Sous vide magic

harrietvane

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Joined
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Singapore
I am probably late to the sous vide party, but it was my Christmas present to myself. I like to make sure I'm getting in my protein, but I'm a fairly average cook and I hate standing around in the kitchen. I got myself the Anova sous vide stick.

So far I've done steak and salmon, and have some chicken to try tomorrow - as well as plans to try to sous vide an egg for my breakfast.

Just wanted to share my experience, as it's made cooking protein a whole lot cheaper and easier for me - no need to get takeaway, no need to spend half my night in the kitchen, no need to eat so-so food.

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Sous vide is the new Instant Pot which was the new Crock Pot. It's sort of like boil-n-bag (but never boiled). Food is sealed airtight in a bag (can be any bag, even a zip lock as long as air is pressed out) then immersed in a water bath kept at the temperature of what you want the cooked temperature to be. So if you want a rare 145 degree steak the water is kept at 145. (So not cooked, as we usually do, at much higher temperatures.) This results in a steak cooked uniformly with no brown band around the outside. One can MacGiver their own setup but most get a sous vide (pronounced sue VEE) unit.
 
The question @harrietvane is do you notice that the food is better tasting? I've wondered if home setups work as well as expensive professional units.
 
This is how restaurants are able to keep a whole prime rib medium rare. Or any other piece of big meat. You sear the heck out of it then put it in the bag and immerse in 145 degree water. Easy to store food too, you can just put the bag in the fridge.

If you don't have to sear, the cleanup is a snap. No big dirty roasting pans. Food saver bags work great too. And you can get the exact size. But some of those bags are expensive.

The sous vide 'systems' can be very expensive and take up a lot of storage space. But they are coming up with some that are smaller and geared towards home use. @harrietvane will you post a picture of yours? I am always thinking you have access to all sorts of stuff we have never seen!
 
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This is my setup. The unit also has an app (which is completely optional to use) with recipes and lets you set/monitor remotely. Useful if you want to do something like cook a prime rib for 24 hours. I looked at a few different ones (Anova, Nomiko) but this seemed to have the best reviews and came in the right voltage and plug for use in Singapore. (It's actually big in the US and only just becoming popular elsewhere in the world.) It works with any pot deep enough to hit the minimum water mark (each brand varies).

My big challenge is cooking well for one. I'm also a fussy eater; I don't like casseroles/stews (I do have a tiny crockpot that I never use!) or leftovers.

I use a regular ziplock bag and do the water immersion method to get the air out. Some of my meat and fish also comes vacuum packed individually already, so I just chuck it in. The other advantage is you can put in frozen meat straight from the freezer, and just add to the cooking time to account for the defrosting. I'm rarely organised enough to defrost meat, or else I leave it in the fridge with great intentions and never use it.

About to try making sous vide eggs for my breakfast this morning...wish me luck!
 
Thanks @harrietvane ! So what you bought is just the gizmo that says Nova? I haven't seen that one yet. How did the eggs turn out?

I have the perfect pot to use with one of these. HMMMM!
 
I bought the Anova stick bit, yes.

Eggs turned out as the recipe described, which was custardy - a little too runny for me, but exactly as described. Would be good on toast (which I don't have). Will be trying the poached eggs next weekend.
 
Looks great and I have always liked pumpkin but most people in the US love pumpkin pie but don't use it much in savory dishes. What's the sauce?
 

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