The Sous VIde Thread - Page 3

I cooked John Dory sous vide and the flavor was unbelievable. Though, I probably prefer cooking fish in a more traditional manner, the flavor and texture you get from cooking this way is just not possible otherwise; it keeps the taste of the fish very pure. I imagine some fish work better than others, but I thought this turned out great and figured I'd share the results.

I picked up a circulator and simple chamber vac and am starting off on sous vide. I've done oxtail - fantastic and have just started some beef short ribs. Love it so far. The ability to plan ahead and segregate the work is a really cool thing, IMO. Can't wait to do scrambled eggs this weekend as well as custard.

Just curious which model did you get? The Sous Vide Supreme, the Polyscience or something else?

I got the polyscience.

 

I'm in the same boat you seem to be in: price is very much an object.  A lot of the advice I have taken has come from Nathan Myhrvold, once CTO of Microsoft, now avid sous vide chef.  What I have found, though, is that in most all cases I produce good results with a bags sealed by submerging them in my full kitchen sink and a sous vide machine made of a crock pot, a temperature controller, and a submersible water pump.  I have friends with more expensive sous vide apparati, but it is hard at least for me to tell the difference.  Sure, there's is somewhat more carefree, but also much, much more expensive. 

I'd be interested to hear thoughts on charring.  I have tried the torch, but found the flavor to be underwhelming.  I have recently been setting meat virtually on top of hot coals, but this seems a little unceremonious after a very long sous vide session.

in his new modernist at home book, coming in october, myhrvold details the crockpot/pid fix. for many things (chicken parts, steaks, fish), you can also do a completely acceptable job using a thermal ice chest ... most of those things will be cooked in less than 2 hours, and the ice chest can hold that temperature pretty well with only moderate tending.
whether you SHOULD or not is another question. i've got a PolyScience sous-vide set up that i've been playing with and while it's kinda cool, i find it less than compelling.

There's lots of home brew sous vide how to's on youtube as well.

We'll see how I feel in a year, but I'm loving it right now. Made a really basic custard this weekend and then froze it. One of the best I've ever had. I'll probably make several more batches this weekend.

I think it fits my cooking style pretty well. To be able toprep so much in advance and have it stay fresh makes preparing big/special meals so much easier.

A company called Anova is coming out with a circulator for $299 next month. Looks promising- I'd love to dump my toaster in favor of something a little more legit.

http://www.waterbaths.com/products/sousvide_products.html?gclid=CM27gtKis7MCFXCmPAodmgQA-w

anybody have success with the make.com schematics?

I've offered it before and will again. I have a PID machine that's near mint that I'll let anyone borrow if they want to try out SV cooking. I haven't really thought in depth about trust or insurance issues but I guess we'll do a minimum post count or have a few members vouch for you. You just have to pay shipping both ways and I'll set some sort of time limit on it, I suppose. I have an IC so I never use the PID.

anybody try this out?
http://www.sousvidesupreme.com/Shop_Online/SousVide_Supreme_Demi/SousVide_Supreme_Demi_Promo_Pack-Black/Product.aspx?ProductID=138&DeptID=3&

I bought the larger stainless size promo pack about 6 months ago. The Demi will work fine unless you are trying to cook massive amounts of food all at once. The air sealer is not fantastic but does the job, especially considering how much an industrial one costs.