Sous Vide Sous vide cooking and chamber vacuum sealer - where to begin?

So I have finally entered the world of sous-vide cooking and I hope to take full advantage of it. I have only tried the basics so far: eggs, duck and chicken breast, and have had very good results. But I know there is a lot to try and learn and that this combination has a lot to offer :hungry:

So the justifications for getting this, or at least the main goals are:
- Cooking the tougher pieces of meat
- Organising myself so I can bring lunch to work as often as possible
- Discovering new otherwise unachievable culinary delights

Who am I kidding, I just wanted to try that peice of kit :lol2:

Anyway, it would be great to have some advice on how best to take advantage of this new kits, mainly what resources to read, what to try first, etc...
I also read on another thread that a chamber vacuum sealer can do so much more than just pack the meat for the sous-vide machine, so I would love to learn about that as well.

So what I am really hoping for is some guidance on how to make the best of this new equipment and some guidelines on this journey. All help/advice is highly appreciated! :thankyou:

What are you looking at getting? What's your budget?

ETA: Thomas Keller's Under Pressure is a nice book/resource to have.

AFKitchenknivesguy said:

What are you looking at getting? What's your budget?

ETA: Thomas Keller's Under Pressure is a nice book/resource to have.

Click to expand...

Thanks will look for this book!
I have already received a few days ago, both a sous vide stirred bath (a clip on that you put on any standard gastronorm container) and a chamber sealing vacuum machine. They are designed here in the UK so I don't think any of you have heard of them:
Clifton Portable Clip on ThermoStirrer
Buffalo chamber vacuum-pack machine

That's a nice looking chamber vac. Doesn't show up on the US website, guessing they don't make a 120v version.

Happy new year everyone!

So to make sure this is the year of sous-vide, let's continue with some questions

If you have frozen fish to cook. Not vacuum packed since I dodn't have that machine until recently. Is it still safe to cook? And how do you adjust the time?

It really depends on how thick the fish is. If you have a chamber vac now suggest a high strength seal frozen with either a flavour or butter. Then add an additional 5min of cooking time per 10mm to allow for it being frozen.

Normally I don't vac fish unless it is wrapped in cling wrap. There are some nasty pressure issues that can have a detrimental textural effects.

Try some sausages @ 63c for about an hour then let rest for 15 min then brown in a pan. Sous vide and sausages are made for each other!

I'm waiting for my Sansaire from the kickstarter campaign.

Besides some of the foods you've tried (which are all on my list), I'm looking forward to trying steak and pork chops so I can cook them to an exact temperature.

I've also heard that SV for veggies (carrots, green beans, etc.) can be very nice. And some tougher cuts of meat like pot roast and 72 hour ribs.

JCHine said:

It really depends on how thick the fish is. If you have a chamber vac now suggest a high strength seal frozen with either a flavour or butter. Then add an additional 5min of cooking time per 10mm to allow for it being frozen.

Normally I don't vac fish unless it is wrapped in cling wrap. There are some nasty pressure issues that can have a detrimental textural effects.

Try some sausages @ 63c for about an hour then let rest for 15 min then brown in a pan. Sous vide and sausages are made for each other!

Click to expand...

Thanks, that's exactly the kind of info I need.
Also definitely got me curious on the sausage, will try this weekend!

I LOVED my 72 hour ribs. Even did a double-blind tasting with 48 hour ribs (no comparison).

Pot roast is on my list though...anyone got an approach they like?

toddnmd said:

I'm waiting for my Sansaire from the kickstarter campaign.

Besides some of the foods you've tried (which are all on my list), I'm looking forward to trying steak and pork chops so I can cook them to an exact temperature.

I've also heard that SV for veggies (carrots, green beans, etc.) can be very nice. And some tougher cuts of meat like pot roast and 72 hour ribs.

Click to expand...

Zwiefel,

Did you follow the MC recipe? I ask because they mention a vacuum sealer is necessary and I thought you did not have one yet. Or do you have an edge sealer and are looking to get a chamber-vac?

My vac is crapola so I don't even want to attempt it