Thread: My Sous Vide Experiences. (WAS: Hacking your slow cooker for SousVide)

On 11/09/2010 02:54 AM, Curt Nelson wrote:
> To [email protected]:
>
> Thanks for asking my opinion on sous vide. I started out writing a quick
> blurb, but it soon turned into more of an actual subject, so I bumped it
> up to pole position.

Thank you so much for doing so. My geek partner is starting to make
noises about wiring up a sous vide rig, so I forwarded it to him.

Serene

--
http://www.momfoodproject.com

Serene wrote on Tue, 09 Nov 2010 07:52:10 -0800:

> On 11/09/2010 02:54 AM, Curt Nelson wrote:
>> To [email protected]:
>>
>> Thanks for asking my opinion on sous vide. I started out
>> writing a quick blurb, but it soon turned into more of an
>> actual subject, so I bumped it up to pole position.

> Thank you so much for doing so. My geek partner is starting to
> make noises about wiring up a sous vide rig, so I forwarded it
> to him.

Would a crock pot with a very low setting and Food-Saver vacuum bags
work for "sous-vide"?The combination would be a lot cheaper than the
rigs I've seen advertised.



--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

Curt, have you experimented with working searing of steaks, etc. into
your sous vide cooking methodology? How do you address the problem of
appearance?

-- Larry

On 11/09/2010 07:56 AM, James Silverton wrote:
> Serene wrote on Tue, 09 Nov 2010 07:52:10 -0800:
>
>> On 11/09/2010 02:54 AM, Curt Nelson wrote:
>>> To [email protected]:
>>>
>>> Thanks for asking my opinion on sous vide. I started out
>>> writing a quick blurb, but it soon turned into more of an
>>> actual subject, so I bumped it up to pole position.
>
>> Thank you so much for doing so. My geek partner is starting to
>> make noises about wiring up a sous vide rig, so I forwarded it
>> to him.
>
> Would a crock pot with a very low setting and Food-Saver vacuum bags
> work for "sous-vide"?The combination would be a lot cheaper than the
> rigs I've seen advertised.

Yeah, this all started with a crockpot hack (see the thread called
Hacking your slow cooker for Sous Vide), but you need to really
precisely control the temperature, so you'd need to add in a thermostat
thingy (the technical term).

Serene

--
http://www.momfoodproject.com

On Tue, 09 Nov 2010 02:54:38 -0800, Curt Nelson wrote:

> There will always be the 'purists' (Sheldon?) who will claim...

Purist - Sheldon? Sheldon is far from doing anything the proper
and conventional way. Only his bull**** is in any way "pure".

> time is right, produce perfect lobster on command, you *will* get laid.

Memo to self: Do not cook lobster for family.

Thanks for the brain dump (at 5:00am?). It was an inspiration.
And since it works so well for meat, I may just have to try it (an
most know that I'm the type that will when I suggest such).

But first: The gefilte is calling me to come have breakfast.

-sw

"Serene Vannoy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]..
> On 11/09/2010 07:56 AM, James Silverton wrote:
>> Serene wrote on Tue, 09 Nov 2010 07:52:10 -0800:
>>
>>> On 11/09/2010 02:54 AM, Curt Nelson wrote:
>>>> To [email protected]:
>>>>
>>>> Thanks for asking my opinion on sous vide. I started out
>>>> writing a quick blurb, but it soon turned into more of an
>>>> actual subject, so I bumped it up to pole position.
>>
>>> Thank you so much for doing so. My geek partner is starting to
>>> make noises about wiring up a sous vide rig, so I forwarded it
>>> to him.
>>
>> Would a crock pot with a very low setting and Food-Saver vacuum bags
>> work for "sous-vide"?The combination would be a lot cheaper than the
>> rigs I've seen advertised.
>
> Yeah, this all started with a crockpot hack (see the thread called Hacking
> your slow cooker for Sous Vide), but you need to really precisely control
> the temperature, so you'd need to add in a thermostat thingy (the
> technical term).
>
> Serene
>
>
And, if you wanted to do something medium rare, 125-130F from edgee to edge
in a standing rib roast, you would have to hold the cooking liquid at
exactly that temp. for quite a long time. That's what Curt is trying to do
in a crockpot. It's fascinating, though a fair amount of work. I'd probably
screw up setting up the hardware somewhere along the line.

Kent.



Kent

"Sqwertz" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]..
> On Tue, 09 Nov 2010 02:54:38 -0800, Curt Nelson wrote:
>
>> There will always be the 'purists' (Sheldon?) who will claim...
>
> Purist - Sheldon? Sheldon is far from doing anything the proper
> and conventional way. Only his bull**** is in any way "pure".
>
>> time is right, produce perfect lobster on command, you *will* get laid.
>
> Memo to self: Do not cook lobster for family.
>
> Thanks for the brain dump (at 5:00am?). It was an inspiration.
> And since it works so well for meat, I may just have to try it (an
> most know that I'm the type that will when I suggest such).
>
> But first: The gefilte is calling me to come have breakfast.
>
> -sw
>
>
Troll to Sheldon, by Squirt. Just a headsup.

In article <ibbquh$sp8$[email protected]>,
"James Silverton" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Serene wrote on Tue, 09 Nov 2010 07:52:10 -0800:
>
> > On 11/09/2010 02:54 AM, Curt Nelson wrote:
> >> To [email protected]:
> >>
> >> Thanks for asking my opinion on sous vide. I started out
> >> writing a quick blurb, but it soon turned into more of an
> >> actual subject, so I bumped it up to pole position.
>
> > Thank you so much for doing so. My geek partner is starting to
> > make noises about wiring up a sous vide rig, so I forwarded it
> > to him.
>
> Would a crock pot with a very low setting and Food-Saver vacuum bags
> work for "sous-vide"?The combination would be a lot cheaper than the
> rigs I've seen advertised.

Well, that's one of the disadvantages of starting a new topic to follow
up on an existing active topic. The original topic was in fact about
using a slow cooker.

I would suggest searching for the other thread and reading it.

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA
[email protected]

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] wrote:

> Curt, have you experimented with working searing of steaks, etc. into
> your sous vide cooking methodology? How do you address the problem of
> appearance?

A picture is worth a thousand words. Two pictures, therefore, should be
worth two thousand words? He supplied a URL to two beautiful pictures,
with full sear marks, one of a steak and one of a chicken breast. Both
were cut so you could see the inside.

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA
[email protected]

On 11/9/2010 7:56 AM, James Silverton wrote:
> Serene wrote on Tue, 09 Nov 2010 07:52:10 -0800:
>
>> On 11/09/2010 02:54 AM, Curt Nelson wrote:
>>> To [email protected]:
>>>
>>> Thanks for asking my opinion on sous vide. I started out
>>> writing a quick blurb, but it soon turned into more of an
>>> actual subject, so I bumped it up to pole position.
>
>> Thank you so much for doing so. My geek partner is starting to
>> make noises about wiring up a sous vide rig, so I forwarded it
>> to him.
>
> Would a crock pot with a very low setting and Food-Saver vacuum bags
> work for "sous-vide"?The combination would be a lot cheaper than the
> rigs I've seen advertised.


Yes, you can use a Crock Pot, but you have to pay very close attention
to the temperature, which can be a PITA.

I use a Sous Vide Magic PID temperature controller with a rice cooker.
If you go that route with a Crock Pot, because the heat comes from all
around instead of just from the bottom like a rice cooker, the water
won't convection flow as much as it should, so you would likely have to
use an aquarium pump to circulate the water.

That being said, I use a rice cooker and just this last weekend borrowed
a fish tank pump from a friend and it kept the temperature unbelievably
stable, like within 0.2°.

I'm sold on them now, so I picked one up on eBay for $18.

Hasta,
Curt Nelson

On 11/9/2010 8:01 AM, [email protected] wrote:
> Curt, have you experimented with working searing of steaks, etc. into
> your sous vide cooking methodology? How do you address the problem of
> appearance?
>
> -- Larry

Steaks have become so easy that I feel like I'm cheating somehow.

When you do your first sous vide steaks, it sort of freaks you out how
grey and nasty they look when they come out of the bag. I mean they
*really* look gross...

I'm fortunate enough to have a Weber gas grill on my deck with cast iron
grates, so I sear them off for :45 seconds a side with three flips,
which results in great color and crosshatched grill marks. The key is
getting all the moisture off the surface of your meat before you try and
brown it. I also like to coat the protein with a little oil before I
brown it because I believe it helps displace moisture and conducts heat
better to achieve a Maillard reaction. It feels like sacrelidge, but I
simply shoot a little cooking spray on before I brown them.

When the weather's crappy, I've also had great results with a cast iron
pan.

Until this weekend I hadn't figured out a good way to brown boneless
skinless chicken breasts without screwing them up. I thought it was a
stupid idea for the longest time, but I finally busted out a creme
brulee torch and torched my chicken breasts after drying and oiling
them. They turned out beautiful! It only took a few seconds and they
looked like something from a glossy magazine shoot. I still feel stupid
for using a torch on a chicken breast, though...

Hasta,
Curt Nelson

;-)

On Nov 9, 4:54*am, Curt Nelson <n...@of.your.damn.business> wrote:
>
>
> Anyway, good luck! I hope you continue trying this technique and, most
> importantly, have fun eating your creations!

I much desire a sous vide cooker. I know a guy who is between school
and job, who happens to have a degree in electronic engineering. With
his skills and my money, we could put one together to share, or maybe
two, so we'd each have one.
>
> Curt Nelson
>
--Bryan

On Nov 9, 8:19*pm, Bryan <bryangsimm...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Nov 9, 4:54*am, Curt Nelson <n...@of.your.damn.business> wrote:
>
>
>
> > Anyway, good luck! I hope you continue trying this technique and, most
> > importantly, have fun eating your creations!
>
> I much desire a sous vide cooker. *I know a guy who is between school
> and job, who happens to have a degree in electronic engineering. *With
> his skills and my money, we could put one together to share, or maybe
> two, so we'd each have one.
>
> > Curt Nelson
>
> --Bryan

Yes you do, Bryan. And it would not be my Electrical Engineering
degree that would allow me to efficate building a sous vide cooker
with/for you, it would be the same basement building skills I have
that helped me be a significant contributor to the Cheep Effects! ;-)

I know how to plug stuff together! :-)

John Kuthe...

In article
<[email protected]>,
Bryan <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Nov 9, 4:54*am, Curt Nelson <n...@of.your.damn.business> wrote:
> >
> >
> > Anyway, good luck! I hope you continue trying this technique and, most
> > importantly, have fun eating your creations!
>
> I much desire a sous vide cooker. I know a guy who is between school
> and job, who happens to have a degree in electronic engineering. With
> his skills and my money, we could put one together to share, or maybe
> two, so we'd each have one.

Ping me privately, and I'll send you the schematic for the simple
controller I built for my slow cooker. (That goes for anybody else, too,
but I disclaim all responsibility if you fry yourself instead of your
dinner.)

Isaac

On Nov 9, 11:52*am, Dan Abel <da...@sonic.net> wrote:
> In article <21sid6lvr5iohlo9cjen18mkuptfcai...@4ax.com>,
>
> *pltrg...@xhost.org wrote:
> > Curt, have you experimented with working searing of steaks, etc. into
> > your sous vide cooking methodology? How do you address the problem of
> > appearance?
>
> A picture is worth a thousand words. *Two pictures, therefore, should be
> worth two thousand words? *He supplied a URL to two beautiful pictures,
> with full sear marks, one of a steak and one of a chicken breast. *Both
> were cut so you could see the inside.

The steak looked medium well. I'd like to see one medium rare.
>
> --
> Dan Abel

--Bryan

In article
<[email protected]>,
Bryan <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Nov 9, 11:52*am, Dan Abel <da...@sonic.net> wrote:
> > In article <21sid6lvr5iohlo9cjen18mkuptfcai...@4ax.com>,
> >
> > *pltrg...@xhost.org wrote:
> > > Curt, have you experimented with working searing of steaks, etc. into
> > > your sous vide cooking methodology? How do you address the problem of
> > > appearance?
> >
> > A picture is worth a thousand words. *Two pictures, therefore, should be
> > worth two thousand words? *He supplied a URL to two beautiful pictures,
> > with full sear marks, one of a steak and one of a chicken breast. *Both
> > were cut so you could see the inside.
>
> The steak looked medium well. I'd like to see one medium rare.

The beauty of sous vide is that you can have it cooked *exactly* as you
like it, every time, time after time.

Isaac

On Tue, 09 Nov 2010 09:52:29 -0800, Dan Abel <[email protected]> wrote:

>A picture is worth a thousand words. Two pictures, therefore, should be
>worth two thousand words? He supplied a URL to two beautiful pictures,
>with full sear marks, one of a steak and one of a chicken breast. Both
>were cut so you could see the inside.

Yes, but they don't tell me when he seared them -- before or after
sous vide, or whether he experimented with both possibilities.

-- Larry

I also posted this in the other Sous Vide thread that is currently on
this Forum

================================================== =========




I have one of those Quasar microwaves with a temperature control
probe
which I use for sous vide. If you have one, or a similar one, perhaps
you can try your hand at an easy sous vide without an expensive water
bath piece of equipment -- at least as an experiment.

-Take a boneless chicken breast (season if you want)


-Place it in a vacuum bag and remove all the air (I use the FoodSaver
system)


-Place a two quart Pyrex bowl or measuring container with sufficient
water to cover your chicken package in the microwave and heat it to
130 degrees using the temperature probe (do not have the chicken in
the water at this time - you want the water to temperature - first)


-When temperature is reached, THEN place the chicken package in the
water container. Make sure it is submerged (you may have to put a
non-
metalic weight on top of the package to keep it under the water)


-Continue to microwave at Medium with a temperature setting of 130
degrees. Cycles will be mostly off as all it is doing is keeping the
water at 130 degrees. There will be some microwaving of the chicken
so
that is why I select 130 degrees rather than the published 140
degrees. [If you like your chicken 'more done' then use higher
temperatures]


-You can wrap the container with the water and chicken package with a
towel to keep heat in and to cut down the microwaving


-Leave the chicken in the hot water bath in the microwave for at
least
40 minutes


-Result: great evenly cooked tender juicy chicken. You'de be
surprised
how good.


PS: I also use my temperature probe microwave to make large batches
of
yogurt. Very easy to do. I've written about it before.


Gary Hayman
Greenbelt, Maryland