Best Sous Vide to get started with?

[zueth]

I have the Joule and love it, I bought a small and large container to use with it and both came with a lid. (one was Rubbermaid I believe and the other LIPAVI)
I couldn't imagine not having those, I also bought LIPAVI racks which work great and also could not imagine not having them.
I like it for cooking scallops, steak, chicken breast, halibut, eggs, and veggies.
The one thing that I did not like was salmon cooked in it.
They are a great tool and couldn't imagine not having one.

 

[Simarti28]

@Jim6820 I just learned something interesting today while searching for an Instant Pot…it has a sous vide function!

I’m sure many people know this but I had no idea. I was never interested in the instant pot until recently when I started making sushi rice.

Just throwing it out there!

 

[PRC]

@Jim6820 I just learned something interesting today while searching for an Instant Pot…it has a sous vide function!

I’m sure many people know this but I had no idea. I was never interested in the instant pot until recently when I started making sushi rice.

Just throwing it out there!

What instant pot was it?

 

[Simarti28]

What instant pot was it?

This one and the pro plus model. I didn’t look at any other models.

https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/st...programmable-electric-pressure-cooker/5230177

 

[Jim6820]

@Jim6820 I just learned something interesting today while searching for an Instant Pot…it has a sous vide function!

I’m sure many people know this but I had no idea. I was never interested in the instant pot until recently when I started making sushi rice.

Just throwing it out there!

Well, now ain’t that something? We just happen to have—not one, but two Instantpots (6 qt and 3 qt). I will definitely be checking them out for the Sous Vide feature. If the Instantpot models we have support that feature, the search is over.

Thanks for this info!

 

[Ostrichsak]

This one and the pro plus model. I didn’t look at any other models.

https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/st...programmable-electric-pressure-cooker/5230177

How does it circulate the water?

 

[Simarti28]

How does it circulate the water?

It doesn’t. Circulation isn’t required for sous vide.

 

[Ostrichsak]

It doesn’t. Circulation isn’t required for sous vide.

While I realize it isn't a requirement it's a pretty substantial omission. Water circulation is important for the best results which is why most dedicated sous vide devices are called precision cookers. Without it, you'll have wider fluctuations in temperature which kind of defeats the purpose of using a precision cooker.

It grinds my gears a lil when manufacturers slap "steam cooking" on stuff that doesn't actually do the thing their marketing team claims it does. Then people buy said device thinking it does that based on the marketing, have a bad time and then say that form of cooking sucks.

I wouldn't be surprised if some of this is what's happening from people stating their negative experiences with cooking sous vide style. It couldn't be any more simple and the results are fantastic. People that claim it's difficult or the results aren't good make me scratch my head a little because it's kind of hard to screw up unless you 1) use the wrong temperature for what you're cooking 2) grossly fail on the cook time or 3) don't get enough air out before dropping it in the bath or 4) don't sear it afterwards. Those are all pretty simple things assuming your device is accurately controlling & displaying the temperature.

For a steak, assuming you like medium rare, you set the temp to 130 degrees and vacuum seal a steak. Toss it in for an hour if thawed or two hours of frozen. If it goes past either of those by double you'll be eating a tasty meal. That's a pretty WIDE margin of error in real world time infinitely longer than the narrow window required to hit exactly mid-rare the traditional way where minutes mean the difference between delicious and nearly inedible.

As I stated previously, it's nice to have different tools in the tool box for different tasks depending on what task I'm doing or what I'm in the mood for. I don't use it for everything but the items I do use it on turn out amazing and many of which I've never been able to replicate in any other form of cooking. At this price point, it's one of the better values in my arsenal if not THE best value for what I've done with it over the years versus the investment both on the front end and in energy to use it.

 

[Simarti28]

While I realize it isn't a requirement it's a pretty substantial omission. Water circulation is important for the best results which is why most dedicated sous vide devices are called precision cookers. Without it, you'll have wider fluctuations in temperature which kind of defeats the purpose of using a precision cooker.

It grinds my gears a lil when manufacturers slap "steam cooking" on stuff that doesn't actually do the thing their marketing team claims it does. Then people buy said device thinking it does that based on the marketing, have a bad time and then say that form of cooking sucks.

I wouldn't be surprised if some of this is what's happening from people stating their negative experiences with cooking sous vide style. It couldn't be any more simple and the results are fantastic. People that claim it's difficult or the results aren't good make me scratch my head a little because it's kind of hard to screw up unless you 1) use the wrong temperature for what you're cooking 2) grossly fail on the cook time or 3) don't get enough air out before dropping it in the bath or 4) don't sear it afterwards. Those are all pretty simple things assuming your device is accurately controlling & displaying the temperature.

For a steak, assuming you like medium rare, you set the temp to 130 degrees and vacuum seal a steak. Toss it in for an hour if thawed or two hours of frozen. If it goes past either of those by double you'll be eating a tasty meal. That's a pretty WIDE margin of error in real world time infinitely longer than the narrow window required to hit exactly mid-rare the traditional way where minutes mean the difference between delicious and nearly inedible.

As I stated previously, it's nice to have different tools in the tool box for different tasks depending on what task I'm doing or what I'm in the mood for. I don't use it for everything but the items I do use it on turn out amazing and many of which I've never been able to replicate in any other form of cooking. At this price point, it's one of the better values in my arsenal if not THE best value for what I've done with it over the years versus the investment both on the front end and in energy to use it.

Just give it a good stir once and a while and you’ll be fine.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Just give it a good stir once and a while and you’ll be fine.

That would make sense if the price-of-entry were an expensive ticket but we're literally talking the cost of a few bags of pellets for something that's flippin' amazing at what it does with all of the features anyone could ever want for that process. Even a tight-@$$ like myself can see the value in that.

Being as I've been doing the Sous Vide thing for about a decade now and have come to love the advantages it provides over other options I guess I see the price tag as a tremendous bargain. If you're on the outside looking in and thinking it basically does the same thing as what you have currently I can see where it seems like a waste.

Here's a fun one: You can soft boil an egg to a perfect temperature so it's still a little bit gooey. You then shell it, use a fishing line to cut it in half long ways like a deviled egg. Then, a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar both sprinkled across the exposed surface. Hit that with a torch to caramelize the surface and what you're left with is something akin to a Cadburry Cream Egg. Stuff like that is nearly impossible via traditional methods.

There's may other use cases but that's a good one. Another great example is re-heating smoked meats. Sure you can use a pan & water but you risk overcooking when all you want to do is warm. Using sous vide via a precision cooker makes it mindless. Perfect results every time with gobs of margin for error.

It really shines with things like pork chops and chicken. You can cook perfect medium rare pork chops every time and the flavor and texture is transformative. I never trusted pork enough to even attempt medium rare via traditional methods since it's far to easy to undercook which can be dangerous. What you get from a known-to-be perfectly cooked medium rare pork chop in terms of overall experience is incredible. Same goes for chicken. None of the risk and all of the reward of perfectly cooked w/o drying out or turning t leather.

 

[IPlayWithMeat]

As mentioned before, only certain models of Instant Pot have the sous vide function. None of mine ever have, so I can’t check it’s accuracy.

That being said, temperature accuracy is the most important part of sous vide cooking, and circulation isn’t necessary for that. In fact, a lot of commercial units don’t use circulation, because it’s not needed. Where you benefit from circulating water is the fact that most of us aren’t in commercial kitchens that have these these things plugged in all the time, so we have to heat the water every time we use it. Circulation brings the water to temp faster.

I’m not sure how accurate the Instant Pot is with sous vide, but one could easily check it with a Thermapen/accurate thermometer.

 

[Greg Jones]

That being said, temperature accuracy is the most important part of sous vide cooking, and circulation isn’t necessary for that.

I have a Control Freak induction burner, and it has a temp probe that will heat the water in a pan to, IIRC, +/- 1° F. I cooked a chicken breast in it once sous vide just to test it, and it was perfect. No water circulation, naturally. It didn’t make me want to ditch my Joule, but if I had a need to sous vide two items at the same time, different temps, I’d use the freak for this again.

 

[IPlayWithMeat]

I was thinking about the Instant Pot possibility some more, and one other thing I would consider is how big the food that you’d be cooking or heating is. 6 quarts would be adequate for a few single-serving bags, but I’ve never used a container smaller than 8 quarts for 4 servings. The containers that come with the Anova units are 16.9 quarts/16 L. For my larger cuts of meat or multiple roasts/butts/turkey breasts, I have a 22 quart commercial container.

Just something to consider .

 

[Greg Jones]

I’m cooking a pork loin sous vide on the Joule tonight, to be finished with a final sear on the Bullseye. I was wanting to sous vide some asparagus while the loin is cooking, so I’m putting it in a cocotte on the Control Freak, temp set to 180° F. My Thermapen ONE and the freak are in agreement on the water temp! Since I mentioned earlier in this thread about doing this, I thought some might find it interesting.

 

[Simarti28]

I’m cooking a pork loin sous vide on the Joule tonight, to be finished with a final sear on the Bullseye. I was wanting to sous vide some asparagus while the loin is cooking, so I’m putting it in a cocotte on the Control Freak, temp set to 180° F. My Thermapen ONE and the freak are in agreement on the water temp! Since I mentioned earlier in this thread about doing this, I thought some might find it interesting.

View attachment 15824

But but but…where’s the circulation? just poking fun at ostrich sack

 

[IPlayWithMeat]

But but but…where’s the circulation? just poking fun at ostrich sack

Well if circulation is what you seek …

We Cooked Steak In The Dishwasher

 

[C. Keeper]

Well if circulation is what you seek …

We Cooked Steak In The Dishwasher

Won't the steak sauce get on the dishes?

 

[Greg Jones]

Turned out well!

 

[Pops]

I have an Anova and am still trying to figure out. I have only finished my Tenderloin at Easter, which was excellent and heated up some butt.
I am still confused and it seems like it really takes a long time.
I am not unhappy with my current methods, but FOMO may have set in.
Being open minded.

 

[Bytor]

I really like my Inkbird. For less than $100 it works great and has been spot on for temp. The app may not be as fancy as the higher ones,but not a big deal in my book.