I got my Anova today!

[Spoooon]

Pair of chicken breasts in the bin right now. 149F for an hour (ChefSteps). Any tips on finishing?

I've got no tips other than what you probably already know.

I did a pan with some olive oil with a little butter, paprika, salt, pepper, threw the breasts in when the butter stopped foaming.

Tomorrow, I'm doing some coconut chai black tea rubbed chicken breasts.

 

[slayer202]

I have a filet mignon going right now. forgot to season it oops. will try to snap a picture or two

 

[Kaido]

I've got no tips other than what you probably already know.

I did a pan with some olive oil with a little butter, paprika, salt, pepper, threw the breasts in when the butter stopped foaming.

Tomorrow, I'm doing some coconut chai black tea rubbed chicken breasts.

I just did some canola oil, cajun spice, and garlic salt. Came out pretty good! (did about 1:45 total @ 149F) Texture was interesting...I really liked it, but my wife hated it - too "chewy". To me it was ridiculously moist & good, and would be excellent for slicing into soft pieces on like a chicken salad. I think it's the most moist piece of chicken I have ever eaten in my life :thumbsup:

 

[Wonderful Pork]

I have a Foodsaver as well & have not bothered to use it yet. Ziplocs are just too convenient. Although apparently we're both going to die:

http://community.anovaculinary.com/discussion/459/plastic-safety

:awe:

Ziploc makes (new product?) vacuum storage bags which are microwave safe - I've seen the branding call them Sous Vide bags too - so I'm going to switch over to these. Amazon has them for cheap enough, I only s-v a couple times per month so spending an extra $0.25/bag (if that) doesn't worry me much.

 

[Kaido]

Ziploc makes (new product?) vacuum storage bags which are microwave safe - I've seen the branding call them Sous Vide bags too - so I'm going to switch over to these. Amazon has them for cheap enough, I only s-v a couple times per month so spending an extra $0.25/bag (if that) doesn't worry me much.

Oh yeah, I forgot about those!

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/81XzrujsStL._SX522_.jpg

I'm still tinkering with food recipes. Once I nail down the major meats (and veggies), I plan on freezing them in my FoodSaver bags in bulk in my deep freezer for convenience...that way they're ready to go & I can just drop them in the bin whenever I want a meal :thumbsup:

 

[slayer202]

came out pretty well. very tender but a little mushy in the center. cooked them from partially frozen @ 126 for just under 2 hours. the sear is obviously not crusty, which isn't a problem for a filet but I foresee problems with something like a ribeye, which is my go-to cut. But for a lean piece of meat that was probably close to 2 inches thick, this is rather foolproof and a great way to go. It was delicious with some oil/butter from searing, but add some sort of legit sauce and some veggies, it would make an impressive meal.

 

[Kaido]

came out pretty well. very tender but a little mushy in the center. cooked them from partially frozen @ 126 for just under 2 hours. the sear is obviously not crusty, which isn't a problem for a filet but I foresee problems with something like a ribeye, which is my go-to cut. But for a lean piece of meat that was probably close to 2 inches thick, this is rather foolproof and a great way to go. It was delicious with some oil/butter from searing, but add some sort of legit sauce and some veggies, it would make an impressive meal.

Nice! I picked up a ribeye yesterday, anxious to try it out.

So far my biggest complaint about using sous vide is getting a good crust, especially on steak. But again, it depends on what you're after - I can eat a lot more meat when it's soft than when it's more chewy. Plus it's nice for reheating, and if you're into leftovers or do bodybuilding meals in containers, that's awfully nice because it stays edible for a few days rather than turning into shoeleather in the fridge. Going to see how the chicken fares after a day or two in the fridge as well - reheated chicken for bodybuilding meals is usually the worst, so dry & rubbery no matter how good it was on the day you cooked it, haha.

 

[slayer202]

I wouldn't know a weight if it hit me in the head, but I think I could probably survive on plain chicken breasts cooked sous vide a few times a day if I had to. bulk up bruh!

 

[Spoooon]

Black tea rubbed chicken breast:

 

[Kaido]

I wouldn't know a weight if it hit me in the head, but I think I could probably survive on plain chicken breasts cooked sous vide a few times a day if I had to. bulk up bruh!

I'm experimenting with different kinds of chicken (frozen, fresh, pounded flat, etc.) to see what works the best. It's easy & gets you healthy quick along with some microwave-steamed frozen veggies.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

I sold my Anova a while back. It seemed like a great idea at the time and the media made it sound like the next coming of cooking perfection. In fact, I bought mine a bit before HR bought his but somehow my thread got preempted here as the de facto Anova thread.

Whatever. Regardless, whenever I cooked anything sous vide I found there was always something wanting in the flavor/texture department. Sous vide products seemed to lack certain nuances of flavor and texture no matter the prep, cooking time, pre-treatment, post-treatment, etc; including veggies.

Gave it a fair shake but it just didn't cut it. ymmv.

 

[notposting]

Everything just tastes like chicken? Or is it tasty wheat? :hmm:

I sold my Anova a while back. It seemed like a great idea at the time and the media made it sound like the next coming of cooking perfection. In fact, I bought mine a bit before HR bought his but somehow my thread got preempted here as the de facto Anova thread.

Whatever. Regardless, whenever I cooked anything sous vide I found there was always something wanting in the flavor/texture department. Sous vide products seemed to lack certain nuances of flavor and texture no matter the prep, cooking time, pre-treatment, post-treatment, etc; including veggies.

Gave it a fair shake but it just didn't cut it. ymmv.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Everything just tastes like chicken? Or is it tasty wheat? :hmm:

heh. The origin of my user name.

I seriously wanted to love the process. A perfect temp and a finishing sear should produce greatness, if not absolute perfection, right? Sadly, that was not the case. ime, sous vide constantly underwhelmed. Textures were funky and tastes were off. Hopefully others have a better experience. I will stick with old school methods.

 

[Kaido]

Made excellent chicken today. BSCB with rib meat, pounded down slightly to 1" thick, 140F for about 75 minutes. Was hungry so just threw some BBQ sauce & garlic salt on it, nothing fancy. Most moist piece of chicken I have ever had in my entire life, period:

 

[Spoooon]

Chicken looks good Kaido!

Cooking salmon tonight, looking forward to it. Most times I've found salmon to be too dry for my liking. Lemon, pepper, salt, then finishing on the grill.

 

[Kaido]

Chicken looks good Kaido!

Cooking salmon tonight, looking forward to it. Most times I've found salmon to be too dry for my liking. Lemon, pepper, salt, then finishing on the grill.

I've heard fish can get mushy, let me know how it turns out!

 

[Howard]

I've head fish can get mushy, let me know how it turns out!

http://www.cookingissues.com/index.html?p=3911.html

http://www.cookingissues.com/uploads/Low_Temp_Charts.pdf

 

[Kaido]

http://www.cookingissues.com/index.html?p=3911.html

http://www.cookingissues.com/uploads/Low_Temp_Charts.pdf

Looks like the thicker fish like salmon & striped bass are the way to go :thumbsup:

 

[Kaido]

Found an interesting at-home salamander broiler:

http://www.namathproducts.com/namath-rapidcooker/

Namath Rapid Cooker: 300 to 1400F. Base unit is $397 (pretty cheap compared to restaurant equipment), plus they have a $50 off coupon via email; bundle with a stand & case is $100 more. Takes standard propane (outdoor use). Before & after video looks great:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-A0SB7z7BPU

This looks like it would be the ticket for crusting sous vide & pressure cooker meals. They also have a really interesting FAQ on grading & aging beef:

http://www.namathproducts.com/grading-and-aging-beef

I've never really been impressed with aged beef, but this is an interesting tidbit:

Another reason for aging beef is that there is a major difference in the cooking quality. The un-aged steak will not brown or “char” as well as an aged steak. This happens for two reasons. First, more moisture can cause it to buckle and bend when that moisture suddenly starts to leave, causing certain areas of the steak to shrink faster than others.

Second, these browning reactions take place when proteins and sugars are heated to high temperatures generally in excess of 1200+ °F, which is the temperature that high-end steakhouses use to cook their steaks. This “charring/searing” effect will caramelize the fat molecules in the steaks which enhances the flavor. Because un-aged beef contains a lot of water, the excess water prevents the meat from charring until a lot of the internal juices evaporate. When you grill un-aged steaks, in order to get a nice char on the meat you must overcook it to dry it out, which negatively affects the flavor. If un-aged steaks were cooked side by side against steaks that were properly aged for 21-30 days in a commercial environment you would see a significant difference. The aged steaks would offer a dramatic improvement in tenderness and texture and have a magnificent, deeper flavor.

 

[Spoooon]

Best salmon I've ever had. Pics later. Not mushy at all, juicy, a little flaky, perfect.

 

[Kaido]

Best salmon I've ever had. Pics later. Not mushy at all, juicy, a little flaky, perfect.

Temp, time, sear?

I'm tempted to start vacuum-packing all of the meat I get on sale. The chicken is the bomb dot com, going to be useful in soooo many different recipes. Next big project I want to try is Beef Wellington - I have some really good gluten-free flour that I think will work, plus that in combination with lard has been giving me excellent results:

http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/12/the-food-lab-beef-wellington-ultimate.html

 

[Kaido]

Anyone done veggies? Any recommendations?

 

[Howard]

Anyone done veggies? Any recommendations?

I've done glazed carrots. They need to be finished in a pan to reduce the sauce.

I've also done leeks and potatoes for vichyssoise. Superb. I usually use the recipe from MC@H.

 

[Spoooon]

130 degrees, minimum 30 minutes (mine were in for about 45 while I messed around with a steak and asparagus), skin side down on the grill (used fish grill mesh) for about 5 minutes. Juicy, flaky, the best I have ever had. Next time I'm going to try brining it first.

 

[Howard]

130 degrees, minimum 30 minutes (mine were in for about 45 while I messed around with a steak and asparagus), skin side down on the grill (used fish grill mesh) for about 5 minutes. Juicy, flaky, the best I have ever had. Next time I'm going to try brining it first.

If you have salmon that is sushi-quality, try doing it at 122 F instead. You'll get less albumen exudate and (I'm told) the texture is superior to even that at 130 F.