# Having a "crack" at sous-vide



## Mick0s (24/3/14)

[Pun absolutely intended]

Having sold the idea of an STC-1000 to myself with the fact that I could use I to cook things sous-vide style, and after motivating a colleague who has no interest in homebrew enough that he bought a pre-wired unit and a rice cooker and tried it out before I got ever got around to it, I thought it was about time gave it a shot.

Having planned to put down a brew on Sunday, meaning that the controller would be out of action for a few weeks, this weekend was my chance.

So, out came the rice cooker, and I had a quick play on Saturday with just water to see how it'd handle the temperatures (not great. but not terrible), set the temp to 63 degrees, with a .02 degree differential, and was happy enough with the results. It would initially jump up to about 68, but after that would cycle between about 62.6 and 64.8.

Sunday morning, I got pushed out of bed an hour before the missus was going to be hungry in order to get it sorted in time, leaving her with a stirring 4 month old to look after (dodged a bullet there).





Hooked it all up, chucked 5 eggs in (one to test, and then two each) and left it alone for the best part of an hour. Stuck some bacon between two pans (to keep it flat) in the oven about halfway through, and before long, it was time for the moment of truth.

Cracking the eggs revealed a bit of white watery stuff, making me thing that it had all gone pear shaped, but upending the egg into my hand filled my palm with a satisfying blob. SUCCESS!!

Onto plates, and into mouths it went. A damn tasty success all round, and I urge anyone with a temp controller and a wayward rice cooker to give it a shot.




Next up maybe I'll try some salmon fillets, but I've got a few weeks to think about it.


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## Truman42 (24/3/14)

Sounds nice. So I assume the yolks were still runny?


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## benno1973 (24/3/14)

Nice one! Always good to get something in there to circulate the water as well, like an aquarium air pump.

If you have a vacuum sealing machine, try a steak in there and you'll never look back. Some tips though - don't add salt to the steak before sous-vide'ing it. Don't add butter or oil, just herbs, garlic and other flavouring components. You want the flavour components to meld into the steak rather than into the butter/oil that's outside the steak.

I had a sous-vide nightmare the other day. Had some good friends over who we hadn't seen in a long time, wanted to cook them something special so bought a really nice piece of scotch fillet. Set the sous-vide up for an 8-hour session. Apparently somewhere along the way, my temp controller shat itself so when I went to the laundry and grabbed the beautiful steaks, the water was boiling. So the steaks had been boiled for a few hours, which makes them practically inedible.


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## Truman42 (24/3/14)

Kaiser Soze said:


> Nice one! Always good to get something in there to circulate the water as well, like an aquarium air pump.
> 
> If you have a vacuum sealing machine, try a steak in there and you'll never look back. Some tips though - don't add salt to the steak before sous-vide'ing it. Don't add butter or oil, just herbs, garlic and other flavouring components. You want the flavour components to meld into the steak rather than into the butter/oil that's outside the steak.
> 
> I had a sous-vide nightmare the other day. Had some good friends over who we hadn't seen in a long time, wanted to cook them something special so bought a really nice piece of scotch fillet. Set the sous-vide up for an 8-hour session. Apparently somewhere along the way, my temp controller shat itself so when I went to the laundry and grabbed the beautiful steaks, the water was boiling. So the steaks had been boiled for a few hours, which makes them practically inedible.


How long and at what temp would you do steaks for Kaiser? Ive got an urn that I might hook up to my STC1000 and give it a crack.


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## Tex083 (24/3/14)

I recently did a eye fillet in my PID HERMS. 54.4 for 4 hrs. Amazing. Get the ploy science app for $6 it's a timer and recipe thing.


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## NewtownClown (24/3/14)

Been doing this for a while. I use my rice cooker or crock pot, (today bought an element and I have a pump to make a dedicated sous-vide cooker)
Recently I started to invert a saucer on top of the vac sealed steak and the temp is a lot more stable, rarely drifting more than .2 c and it ensures the meat stays immersed.




Truman said:


> How long and at what temp would you do steaks for Kaiser? Ive got an urn that I might hook up to my STC1000 and give it a crack.


Depends how you like your meat...
56.5c for the perfect medium rare and 49c for rare. Kept at those temps it will never overcook, however, there is a minimum time, depending on the thickness of the cut, for the core temp to reach the desired heat and to pasteurise. From memory it is 3 hours for a 1 inch thick steak


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## NewtownClown (24/3/14)




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## Mick0s (24/3/14)

Steak is definiately on the cards, though with a missus who only eats well done, and my normal medium-rare tastes, thats going to be a difficult one to organise.

I found the tables on this website to follow for the eggs, also gives times and temperatures for all types of means etc.
I'll eventually print it out and laminate it for safe keeping.

http://www.sousvidesupreme.com/en-us/sousvide_cookingtemperatures.htm


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## Tahoose (24/3/14)

I had first go at this a few weeks ago with great success, the meat was a 500g rib cooked to medium rare.


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## benno1973 (24/3/14)

Truman said:


> How long and at what temp would you do steaks for Kaiser? Ive got an urn that I might hook up to my STC1000 and give it a crack.


That's a good table posted by NewtownClown. I generally shoot for 60C - I like mine medium rare, but most people I'm cooking for like it medium, so I'll make that compromise. Generally I cook for around 8-10 hours. The longer you cook for, the more the fibres in the meat break down and the softer the steak. Go for too long and it'll turn to mush I hear, but I haven't gone more than 10 hours so I'm yet to find out.

And my boiled steak certainly wasn't mush.


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## Tahoose (24/3/14)

Had it with garlic butter... 5cm thick cooked for 1.45 hrs, just used a sandwich bag and used bulldog clips to attach it to the side.

My big w pot lost 0.5 every 15 mins and the kettle element inside turned for 20seconds to get back to temp.


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## Ducatiboy stu (24/3/14)

Mick0s said:


> Steak is definiately on the cards, though with a missus who only eats well done.


I would make her an ex-wife...


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## manticle (24/3/14)

Out of what?


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## Ducatiboy stu (24/3/14)

Bacon


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## billygoat (24/3/14)

Tahoose said:


> Had it with garlic butter... 5cm thick cooked for 1.45 hrs, just used a sandwich bag and used bulldog clips to attach it to the side.
> 
> My big w pot lost 0.5 every 15 mins and the kettle element inside turned for 20seconds to get back to temp.


Tahoose,
Did you put the meat in the bag completely raw or was it seared first?


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## MartinOC (24/3/14)

Seal raw meat in the bag & cook it to your liking, then open the bag & throw it at a SCREAMING hot BBQ/griddle plate for about 15 sec's on each side to get the colour.

Rib-eye's done this way are superb!


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## manticle (24/3/14)

> Bacon


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## djar007 (24/3/14)

This is the app I use for sous vide. The great benefit of this compared to a lot of other apps is that it has different temps and times for how you want the meat cooked. I have done some very nice lamb shanks for three days and they were perfect. I have found that eggs need to be gently placed on the bottom of the sous vide dish or they will crack. Beef short ribs for three days and then on the screaming hot bbq as Martin suggested is the go. Vegetables are also very nice when sous vide. My favourite sous vide dish would have to be a thick steak cooked medium rare and thrown on the hotplate to char. Yummo. 
Also be careful of adding raw garlic etc.
Here is a tip on this from this site :

_Because the temperatures of some sous vide cooked dishes are low, certain raw seasonings may not develop flavors in the same way they do at higher temperatures. 

A good example is raw garlic, which may remain raw at temperatures used to cook medium rare steak, fish, shellfish, or even chicken breast. Thus garlic, added to the sous vide cooking pouch, works better as a powdered spice or already sautéed or roasted. 

Another example is alcohol in wine, beer, liqueurs, or distilled spirits. Though often added to marinades for meats, fish, seafood, or poultry, or used to flavor sauces, the alcohol in beer, wine, liqueurs, or distilled spirits will not evaporate in sous vide cooking as it does on the stovetop or in the oven and can develop a harsh, sometimes metallic flavor. If you wish to use alcohol-based liquids to flavor food to be cooked sous vide, heat the wine or spirits first to evaporate the alcohol, then marinate the food, then pour off the marinade and pat the food dry and reseal prior to cooking. _


_edit: forgot to delete linky._


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## AndrewQLD (24/3/14)

Has anyone ever used a deep fryer with water for this? Along with a temp controller of course, should give pretty accurate temp control.


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## Ducatiboy stu (24/3/14)

Deep fryer,slow cooker,rice cooker, electric fry pan....they are all easly able to be controled via an STC .......BUT....as they tend to draw more current/power/Amps than what an STC is rated for...its not a DIY job. 

Further arguments are available on other threads about this...


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## Ducatiboy stu (24/3/14)

manticle said:


> > Bacon


Your Honour...my ex Wife was so tasty..honest...and crispy....


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## Pogierob (24/3/14)

AndrewQLD said:


> Has anyone ever used a deep fryer with water for this? Along with a temp controller of course, should give pretty accurate temp control.


Can't seen why it wouldn't work.


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## Pogierob (24/3/14)

By the way, the brew crew in with did a brew with an actual sous vide machine. 
Worked a treat, hit the numbers. 

Only down side was pot choice, the sous vide machine wasn't able to get deep enough on our first pot of choice.


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## Tahoose (24/3/14)

billygoat said:


> Tahoose,
> Did you put the meat in the bag completely raw or was it seared first?


In the bag raw then out into a searing hot frying pan, about 20seconds on each side and on each edge also, didn't bother resting it..


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## Ducatiboy stu (24/3/14)

Rob.P said:


> Can't seen why it wouldn't work.


You could use a deep fryer full of water as a double boiler type set up. Water has a good level of heat retention along with the fact that it also is a good insulator.

Basically a double bath is good because if your deep fryer takes off, its not going to heat up your second bath that quickly,


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## Dunkelbrau (24/3/14)

Ducatiboy stu said:


> Deep fryer,slow cooker,rice cooker, electric fry pan....they are all easly able to be controled via an STC .......BUT....as they tend to draw more current/power/Amps than what an STC is rated for...its not a DIY job.
> 
> Further arguments are available on other threads about this...


My rice cooker only draws 3.2 amps max. My STC is rated to 10A.. if they were rated to over 10A then the power would cut when you run anything else in your kitchen lol


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## Whiteferret (24/3/14)

djar007 said:


> Here is a tip on this from this site :


Thanks for the link lots of recipes.


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## Beerbuoy (30/3/14)

I use my herms rig for sous vide. Put enough water in the mash tun to cover and circulate through the heat exchanger just like a normal mash. PID controller holds the temp perfectly.
Once you've tried a chicken breast done at 60C for 2 hours you'll never eat it any other way, so moist and tender. Leave the skin on and put it in a red hot pan skin side down for a minute to brown and crisp up the skin.


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## Ducatiboy stu (30/3/14)

Mmm... Sous vide in your mashtun


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## Mardoo (31/3/14)

Only if you do a two hour mash...


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## Rodolphe01 (31/3/14)

I prefer using my slow cooker, I find the rice cooker always overshoots the temp. I use an aquarium pump to agitate the water,.

I added raw garlic, only once though... comes through as a strong raw garlic taste which I didn't like.

The STC isn't the best controller for this due to the relatively wide temperature range it operates in, no huge issue at the higher temp point, your meat might be done at a degree or so higher than you expect. Where you need to be cautious is at the low end of the spectrum and ensure that you have achieved an adequate micro kill step. For this reason I add a bit of extra time as a buffer when cooking at very low temps (e.g. 54 degrees).


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## Rodolphe01 (23/4/14)

Over the weekend I added a brown pump (http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/details.asp?PID=4630) to circ my water in my slow cooker rather than the noisy aquarium air pump. Works well with no hold/cold spots that I could identify with a probe thermometer. While I was at it I tested my STC probe against my mercury lab thermo while doing sous vide and it came up within .5 of a degree, good enough for me.


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## Truman42 (23/4/14)

Over easter I recommissioned my 18 litre BIAb urn to cook sous vide. I used my brown pump to recirculate the water and an stc1000 to control temps.

First I cooked the missus and I some brekky. (Got out of bed, started it cooking then went back to bed and told her we had an hour to kill before it was ready so we need to pass the time with another activity, to which she was happy to oblige ;-)




Then for lunch it was Scotch Fillet with potato Latkes. Both turned out very good.


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## wide eyed and legless (23/4/14)

She must be putting to much ginger in your diet Truman


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## Rodolphe01 (23/4/14)

How many watt is your urn? Does it overshoot by much? I've considered using my 40l crown for large things or large quantities but worried about overshooting temp too much... I will test I it one day.


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## Truman42 (23/4/14)

Rudi 101 said:


> How many watt is your urn? Does it overshoot by much? I've considered using my 40l crown for large things or large quantities but worried about overshooting temp too much... I will test I it one day.


It's 2200 watt. Using my brown pump to recirculate water from the bottom out and back in at the top meant I got very little overshoot. It worked very well to within a degrees


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## Truman42 (23/4/14)

wide eyed and legless said:


> She must be putting to much ginger in your diet Truman


What does ginger do?? Lol


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## wide eyed and legless (23/4/14)

Didn't you know its an aphrodisiac, I only have to smell it and I crack a fat, Chinese girlfriend gave me ginger tea for a cold once, it wasn't just a cold she got from me -_-


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## Rodolphe01 (23/4/14)

Cheers, I'll give the crown a crack next time


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## djar007 (23/4/14)

How do you go veggie shopping?


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## wide eyed and legless (23/4/14)

I may have sniffed the girls bicycle seats but I draw a line at sniffing ginger in the greengrocers, don't know where its been.


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## djar007 (23/4/14)

Lol. Steer clear of Scotland too mate. Gingers everywhere. Could get embarrassing.


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## wide eyed and legless (23/4/14)

I am trying hard to forget about Scotland, but I can't remember much.


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## djar007 (30/6/14)

aldi has sous vide machines on sale this week. they look alright for the price.Around 120 bux.


http://www.kuchef.com.au/product-categories/multi-cookers/sous-vide-and-slow-cooker.html


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## Tahoose (1/7/14)

Tip for the Aldi cooker, set to 1c less than your desired temp, it also doubles as a slow cooker. 

Pretty much looks exactly the same as the sunbeam one available for $170


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## mr_wibble (2/7/14)

What sort of bags do you use for holding the food?

I don't have a vacuuum sealer, but could I (for example) do eggs in snap-lock bags?
Hmmm, I guess oven & freezer bags would be food-safe too.

Anyone used these ?

thanks,
-kt


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## djar007 (2/7/14)

http://svkitchen.com/?page_id=296

It's been done and works well but for the cost of the vac sealer it is a handy addition to the home and the brewery. I use it more for keeping food longer than I do for sous vide.


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## Tahoose (2/7/14)

Zip lock bags work fine, while I'm still on the pro Aldi bandwagon, their vac sealers were on $70 last week. There may or may not be some left, but also handy for splitting some hops.


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## mr_wibble (2/7/14)

Tahoose said:


> Zip lock bags work fine, while I'm still on the pro Aldi bandwagon, their vac sealers were on $70 last week. There may or may not be some left, but also handy for splitting some hops.


I get in trouble off SWMBO for buying more equipment, it's not about the money, it's where "I'm going to store it".
But maybe I'll nick down there this arvo ... just for a look h34r:


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## superjim (2/7/14)

Just a word of warning with the zip lock bags. 

Before buying a vacuum sealer, I got all enthused one drunken evening about trying sous vide. I decided I'd have a crack at a couple of pork "scotch fillets" with a PID and a slow cooker death rigged on my kitchen bench. I used a zip lock bag for each one, but didn't successfully remove all the air from the bags. Anyway, nearly 3 hours later at 60 degrees (checked the water temperature with a separate thermometer to be sure) and I was sure they'd be well and truly safe. Quick sear on a smoking hot stainless pan and onto the plate. Absolutely delicious, and I went to bed chuffed with myself about my experiment.

Until about 2 o'clock that morning.

With good old 20/20 hindsight and sobriety, the fact the bags were floating in the water rather than sinking was a dead give away, and of course I didn't test the temperature of the meat once finished. I was crook as a dog for about 24 hours and swore off sous vide pork forever. Now with a vacuum sealer, a through the lid stainless probe for the PID and a propane torch, its the only way I cook my steaks.

tl;dr: get as much air as possible out of the zip lock bag


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## manticle (2/7/14)

And make sure your food is cooked properly, however you choose to cook it.


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## Aus_Rider_22 (5/7/14)

Tahoose said:


> Tip for the Aldi cooker, set to 1c less than your desired temp, it also doubles as a slow cooker.
> 
> Pretty much looks exactly the same as the sunbeam one available for $170


Good call.

I have noticed it's higher than what I have set it to. Happy with mine so far. Haven't got a vacuum sealer as yet. Just being throwing in pre-vacced steaks from Woolies and IGA.


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## barls (5/7/14)

doing some sliverside tomorrow two days time it will be done


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## Pilchard (5/7/14)

Duck is always my favourite sous vide. Followed by eggs Benedict with gravlax and sour dough, I do love truffle Holindase with it though. Lamb rump always performs well with garlic and rosemary. The easiest way for meat is cryvaxing (sp) 

It's funny reading this forum and finding out brewing has lead to...

So many things, yeast, temperature controlled and or outright funky exercises in the culinary arts.


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## Pilchard (5/7/14)

Superjim. Something like a side plate on top will hold them down, we use gastronomes inside each other at a pinch to keep the meats submerged. Works well.


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## lael (6/7/14)

Anybody have recommendations on killer sous vide websites / books?


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## Tahoose (6/7/14)

Chef steps is a handy website.


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## djar007 (6/7/14)

Under pressure is a great book.


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## Bribie G (25/6/16)

Resurrecting this thread, rather than starting a new one.

Heads up: next week Aldi have the sous-vide and vacuum sealers on special again - marriage made in heaven.

Apart from re-badging the cooker as "Ambiano" rather than the previous "Kuchef" it's actually a Sunbeam that normally sells for up to $200, so I'd expect it to be a good performer, and the $120 Aldi price is pretty good.

Will report with pictures, first off would have to be 2 inch thick Scotch Fillet steaks, Hogs Breath style. :icon_drool2:

I'm also keen to experiment with sous-vide chicken and beef to incorporate into curries.


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## Crakkers (25/6/16)

Bribie G said:


> I'm also keen to experiment with sous-vide chicken and beef to incorporate into curries.


Whole chook boobs have been the biggest revelation using my crock pot/STC-1000/aquarium aerator setup.
Usually they're dry horrible things when baked or grilled, but done sous-vide they are absolutely sensational - so moist & juicy.
And then there's 63 degree eggs - yum!
That Aldi price looks pretty good. If I didn't have the spare STC-1000 I'd be jumping on one of those.


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## SBOB (25/6/16)

Bribie G said:


> Will report with pictures, first off would have to be 2 inch thick Scotch Fillet steaks, Hogs Breath style. :icon_drool2:


Dont set the bar as low as Hogs Breath... you should be able to easily spit out a better result than that


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## Bribie G (27/6/16)

I've actually only been to H.B. once, a few years ago and maybe I hit them on a good day 

Here's a pretty good article on sous vide steak cooking.


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## Crusty (27/6/16)

I've got one of those Anova Sous Vide immersion circulators & use a 20lt stock pot for my cooking.
I find steak done at 52deg for 1hr is awesome. It's medium rare & melts in your mouth.
I also found that vacuum sealing the bag is better than just expelling air from a ziplok bag.
Salmon done this way is exceptional & eggs are fantastic as well. Different temp & times than the steak though.


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## Bribie G (30/6/16)

Well my thing of beauty has been brought home from Aldi, I didn't get the vacuum sealer there as I got the nod from a forum member that there's a better one on Ebay more suited to hopification as well as vac sealing for food, so that's on its way.

In the meantime I came across already vac sealed rib steaks at IGA so all ready to go tonight. :icon_drool2:

I also bought a propane blowtorch. Man these are going to be bloody expensive steaks :lol:

ed: Crusty, what's the deal with the eggs, I take it you just pop them in whole? What's the advantage over just boiling?


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## SBOB (30/6/16)

Bribie G said:


> ed: Crusty, what's the deal with the eggs, I take it you just pop them in whole? What's the advantage over just boiling?


much more creamy yolk.. though its a bit more hassle as often the white isnt set enough at the temp you want to cook the yolk at
but when it works, they are great... when they dont, its annoying as you just spent the last hour prepping breakfast  (speaking from experience)


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## Crakkers (30/6/16)

Here are some handy reference guides for different foods.
I printed them out, laminated them and put them with my cookbooks.

http://www.codlo.com/blogs/codlo/17607193-the-ultimate-guide-to-sous-vide-time-temperature


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## Beamer (1/7/16)

Im having a go at this on Sunday, but ill be doing pork cutlets with a bit of fennel salt cracked pepper a quick sear in the bag and then a resear with butter. Thinking a potato and fennel bake sauerkraut and a kolsch to accompany.


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## tj2204 (1/7/16)

The success of a couple of 500gm rumps in a water filled slow cooker in the last couple of weeks with the STC1000 to control the water temp have made me a massive fan of this technique. Just ordered another temp controller so that one of my fermenting fridges doesn't have to suffer so I can sous vide.

I've tried both 54 and 56 for medium rare. Prefer 54 which is closer to rare but more tender.


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## evildrakey (1/7/16)

So, how many kilos of ribs and steak can I pack into a 50L braumeister?


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## Ducatiboy stu (1/7/16)

evildrakey said:


> So, how many kilos of ribs and steak can I pack into a 50L braumeister?


A reasonable amount


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## Dave70 (1/7/16)

Or why not put the boot on the other foot and adapt a tool designed for sous vide as a fancy, bluetooth compatable immersion heater?
Do you think a 50L, 90 minute rolling boil would be asking to much of it?


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## Crusty (1/7/16)

Bribie G said:


> Well my thing of beauty has been brought home from Aldi, I didn't get the vacuum sealer there as I got the nod from a forum member that there's a better one on Ebay more suited to hopification as well as vac sealing for food, so that's on its way.
> 
> In the meantime I came across already vac sealed rib steaks at IGA so all ready to go tonight. :icon_drool2:
> 
> ...


Some good egg cooking times & temps 
I prefer mine at 62-63degC for 60mins.
They are sensational compared to a regular poached egg. When poaching, the white will always be overcooked even though the yolk is how you want it.
Sous vide gives you an even cook of the white & the yolk. It's a bit of a hassle just to chuck a couple of eggs in there for yourself so I only do mine when someone else wants them as well. Just lower the egg in there as they are, whole. It's better to leave the eggs come to room temp before cooking otherwise those times are a little out.


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## Crusty (1/7/16)

Dave70 said:


> Or why not put the boot on the other foot and adapt a tool designed for sous vide as a fancy, bluetooth compatable immersion heater?
> Do you think a 50L, 90 minute rolling boil would be asking to much of it?


Ive got the original model before this one Dave.
They're really good.


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## SBOB (1/7/16)

Dave70 said:


> Or why not put the boot on the other foot and adapt a tool designed for sous vide as a fancy, bluetooth compatable immersion heater?
> Do you think a 50L, 90 minute rolling boil would be asking to much of it?


looks like much better packaging than the cylinder shaped 'box' that the kickstarter version came in.. Most annoying package to try and fit in the cupboard 

http://sousvideguys.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Contents-1500x1000.jpg


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## Ducatiboy stu (1/7/16)

I reckon my $30 slow cooker with a decent controller would be ideal. It has a big heavy ceramic pot so would help maintain temp


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## Bribie G (1/7/16)

The sunbeam aldi sous vide cooker is also a slow cooker, probably with a PID or an Arduino or something wanky like that.

Ceramic slow cookers (bacon bone and split pea soup cooking as we speak) take quite a while to get to equilibrium because the heat has to filter through the thick layer of crockery to get to the food, which could take maybe twenty minutes. That doesn't matter because you are doing shyte for six or eight hours as opposed to an hour or two for sous vide, so applying a pulse of heat from the element, that wraps around the outside of the crockery dish, probably wouldn't make much difference to the contents of the crock for a while.


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## paulyman (1/7/16)

I think you guys just made my year a whole lot easier! Working in Sydney all year and don't have time or energy to cook up a storm like I usually love to. This thing would mean I could prepare and vacuum pack meals on the weekend, have the water heat up and maintain temp all day and just pop dinner in and relax while it cooks for an hour or so! Also no extra big equipment required that takes up space in the kitchen cupboards just use the pots I already have! Pressing go on Monday I think.


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## paulyman (1/7/16)

Of course if I want to cook up something like a whole scotch fillet or large set of ribs I could just use the grainfather.


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## paulyman (7/7/16)

The Wifi model Anova arrived today. Just set it up on the wifi and tested it over 4G, it works! Pretty cool. Hopefully I can set it up so that I start the preheat on the way home from work so it's ready to go when I get there! Or I might look into the ice bath option, where you setup up an ice bath in the morning and as soon as it gets to 4-5 degrees it alerts you and you turn it on remotely!


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## Ducatiboy stu (7/7/16)

paulyman said:


> Of course if I want to cook up something like a whole scotch fillet or large set of ribs I could just use the grainfather.


At least you can tell SWMBO that the Grainfather is indeed a kitchen item


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## evildrakey (7/7/16)

Ducatiboy stu said:


> At least you can tell SWMBO that the Grainfather is indeed a kitchen item


I keep my 50L Braumeister in the kitchen. Now that's true love...


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## paulyman (9/7/16)

Gave it a maiden voyage this morning. Eggs and sausages, finished the eggs with a very quick poach to set the whites and browned the sausages in butter. Delicious! The eggs were perfect and the sausages were so juicy. Cooking steaks this evening.

Hooked it up to my cheap 15L esky. Will buy a dedicated one this week cut the hinges and drill a hole in the lid to fit the Anova.


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## tugger (9/7/16)

I just sealed up some rib eye cutlets with butter and garlic. 
55c for 2 hours.View attachment 89799


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## tugger (9/7/16)




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## SBOB (9/7/16)

tugger said:


> I just sealed up some rib eye cutlets with butter and garlic.
> 55c for 2 hours.
> 
> 
> ...


based on my trials, and some reading, you wont see much/any difference once you get over that hour mark for regular 'steaks', though no harm in going longer if it aligns with preparation/eating times


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## wide eyed and legless (9/7/16)

Tugger which tastes better barbecue rib eye or sous-vide?


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## Mardoo (9/7/16)

Smoked.


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## wide eyed and legless (9/7/16)

Smoked is out of the question, I realise its a case of the stable door and the bolting horse but the carcinogens put me off.


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## djar007 (9/7/16)

Barbecue has been found to be no better as far as carcinogens are concerned. So you better sous vide it.


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## wide eyed and legless (9/7/16)

So does sous-vide apparently so which one will taste better.


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## manticle (9/7/16)

As far as I understand, the only link between carcinogens and sous vide is due to plastic and is tenuous at best, especially considering the low temperatures involved.


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## wide eyed and legless (9/7/16)

Correctamundo muchacho, it is due to the plastics and can be discussed till the cows come home but as the temperatures are low it is less conceivable. I think.


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## djar007 (9/7/16)

We may be forced to going back to pressure cookers.


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## wide eyed and legless (9/7/16)

I think I will go the barbecue and hold the carcinogens.


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## djar007 (9/7/16)

As with everything that tastes good. It will kill you.


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## tugger (9/7/16)

wide eyed and legless said:


> Tugger which tastes better barbecue rib eye or sous-vide?





The process requires both sous vide and bbq. 
So therefore the answer is yes.


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## Beamer (10/7/16)

wide eyed and legless said:


> Tugger which tastes better barbecue rib eye or sous-vide?


I'm not tugger, but I have recently done a sous vide of a pork cutlet. For a rib eye cutlet I believe your best bet is season that baby up throw it on the BBQ (hopefully open chargrill) cook to rare, remove and baste with mustard, back on the grill till med rare, rest that baby and enjoy. I found sous vide gave a different texture to the pork, I have not sous vide beef but I have cooked a hell of a lot of it in many different forms and still don't think you can beat an open grill (bbq with coals)

Hope this helped oh and of course enjoy with several beers.


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## wide eyed and legless (10/7/16)

Pretty close to how I would do it, though I do like it just about rare enough that a good vet could resuscitate it, just raw and warm on the inside, not only tastes good but you get the added adrenaline rush wondering if you may contract anything from eating aged under cooked meat.


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## tugger (12/7/16)

Have a look at this. 
https://youtu.be/JB1x0O-bhrw


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## bradsbrew (12/7/16)

Speaking of pork. This was my first attempt at sous vide, 18 hours in the bath followed by a quick upside down visit to the pan to crisp up the crackle then 3 hours in the oven.
Absolute delicious. 

Pork belly and crinkle chips.


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## paulyman (2/8/16)

Attempting pulled pork for tomorrow's meal. 18-24 hours and will be the star of our GYG inspired chipotle pulled pork burrito bowls.

Haven't had much luck with the WIFI on the Anova, but aside from that it works flawlessly. Love this thing in spite of the WIFI.

Edit - oh and I decided to drill out the lid of one of our spare eskies to house the unit. Works perfectly. And would hold its own in the Ghetto thread.


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## barls (2/8/16)

oh nice I've got a hunk of silverside sitting at 63 atm. it comes out tomorrow.
did 63 eggs for the wife today and they got the big tick of approval.


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## Coalminer (3/8/16)

bradsbrew said:


> Speaking of pork. This was my first attempt at sous vide, 18 hours in the bath followed by a quick upside down visit to the pan to crisp up the crackle then 3 hours in the oven.
> Absolute delicious.
> 
> Pork belly and crinkle chips.


Brad
What does the 3 hrs in the oven contribute, after 18 hrs in the bath?


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## drsmurto (3/8/16)

Anyone cooked lamb rosettes (aka neck chops) sous vide?

My local Foodland often has them in the offal section next to shanks and pork hocks for a few $/kg. I generally use them in slow cooked stews but wondered if i could seal them up with some rosemary and garlic and sous vide them for a day or 2?


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## Cervantes (3/8/16)

I tried sous vide steak for the first time recently.

Two very thick steaks, one rump and one rib eye, in the Braumeister for two hours at 55 for medium rare. Then reverse seared on the barbecue.

Evenly cooked and turned out okay, but I didn't think that they were as juicy as my conventionally grilled steaks on the barbecue.

Am I doing something wrong?


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## djar007 (3/8/16)

Try pre searing it.


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## reVoxAHB (3/8/16)

djar007 said:


> Try pre searing it.


Pre-sear will have little effect on end quality, and is generally frowned upon with sous-vide
http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/06/food-lab-complete-guide-to-sous-vide-steak.html#presear

If you are having less than desirable result, follow this guide: https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/sous-vide-steak
Not sure which way to sear, or what works best for you? Watch this (pretty kick ass Adam Savage work): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB1x0O-bhrw

Reverse sear is fine but try the Heston method (also touched on in the Savage clip) of constant flipping every 15 seconds or so, with screamingly hot source.

I have tried rump only a couple of times at 4 hours 52C (no tenderisation via traditional means - pounding, etc. just plopped into bag seasoned) and it was OK but not very tender. I've had persons suggest rump takes many hours to tenderise.. these folks are on the 40+ hour tip: https://forums.egullet.org/topic/140020-sous-vide-rump-i-expected-more-from-it/%C2 I would again try your rib eye for 3.5-4 hours before pulling from bath, pat dry and sear. 

I think the consensus is that if you want a shorter cooking time like 2 hours in your Braumeister, you truly need to use more tender cuts - and the advantage is that something like eye fillet will be spot on beautifully and evenly cooked under sous vide in 45m.

I use an Anova wifi/bluetooth unit fwiw. Oh and cheapie Aldi vac sealer and bags. Works fine.

Cheers


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## Cervantes (3/8/16)

Thanks for that. Will take a look.

The steaks were tender enough, but to me seemed to be a little on the dry side. They lacked the juice that I get when I cook them on the barbecue.


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## djar007 (3/8/16)

The link you put up revox does little to explain why it doesn't help with dealing in the juices before further holding them in with the vacuum sealing. The Internet is fairly divided on the subject and as cervantes is losing moisture it may be worth a try. It makes sense to me to seal the protein before sous vide to try to hold the juices in as even with a professional cryovac sealer and Mylar bags the juice does push out of the protein.just my opinion based on my understanding and worth sacrificing a steak on to try.


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## Cervantes (3/8/16)

Taken a look at the video and it's pretty well exactly what I did. (Except for the bay leaf).

The only difference was that mine was sous vide for two hours, not 45 minutes. Maybe that's why it was a little dry. Over cooked maybe.

I'll give it one more try before giving up on it though.

Maybe I'll try the open bag approach next time as I can then use a meat thermometer and know when it's cooked rather than leaving it so long.


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## SBOB (3/8/16)

djar007 said:


> The link you put up revox does little to explain why it doesn't help with dealing in the juices before further holding them in with the vacuum sealing. The Internet is fairly divided on the subject and as cervantes is losing moisture it may be worth a try. It makes sense to me to seal the protein before sous vide to try to hold the juices in as even with a professional cryovac sealer and Mylar bags the juice does push out of the protein.just my opinion based on my understanding and worth sacrificing a steak on to try.


searing a steak does nothing to 'seal in juices'.. pre-searing 'fans' just believe that doing some maillard reaction prior to cooking adds to the flavours and assists in the crust/maillard reaction for the final sear


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## paulyman (5/8/16)

The pulled pork came out great. 

Cervantes, have a look at the Serious Eats link Revox linked to. They show what happens to steaks cooked to the same internal temperature for different cooking times. It's quite eye opening. The one on eggs is more amazing visually!


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## Cervantes (5/8/16)

paulyman said:


> Cervantes, have a look at the Serious Eats link Revox linked to. They show what happens to steaks cooked to the same internal temperature for different cooking times. It's quite eye opening. The one on eggs is more amazing visually!


I've just re-read the article, but still can't see why my steaks weren't quite a juicy as normal.

I'm thinking that what I call medium rare may in fact be rare, so when I sous vide at 55 I got medium rare steaks as promised, but am actually used to eating them slightly rarer.


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## dteahan (6/8/16)

Don't "over cook" normal lean steaks with Sous Vide. A medium rare 2cm piece of steak like a sirloin only needs 23 minutes.

While the benefits of sous vide indicate you can't 'over cook' a piece of meat it's not entirely true.

Also many of us are conditioned to enjoy steaks that are grilled and/or have benefited from open flame and lots of Malliard reactions.

In many cases you can cook normal steaks using the frequent flip method and a thermometer to get excellent results - leaving SV for long tough cuts or delicate items like fish.


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## Alex.Tas (22/10/16)

Is this place a good thread to share some nice sous vide photos?

I've been having good experiences with my 20L birko urn i use for sparge water, and my mk2 pump recirculating the water. with around 15L in there and the pump running, just using the temp dial on the side i can keep temps within 0.5*C. Obviously don't rely on the stated temp on the dial though.

I did a beef topside a while ago, nice and even the whole way through, then a quick touch up with the blowtorch...






I also did a porterhouse recently too, 52 degrees for ~1.5ish hours.


blue cheese and steak is awesome.

I like the convenience of sous vide, you can take it out of the water and finish when you have everything else ready to go.


Anyone try and cook their sous vide eggs during a 63*C mash? ie mash a lager and cook brekkie at the same time - just make sure your eggshells are very clean!


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## bradsbrew (22/10/16)

I am liking the eggs in the mash idea.


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## Black Devil Dog (30/7/17)

Had a party on Saturday and decided to try sous vide cooking in my 50 litre Brau for the first time.

Cooked some pork belly for 36 hours at 69 degrees and a blade roast for 24 hours at 65 deg.

Finished the pork off in the oven and the blade was finished in a large frying pan.

The pork was the most tender and delicious pork I've ever eaten, the blade was also very tender and delicious, but slightly over cooked.

I'll make some adjustments to cooking blade when/if I cook it again. Wouldn't change a thing with the pork.

In future I'm going to try and do a regular sous vide cook up after I've done my brewing. 

With the gear already out and set up, it won't be much effort to throw something in to cook.

Pork knuckle is on the top of the list.


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## nosco (30/7/17)

I did a rib eye in my Guten on Saturday. It turn out pretty good but maybe a bit over cooked. I did it @60c for 2 hrs. 60c was to be on the safe side but Ill try about 53c next time. Its hard to tell from pics ive seen on the web because some of them look raw. I may have cooked a bit long in the pan too. Either way it was very tender and juicy. Ill definitely try it again.


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## zensome (13/10/17)

Having my first attempt at sous vide in the mash tun, smoked a 4.5kg boston butt from costco yesterday afternoon at 80 deg for 4hrs with hickory, it's now been in the water at 74c for 24hrs and will come out tomorrow morning before I brew. Will probably give it a blast in the BBQ at lunchtime for some caramelization and appearance before it gets pulled and loaded onto rolls for the punters around 2pm. Will post pics if I remember to take some. 

Fingers crossed!!


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