

I think I'm going to take the plunge, so the consensus is that the $99 800 watt version is the better deal in comparison to the $129 900 watt wifi version? (at least it was $129 earlier today that deal may have disappeared by now but I still $99 deal)

Also, I know it is not an absolute requirement but I actually need a vacuum sealer for other things (large family, like to buy meat in bulk and freeze), but I saw this:

https://www.amazon.com/FoodSaver-Automatic-Sealing-Retractable-Handheld/dp/B00DI342B4/ref=sr_1_3?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1499796975&sr=1-3&keywords=foodsaver+vacuum+sealer

Is that a good deal? I see their is a 4800 series foodsaver that looks identical except for the button placement but it is $176 in comparison to the $136 linked above.

MarylandAG said:

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I think I'm going to take the plunge, so the consensus is that the $99 800 watt version is the better deal in comparison to the $129 900 watt wifi version? (at least it was $129 earlier today that deal may have disappeared by now but I still $99 deal)

Also, I know it is not an absolute requirement but I actually need a vacuum sealer for other things (large family, like to buy meat in bulk and freeze), but I saw this:

https://www.amazon.com/FoodSaver-Automatic-Sealing-Retractable-Handheld/dp/B00DI342B4/ref=sr_1_3?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1499796975&sr=1-3&keywords=foodsaver+vacuum+sealer

Is that a good deal? I see their is a 4800 series foodsaver that looks identical except for the button placement but it is $176 in comparison to the $136 linked above.

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I have that foodsaver and have been pleased with it. Bought it about 6 months back. I have used it for vacuum sealing portions of bulk purchases from costco, sealing brisket and other bbq for freezing, and with my annova for sous vide. The unit works well for all of those purposes so far. The bags are very easy to make and they offer several different size options. I did use the handheld sealer recently on some of the bags they provide with the unit and it didn't do the best job. It would work well for items you were sealing and putting in the fridge to extend life, but I wouldn't recommend them for freezing.

bigtruckguy3500 said:

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On another note, what's the best cut of beef to sous vide? Like which cut is the perfect mix of fat and meat that you can only really get tender by long and low heat? Like some people like tenderloin for it's tenderness, but that's a waste in sous vide, and it's not really as flavorful as some other cuts. Doesn't have to be a steak cut either.

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Flank Steak and Short Ribs have been revolutionized for me due to sous vide. Flank steak especially.

I got the Joule for my birthday and love the cook of the meat. I'm struggling with seasoning and flavor. Most of the recipes on the Joule app mostly call for S/P. I usually would cook with rubs and marinades.
For best results is it ok to season before the water bath with my rubs, or is it better to place the rub on before the sear step? Ok to cook with marinades? I'm assuming so based on the pork tenderloin examples above.

Last question of the day from me....which one?

Earlier in the day, Amazon had this for $129,, it is the 900 watt with wifi, model number is A3.2-120V

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HHWSV1S/ref=twister_B01BTNRUWW?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

That deal is gone from Amazon and is back to $199, however Best Buy has the exact same model number at the same price that Amazon had earlier, it is here:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/anova-precision-cooker-wifi/5251600.p?skuId=5251600

besides that the deal linked above for the 800 watt non wifi version is still active, it shows as $149 but will give you a $50 credit when you add it to your cart so it is effectively still $99

So the question is, I know above they say the wifi function is probably not worth the extra $30 but how about the extra watts, 800 vs 900? Which would you buy?

MarylandAG said:

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Last question of the day from me....which one?

Earlier in the day, Amazon had this for $129,, it is the 900 watt with wifi, model number is A3.2-120V

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HHWSV1S/ref=twister_B01BTNRUWW?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

That deal is gone from Amazon and is back to $199, however Best Buy has the exact same model number at the same price that Amazon had earlier, it is here:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/anova-precision-cooker-wifi/5251600.p?skuId=5251600

besides that the deal linked above for the 800 watt non wifi version is still active, it shows as $149 but will give you a $50 credit when you add it to your cart so it is effectively still $99

So the question is, I know above they say the wifi function is probably not worth the extra $30 but how about the extra watts, 800 vs 900? Which would you buy?

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Depends on the volume you will cook and how impatient you are. I think the 800w is fine for any typical household. The 900w will heat water faster and handle a larger volume.

Joule on sale for 139.00 if anyone was looking for a model better than the Anova. Higher wattage for faster heat up and smaller form factor.