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5327

I bought the cheap anova w/out any of that and I can already tell you I wish I had a way of turning it on while at work.

While in theory, you can’t overcook things, and you could start it when you leave in the morning, Serious Eats disputes that and through their testing, they recommend limited cooking times on a number of food items.

So, I’d be in the camp that if you don’t want to be eating 3 hours after you get home, to get the wifi option (I think this will let you manage it remotely, but I haven’t read up on it)

5328

Okay I’m hearing you, but, uh. . . the Nano is like 2 inches shorter, so it’s marginally less likely to trigger my gf’s “WHY THE FUCK DID YOU BUY MORE COOKING SHIT” response?

:-D

5329

Dude, you definitely do not want to turn it on or off while at work.

You do not want food sitting around in a bag, that is not above 130 degrees, for any length of time… because bad shit will start growing in it.

The only reason I can see for the wireless option, is in that other cooker, which has no display or controls on the device itself. This can potentially be useful, as it actually reduces the components in the device, makes it smaller, and likely makes it cheaper to manufacture.

5330

There’s a dick joke to be had in here, but hell if I’m finding it before noon on a Monday.

5331

So I’ve got some 20+ people coming over Sunday. I’m cooking out on the grill. However space and time is at a premium, so what does an aspiring cook do?

Well you bastards are to blame for this. All this sous vide talk has me thinking, and it really could be a great solution. Prep up a bunch of meat with different sauces, put them in a bag to marinade in the fridge, then stick the bags in a sous vide to cook while I do other stuff. Throw them on the grill once the corn and stuff comes off, just to sear.

So I’m doing this:

Getting my large cooler, filling that sucker, and gonna cook like 10 pounds of meat sous vide style.

I hope you are all happy with yourselves.

5332

The full size isn’t that big to be honest. Taller but the same diameter as my immersion blender. The extra wattage doesn’t really do much beyond speeding up the time to temp, and perhaps lowering the cost of doing a long sous vide in a bigger bath, but you can weigh that with how often you might do a lot of meat. With a cover on your container, I don’t even see why you couldn’t cook for more than two.

I do agree with the others, smaller might not be something you want to wait on if that’s the only plus. You could get the Joule which is slightly less wide due to the top of the unit if that’s a key buying factor.

I disagree with bluetooth/wireless use, I think they are both nice to have. Mine has both, though I have not specifically used WiFi out of the house. One of the things promised is the Anova app will soon do step cooking and even multi cooking (if for some reason you had more than one unit.) So being able to get notified in the middle of mowing your lawn that you need to pull out your rare steak and then let the next step increase for your SO’s medium steak commence. Bluetooth does have a limited range, which is the only drawback to it if you wander around your home a lot. That being said, that range is equivalent to about the coverage on a single WiFi access point, so if you don’t have a big home spread with lots of WiFi coverage, the bluetooth unit is cheaper and can be had at a great price right now.

Anova:

Joule:

5333

Let me know how this works out. I’d think that the grill wouldn’t be able to sear them fast enough, but it may.

5334

But it’s effectively just a timer. I mean, I just use my clock app on my phone for that.

5335

And a temp gauge. It lets me know the temp constantly, and alerts when at temp (or a timer too if you use it for that.)

Like you, I could care less about a timer. I do like to know where things are at when I’m warming it up though.

To your point though, Timex, the devices are pretty set and forget. Like slow cookers. You can even drop shit in well before you’re up to temp, knowing that it will eventually get there, so you just add some time to the timer. Having a cheaper, and perhaps less snazzy unit would still get the job done.

5336

Eh, we’ll see. I’m already gonna be using the grill for corn and such, so it’s gonna be hot. It’s also a gas grill that I’m going to add some wood chips to, and once the corn comes off I’m going to crank it up to full. That should get it to 550-600.

Mainly I don’t have stove space to sear that much meat, while I have a good sized grill. Work with what you got and all.

5337

This is what I do all the time, works great. My gas grill has a ‘sear station’ that makes it go a little bit faster, which is perfect for sous vide like this.

5338

For most applications, the timer doesn’t need to be particularly accurate. Things like chicken breast cook in 90m to 4 hours, and the difference between those is marginal. That’s one of the beauties of sous vide, it’s ready when you’ve got all your other dishes ready, you don’t have to time around it.

There are a bunch of applications that are far shorter, and/or have technical issues that prevent completely unattended operation. Most fish cooks in very short amounts of time - scallops cook in 30m, salmon in 30-60m depending on thickness.

Vegetables are an entirely different problem - not only is the cook time short and high temp, but some veggies release gas into the bag that can make the bag float to the surface midway through the process, requiring you to monitor and lock that bag down.

And since I looked this up while writing, a nice recipe for sous vide cauliflower: https://recipes.anovaculinary.com/recipe/sous-vide-cauliflower-mashed-potatoes

5339

That is the truth. Set it and forget it. The additional stuff is just bells and whistles. Are they necessary? No but they are useful. As to how useful, well that’s up to the user, I guess. I went with the Joule mostly for the higher wattage, which helps keep the water temp more precise in larger containers. I actually modded a styrofoam cooler that some Omaha Steaks came in ( they were a christmas gift ) for large amounts of food. For normal cooking I use a large stainless stock pot and cover it with plastic wrap to cut down on evaporation and heat loss. I did a 24 hour pork shoulder and I never saw the temp vary.

Armando, Do not buy one of these! Unless of course you like perfect steak and veggies that are not soggy.

5340

Considering I was sawing through well done boot-soles doused in honey mustard less than a decade ago. . .

5341

Had my first sous vide experience this weekend.

I was at a birthday party where the guy being celebrated was also doing the cooking out on the grill. Which I totally get, since I like to spend my birthday cooking for those I love as well. Usually I cook pies, though.

I was standing across from him as he cooked at this huge built-in grill station when he took out these great slabs of meat. Tri-tip. Six or seven of them. I first thought they were beef tenderloins. I got to talking to somebody else as he put those on the grill and started working them. Somebody else observing said upon watching him cook them over pretty high heat, and turn them quickly, “Uh…you know those need at least eight minutes a side, right?”

He just smiled and said, “Don’t worry. They’re sous vide.”

My ears perked up and I tuned in and asked him how he’d done it. He said he put them in 129 degrees for eight hours, and then was searing them off. He just got a Joule, and also ordered a big tank to accommodate all the meat. I said I thought the things he took out of the bags were tenderloin at first.

“No way. Tri-tip. With sous vide you don’t need something as expensive as tenderloin. In fact you want cuts with more fat, and…uh…”

“Connective tissue?”

“Yeah. Connective tissue. These were five bucks a pound…still I’m not sure when I’m going to recoup the expense of this new Joule, since I still spent a ton on all this meat.”

“I’ve been thinking about trying that because a bunch of friends online are all ‘sous vide sous vide sous vide’ all the time,” I said, thinking of you people here.

He laughed. “Well you’re welcome to try mine out if you like.” It wasn’t a real offer. I barely know the guy. He was just being party-polite.

The beef was really good. I wouldn’t say it was transformative or anything. It wasn’t melt-in-your-mouth good. He had to ask his wife to bring out the real steel steak knives because, “I don’t think the plastic stuff is gonna work for this.” Still it was really tasty, and not overdone at all, and I ate the hell out of it. Happily.

What most impressed me in seeing it was how easy that amount of beef was to finish for a very large group of people. So I get it from that perspective, most definitely. You all have said that above, and seeing it in action was impressive.

Anyway, just wanted to report.

-xtien

5342

Don’t get me wrong, the connectivity isn’t BAD. I’d probably use it if I had it.

5343

Yeah, I don’t think a sous vide steak is ever going to be transformative, though it does make working with cheap cuts a lot easier. It’s a convenience/consistency thing. Whereas sous vide chicken, that’s transformative. It’s nigh on impossible to get it that level of doneness without worrying about undercooking if you cook it conventionally.

5344

Your point about this has me really curious. I’m pretty good at chicken, but statements like this really make me wonder.

Do you have a favorite preparation? Do you put seasoning in the bag while it is in the bath? Forgive me if you’ve gone over this before.

-xtien

5345

I’m anxious to hear from @Ginger_Yellow as well, considering I’m going to be doing like 10 pounds of the stuff on Sunday.

But what I’ve been reading says that you can put seasonings, just be careful not to over do it, and putting a bit more when going to sear can work well

General info (the bottom has a Q&A area you can jump to)

and one of several preparations I am making

5346

@ChristienMurawski I’m wondering if your friend might have left the meat on the grill a bit too long. Maybe overcooked it a touch?