My kids gave me a sous vide for Christmas

What are your favorite things to use it for?

Seafood is great since it is so easy to overcook. Any kind of confit (duck legs, beef cheeks, carnitas, etc.) is also good because you don't need quarts of rendered fat to do it.

Some of my favorites: steaks (any kind), lamp chops, leg of lamb, prime ribs, carnitas, and many more!

The best thing about sous vide to me is that you can have a large group over and have everyone's steak perfectly cooked at the exact same time.

I use mine for steaks probably over 90% of the time. Also good for reheating stuff, delicate fish so you can sear one side well without the need for turning, can do some cool stuff with pork shoulder to do "chops" or char siu or katsu, can also do eggs in it for the exact internal consistency you prefer

All of the above is what I've used it for. Perfect shrimp. Really like it for seafood since you dial in exactly what you want.

Perfect reverse sear steaks. Used it for perfect low effort asparagus on Christmas.

Ham. Really. You can cook it from frozen. 3 hours at 140. Then into the oven as hot as it'll go for 10 minutes to glaze. Perfectly moist.

I find that I get a better sear on steaks by doing the reverse sear method. Sous vide leaves them too wet, even when you dry them with paper towels. However, I use it all the time for venison loin where I don't care about the crust on the loin as much.

Agree about the wet steaks. Most recently I've used it to reheat frozen brisket and frozen chili that I had saved in individual portions.

I've also used it for old fashioneds. I put all the ingredients + the bourbon in a glass jar, sous vide it at 140 for a few hours, then pour it through a coffee filter. End product is a jar of old fashioned that can be poured as if it's on tap.

I've had a corned beef dry curing for almost a week. It's going to turn into New Years dinner with cabbage and a black eyed pea.

Have you ever bought the Cajun bacon wrapped stuffed pork tenderloins from HEB? They can go straight from the freezer to Sous vide then crisp up the bacon on the grill before serving. Turns out perfect where a traditional cooking method would burn the bacon and overcook the pork before the inside gets hot. Pork chops and chicken are good candidates.

I think it's unnecessary for steaks and you get a better crust going cast iron and turning frequently after the initial sear, but it's good insurance if you aren't confident in testing doneness by feel.

trouble said:

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Ham. Really. You can cook it from frozen. 3 hours at 140. Then into the oven as hot as it'll go for 10 minutes to glaze. Perfectly moist.

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I am the type who would throw the whole damn thing in, still in the package from the store. Never thought about using it for this.

hfs I'm lazy

Completely plain chicken breast to a ridiculously low temperature for a long time. Then dice it and make chicken salad.

superunknown said:

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trouble said:

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Ham. Really. You can cook it from frozen. 3 hours at 140. Then into the oven as hot as it'll go for 10 minutes to glaze. Perfectly moist.

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I am the type who would throw the whole damn thing in, still in the package from the store. Never thought about using it for this.

hfs I'm lazy

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That's how I do it

My favorite is crme brle or chocolate pot de creme, or any custard really). Get little mason jars, fill, and then place them in the sous vide.

But all the other suggestions are good.


Another interesting one is cooking eggs in the shell. Depending on the temp, you can set it to anything from poached to hard boiled eggs. You a can also pasteurize without cooking them if you want raw eggs.

For you experts, are all devices created equal? Any suggestions on the device brand and ancillary equipment you consider useful?

waryman said:

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For you experts, are all devices created equal? Any suggestions on the device brand and ancillary equipment you consider useful?

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I have 2 different brands. Functionally, they are basically the same. The newer one I have connects to my phone. I never use it with my phone. The most important thing in my opinion is that it is easy to set the temperature. Both of mine are years old so I have no idea what the currently available ones are like.

The other significant thing is how they hang onto the side of the water bath and how deep/how full you need the water back.

As for accessories, you need a container for the water and you want a lid if you are doing longer cooks. Could be as simple as a stock pot, but there are usually several options on Amazon with lids that fit around the heater/circulator. I have a square polycarbonate tub with a lid that has a hole sized for one of my sous vides that I use for larger cuts and longer cooks. But I also sometimes just use a metal stock pot.

Also, while you can get away with a ziplock bag, a vacuum sealed bag is better. So you may want a vacuum sealer of some sort. Ziplock makes some bags and a little hand pump which will work if you don't want to go all in on a vacuum sealer.

Just thought of bacon as well. Toss the whole package in at 145 overnight. Use what you need in the morning and put the rest on ice and it's fine to go back in the fridge. The bacon texture turns out awesome

Is it possible to season/marinade (blasphemy to some, I know) a steak, vacuum seal, sous vide, then grill?

Biggest benefit for steaks in my opinion is freeing you to do other stuff. Make the sides while steaks are in the sous vide, pat dry, re-season and sear. Takes about three minutes of actual attention that way. I get a great crust every time so I'm not sure what others are doing differently.

trouble said:

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superunknown said:

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trouble said:

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Ham. Really. You can cook it from frozen. 3 hours at 140. Then into the oven as hot as it'll go for 10 minutes to glaze. Perfectly moist.

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I am the type who would throw the whole damn thing in, still in the package from the store. Never thought about using it for this.

hfs I'm lazy

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That's how I do it

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Yessssss

Yes

FIDO*98* said:

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Just thought of bacon as well. Toss the whole package in at 145 overnight. Use what you need in the morning and put the rest on ice and it's fine to go back in the fridge. The bacon texture turns out awesome

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Are you from the future or what! Genius.

Yes, but be careful. You'll need less seasoning than you normally would. I don't salt steaks when I've done it because the meat can get somewhat of a "cured" texture because of the salt. If you're just going to season/marinade and cook right away, it's usually not a problem. It's when you salt it overnight and then cook it.

BiochemAg97 said:

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waryman said:

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For you experts, are all devices created equal? Any suggestions on the device brand and ancillary equipment you consider useful?

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I have 2 different brands. Functionally, they are basically the same. The newer one I have connects to my phone. I never use it with my phone. The most important thing in my opinion is that it is easy to set the temperature. Both of mine are years old so I have no idea what the currently available ones are like.

The other significant thing is how they hang onto the side of the water bath and how deep/how full you need the water back.

As for accessories, you need a container for the water and you want a lid if you are doing longer cooks. Could be as simple as a stock pot, but there are usually several options on Amazon with lids that fit around the heater/circulator. I have a square polycarbonate tub with a lid that has a hole sized for one of my sous vides that I use for larger cuts and longer cooks. But I also sometimes just use a metal stock pot.

Also, while you can get away with a ziplock bag, a vacuum sealed bag is better. So you may want a vacuum sealer of some sort. Ziplock makes some bags and a little hand pump which will work if you don't want to go all in on a vacuum sealer.

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I bought a bag of cheap ping pong balls to use as a cover. They fit on whatever size pot I use. A cover is only necessary for hours-long water baths.