Sous Vide Cooking ?

[donheff]

I have used a sous vide stick in a pot of water at times with the food in a gallon size zip lock baggy with the air driven out by water pressure. It seems to work pretty well. I have also used it to reheat leftovers that I am afraid of overcooking if I microwave.

 

[OldShooter]

Most of our sous vide food is first frozen in vacuum sealed bags. We have had three-year-old food that was sealed and frozen and it was just as fresh as when it went into the bag.

External vacuum sealers like Weston's work well; cheapos like Food Saver can work but getting consistently good seals is more difficult. Recently we have gone to a chamber vacuum sealer, something my BIL would call "rubber tire living."

Weston® Professional Advantage Vacuum Sealer

Keep foods fresh, store leftovers, marinate, or seal for sous vide with this America's Test Kitchen top pick in compact vacuum sealers (August 2014).

westonbrands.com

Avid Armor Ultra Series USV20 Chamber Vacuum Sealer Machine

The smallest chamber vacuum sealer on the market. Sleek, small design makes it perfect for your home kitchen.

avidarmor.com

 

[joesxm3]

The book arrived today. A bit disappointing. Only 33 pages of technical information. The rest is recipes.

 

[joesxm3]

Most of our sous vide food is first frozen in vacuum sealed bags. We have had three-year-old food that was sealed and frozen and it was just as fresh as when it went into the bag.

Would you recommend the chamber sealer as a BTD item?

Amazon said that the bags are cheaper than the other type.

I suppose the buy once cry once principle applies here.

 

[easysurfer]

Thanks for all the links.

That in depth one really made my brain smoke. But it did allow me to geek out on the details. The discussion on killing pathogens was very interesting.

I smell another hobby brewing.

Sous vide cooking seems totally foreign at first. I remember on of the first things I cooked, I was totally confused as to how to get the water temperature right.

Now, I pretty much keep things simple. I use the same time and temp setting for burgers, pork chops and steak. Result are to my satisfaction.

 

[OldShooter]

Would you recommend the chamber sealer as a BTD item?

Amazon said that the bags are cheaper than the other type.

I suppose the buy once cry once principle applies here.

The chamber sealer is a really nice tool. Unlike the external vacuum sealers, chamber sealers can seal liquids. This lets us freeze things like marinara sauce, soups, etc. Re BTDT, I set a price watch on https://camelcamelcamel.com/ and waited. It took a while, but I ended up paying $234 for what I'm sure was a new customer return. So saved over $100. Many other chamber sealers are available, mostly more expensive and physically bigger.

Yes, bags are quite a bit cheaper but you'd probably have to use hundreds of bags before you broke even due to the savings. Buy because it's a good tool not because the bags are cheaper.

 

[joesxm3]

I am getting the impression that if I operate like a restaurant I can cook a few steaks the cool and store and then days later take one out, warm it up and sear it? Doing the several hour cooking when convenient then needing only a half hour to prepare on the day of eating?

 

[easysurfer]

Most of our sous vide food is first frozen in vacuum sealed bags. We have had three-year-old food that was sealed and frozen and it was just as fresh as when it went into the bag.

External vacuum sealers like Weston's work well; cheapos like Food Saver can work but getting consistently good seals is more difficult. Recently we have gone to a chamber vacuum sealer, something my BIL would call "rubber tire living."

Weston® Professional Advantage Vacuum Sealer

Keep foods fresh, store leftovers, marinate, or seal for sous vide with this America's Test Kitchen top pick in compact vacuum sealers (August 2014).

westonbrands.com

Avid Armor Ultra Series USV20 Chamber Vacuum Sealer Machine

The smallest chamber vacuum sealer on the market. Sleek, small design makes it perfect for your home kitchen.

avidarmor.com

I own the USV20 avidarmor chamber vacuum sealer and love it. The size is just right for 1 person. Avidarmor also has other models as well as other companies.

I do own a very old Foodsaver also but that's just for resealing bags like for potato chips and mason jars. (The USV20 can also do jars and seal bags but seems awkward for that purpose).

As for the cost of bags vs external sealers, the difference in cost is night and day. In the long run, if you are a regular vacuum sealer user, the cost is cheaper to go chamber.

 

[More Cowbell]

I am getting the impression that if I operate like a restaurant I can cook a few steaks the cool and store and then days later take one out, warm it up and sear it? Doing the several hour cooking when convenient then needing only a half hour to prepare on the day of eating?

We do that with pork tenderloin. Cook both at the same time, sear one on cast iron same day, refrigerate other in sealed bag for later reheating and searing.

Don't SV enough or have space for chamber sealer. Costco often runs SV starter kit specials with a Anova stick, container and Foodsaver. FS useful for mason jars or sealing non-food stuff.

Have a standalone Instant Pot stick, no app or Bluetooth. IP container too limiting in size, dutch oven too heavy. Got a square Rubbermaid Commercial food storage container and fitted Everie silicone lid, much lighter and keeps all the SV stuff together when not in use.

 

[Lorenzo]

Would you recommend the chamber sealer as a BTD item?

Amazon said that the bags are cheaper than the other type.

I suppose the buy once cry once principle applies here.

Chamber sealers have an advantage for sealing liquids, like stews and juices, etc. For solid foods, any vacuum sealer will do.

 

[EastWest Gal]

I do that a

I am getting the impression that if I operate like a restaurant I can cook a few steaks the cool and store and then days later take one out, warm it up and sear it? Doing the several hour cooking when convenient then needing only a half hour to prepare on the day of eating?

I do that all the time. I also freeze marinade in little silicone muffin liners, then pop the frozen marinade along with the steak and seal it. I buy entire strip steaks from a local market and have them trim the fat and cut individual steaks. I seal them with the marinade and freeze them. They can go directly from the freezer into the water bath-I just add an hour to the time. Saves me a lot of trouble making dinner. We probably have steak once a week. One 8 oz steak is enough for the two of us.

 

[joesxm3]

Thanks for the pork info. I am pretty sure I will get the chamber sealer, the stick and a container like you discribe.

It will be a huge shock to the system switching into spending mode. But I have made a decision to spend on preventive medicine and healthy eating along with some aggressive lifestyle changes.

A couple weeks ago I dropped $360 at a farm buying grass fed beef and free range chicken.

The $24 / pound rib eye is a stretch for every day, but with sous vide I think I can buy some of the cheaper cuts and cook them longer. I might even consider a quarter cow. That is $13 / pound. I already have a freezer that I don't use. But that is a bit extreme for the moment.

I will probably order the stuff later this week.