Just ate my first meal cooked sous vide. Nothing fancy, a good sized salmon portion and asparagus. When I cook these using more regular methods, the salmon ends up too dried and the asparagus too mushy. So, they are a good test.
The good, that was probably the best cooked to perfection salmon I ever had. Not over or under cooked. The asparagus was delicious also.
The bad, a matter of timing. The salmon called for cooking at 133 degrees F for 40 minutes. The asparagus at 185 degrees F for 30 minutes. I cooked the salmon first. But the sous vide machine I'm using took (not sure if that's expected, or I just got a cheapo machine) so long to heat up from 133 degrees to 185 degrees.
By the time the asparagus was ready, I had already chowed down on the salmon and did the dishes. No kidding
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Still, that was a tasty meal, I must say
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Remember, those times are likely a minimum. With sous-vide, you can go over in time, because the food isn't getting any hotter/doner. It's as done as it is going to get (though very long times could turn the food mushy, but that's hours for most things, not minutes).
To go from 133F to 185F, add boiling water (remove some water if needed). Unless you get a big commercial unit that runs on 220V, it just can't heat a large water bath very fast.
As far as learning curve: for foods you are going to sear, the 'trick' is a really fast sear, or you over-cook your perfectly cooked food. I actually ruined some nice steaks (from Costco - cooked two, froze two for later) on New Years Eve, as I did sous-vide, and then tried to sear them under the broiler, rather than a hot cast iron pan. Failure -it took so long to brown them that they were well done inside. Not good. No one was happy (new year).
But there is some good news. I saw an article from "Serious Eats", I learn a lot from "Kenji" there.
https://www.seriouseats.com/2017/03/how-to-reverse-sear-best-way-to-cook-steak.html
He actually said steaks are better done in a slow oven (200F~250F) for about 30-40 minutes to 110F~115F, then sear. The low oven dries the surface, so they sear better. I used that technique on the frozen steaks from Costco (same ones I ruined NYE), and they were excellent, really, really good. By putting a cover on the pan, I didn't even set off the smoke alarm (which is too close to the kitchen). I've also seared steaks with a MAPP torch (a step up from the normal propane pipe soldering torch) - it was fun, but takes a while for two steaks. A fiercely hot cast iron pan is better and faster.
How to try sous-vide w/o buying any new equipment: OK, here's a manual method that I've done that takes a little baby-sitting, but it will give you a taste of what sous-vide can do.
A) Add hot tap water to a cooler. Add boiling water or cool water to hit the temperature you need.
B) Add your food in a sealed bag, air squeezed out (submerge it carefully, then seal, the water weight will push out the air).
C) Cover with some blankets/towels. Check the temperature and add some boiling water as needed.
D) Proceed as with any sous-vide recipe.
-ERD50