Sous Vide Cooking

So a little help here gentlemen,,

My loverly bride came home the other day going on about these new Starbucks Sous Vide Egg Bites
Now being the smart gal she is, she knows I will NOT give Starbucks any money (Anti-Gun stance) so she says,

"Honey can you make these for me at home"

So after doing a bit of searching on the internet I find that a Immersion Cooker is needed,, So HELP !!!

Without breaking the bank have you guys used any of these that work well or more importantly any that are really bad ???

Seems pretty straight forward recipes once I have the Immersion Cooker plus I am seeing some other recipes that look interesting

Any guidance is welcome and appreciated....

If you would like to just dip your toe in. You can aproximate the result with an induction hotplate and some heavy duty plastic wrap.

Set the hotplate to 172°f or lower. Add a half inch of water. Then just poach the egg mix till set. In ether well greased poaching tray or baggies made from plastic wrap.

Lay a large square of heavy duty food grade plastic wrap over a small bowl. Fill the plastic wrap with the egg mix. Bring up the corners to make a sack. Gently grasp the sack above the mix twisting the top to seal the sack. Set aside and repeat until you have enough for a batch. Then poach till set.

Most of the cheap induction hotplates come with a compatable skilet, but castiron will do well also. Be cautious about the exact temp setting and increments. The usual ten increments over a large temp range makes for wide steps. So precise control may not be cheap.

If you would rather go the route of building one with a pid controller and other hardware there are many good guides.

Jonathan

Sent from my LGL44VL using Tapatalk

Glen,

Just to get you started... (I'm no fan of Sous Vide), search for "anova precision cooker" on Amazon. I'm not recommending it, nor any of the other brands that are available. However, it simply hangs on the edge of any container (bucket, stock pot etc.) and both heats and circulates the water at the temperature you have set. You will still have to package the food in some sort of waterproof container. Things like steaks are typically placed in a vacuum packed bag, or perhaps a zip lock bag (again, I don't do sous vide, don't like the idea, not interested in it even... but I have seen and read a little about it). The item I mentioned above will have some sort of maximum volume of water it can heat... so read all the specs before buying one.

If I just HAD TO cook something sous vide, I'd do it in a pot on the stove with an accurate thermometer hanging on the edge of the pot and slowly stir it to make sure the water is at an even temperature from top to bottom. Just letting it heat from the bottom will cause the temp to vary throughout the bath, which is why Sous Vide cookers circulate the water with a pump.

As for Charbucks.... over roasted coffee beans and ludicrous prices, not to mention all the crap they put in their so called espresso drinks, I've not set foot in their outlets since my first cup of coffee from them years ago.

Regards

Kaptain "Respect the coffee bean!" Zero

I have done this.

Mixed my omelet ingredients, put them in a one gallon zip lock bag, and put the bag in a large pot of boiling water. Was tasty and very easy to do.

What does the "sous vide" do?

Low temp longer cook times. From what I see if you want your meat cooked to 140'f then you put it in 140'f water and wait until it gets there.

I like crust on my food and so this hasn't appealed to me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 32t

Low temp longer cook times. From what I see if you want your meat cooked to 140'f then you put it in 140'f water and wait until it gets there.

I like crust on my food and so this hasn't appealed to me.

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I watched a video about Sou Vide, and in it they cooked a stake. After they took it out of the pot, they seared it on each side real quick. When they cit it it looked very juicy on the inside.

I told my wife a few weeks a go I am getting one of those this year.

It's a classic method used by some restaurants.... Sous Vide a steak to the required temp, and keep it there until an order comes in.... say medium rare, so the cook just grabs a steak from the Sous Vide that is set to that temperature, cuts open the bag and tosses the steak on a super hot grill and just browns it up on the outside with any seasoning they choose. Bang it on a plate and out it goes, cooked to perfect internal temperature without thinking.

Shamelessly lifted from Wikipedia:

Quote:

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Sous-vide (/suːˈviːd/; French for ‘under vacuum’)[1] is a method of cooking in which food is sealed in a vacuum-sealed plastic pouch then placed in a water bath or in a temperature-controlled steam environment for longer than normal cooking times (usually 1 to 7 hours, up to 48 or more in some select cases) at an accurately regulated temperature much lower than normally used for cooking, typically around 55 to 60 °C (131 to 140 °F) for meat and higher for vegetables. The intent is to cook the item evenly, ensuring that the inside is properly cooked without overcooking the outside, and retain moisture.

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So there you go. Not my cup of tea, but sometimes it's the only way to achieve a goal, and sometimes it's done for sheer convenience or even laziness (the latter being my personal opinion).

Regards

Kaptain "Hot water bad, fire good" Zero

Sous-vide no one can hear your food scream.

When you want to first "dip your toe", before going all-in...

https://scontent-mia1-1.cdninstagram...MDExOQ%3D%3D.2

I wonder if you could do something like this in a double boiler to get a more controlled temp
https://anovaculinary.com/easy-homem...ide-egg-bites/

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JBHoren

When you want to first "dip your toe", before going all-in...

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Interesting method of toe dipping there.

:roflmao

I suppose it is a good way to keep your wiener safe.

Sounds like an awful lot of work just to boil an egg...

:hmmm:

Hmmm.... Glen, this may be more up your alley:

From Wikipedia again:

Quote:

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It is possible to duplicate some effects of sous-vide techniques [17] through the use of a beer cooler filled with warm water, checked with an accurate thermometer, and ziploc bags with the air removed to package the food for cooking. However, the heat loss involved in this technique makes it unfeasible for long-term (4+ hours) cooking.

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So I'll bring the beer cooler, you supply the eggs and the warm water. I'll drink the cold beer and try not to laugh out loud...... too much.

Regards,

Kaptain "All this to make "egg bites" like Starbucks?" Zero [Insert sound of eyes rolling here] [OK, add the sound of a snicker here for good measure]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JBHoren

When you want to first "dip your toe", before going all-in...

https://scontent-mia1-1.cdninstagram...MDExOQ%3D%3D.2

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Looks like someone is boiling their sausages in condoms. Interesting.

These guys have the recipe for Starbucks style eggs: https://anovaculinary.com/easy-homem...ide-egg-bites/
I have seen their cooker for 119 USD at Amazon. I bet that is very modest compared to what you spend on razors and hones, a great price to keep the missus happy and stop her from buying from your enemy.

I somehow missed this thread. Yes, I cook sous vide frequently. While it is a very versitile form of cooking, there are a lot of do's and don'ts. If you are interested in getting started, I suggest getting an Anova circulator. The price/quality ratio is very high and the unit is versatile in that it can be attached to a lot of different vessels. You'll also need a vacuum sealer to package your items before you put them in the water bath. Sous Vide is a constant balance of time and temperature. In many instances we consider food cooked when it hits a certain temperature. Easy enough. But food is considered "cooked" when certain things happen. When your eggs are no longer runny, you might consider them cooked. When a tough cut of meat is finally tender, its cooked. When your steak is perfectly medium rare, its cooked. But your chicken is cooked when its well done BUT still juicy because we need to ensure that its safe to eat. Without sous vide, these too are matters of time and temperature. The chicken is cooked when it reaches 160-165 since bacteria dies immediately at 165. The steak is done when it hits approximately 125 degrees. And the tough cut is done when it has been cooked long enough to tenderize it. This is all typical for normal cooking. Its also true for sous vide with an exception. You have control to tenderize that tough cut and still keep it pink inside. Why? Because you can control the time and temperature. When its done, its still pink, tender, and juicy. But it may take you 72 hours to get there. Your chicken can be cooked just below 150. Why? Because at 150 degrees the proteins in the meat begin to fully tighten and force juices out. But because you can hold it at that temperature for a longer period you can kill the bacteria that would otherwise be a concern. Its just that harmful bacteria dies at lower temperatures too but it takes longer to do it. But you can't hold your chicken at 148 consistently with traditional cooking. With sous vide you can. But because you are playing this high wire act with temperature and time, you have to be aware of lower temperatures because you are holding your food right smack dab in the middle of the danger zone. So you need to limit the size of the item going in such that it does not hang in that danger zone too long. No 72 hours at 125. So read up on it because it has great potential but it can also be a bacteria death trap if you don't pay attention to what you are doing. Here are a few pro's and con's of sous vide.

Pros -

Consistency. You can get a perfect result every single time. You can cook with an expensive cut with confidence.
Flavor. Because food is trapped in a vacuum bag, flavor does not escape. Vegetables cooked sous vide taste more vibrant.
Flexibility. You can't over cook in sous vide. If you want med rare you will only get med rare. If your guest is running late, you won't overcook the food.
Originality. You can do things with sous vide that would otherwise be impossible. You can tenderize AND keep that item juicy and med in doneness.


Cons

Time. Much of the sous vide process takes additional time to accomplish. Its not a fast cooking method.
Equipment. It requires more equipment that you may or may not have.
Possibly dangerous. If you don't keep time and temperature in mind, you can create a bag of death.

The military has been cooking via "Sous Vide" for years. It's just called UGR's.

There's bound to be a "survivalist" type compound somewhere up there in your neck of the woods Glen. Stop by their compound (real nice like and make sure you announce your presence) and ask if they have a "breakfast" UGR you can get from them (be sure it's the breakfast...it has those awesome scrambled eggs). I'd send you one, but I haven't been in the field in a while.

Spent 3 months in Africa with nothing but UGR breakfast in the morning, then rice sandwiches for lunch and dinner. Sous Vide in the Jungle BABY!

I don't know if anyone is still following this thread. But here is a good intro to Sous Vide.

https://anovaculinary.com/what-is-sous-vide/

This was some venison I did Sous Vide late last year. Very lean meats like venison can overcook in a flash. But with Sous Vide its not a problem.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/plate...ml#post1681640