Sous Vide immersion circulator

Gaza365 said:
I had not really given that much thought, considering the videos online show people doing this cooking in a ziploc bag... so now while I Ponder weather my Vac packed mince is killing me faster than my cellphone.

Let us ask the educated masses. Does anyone know if there is any enforced standard on SA food packaging, that a reputable retailer would follow, which would automatically mean their Vacuum packaging is safe for Souis-Vide. Or are we all going to get a Tumor?

Edit:
https://www.chefsteps.com/activitie...-packaging-safety-sustainability-and-sourcing
Click to expand...

I enquired with Crown National .. had to drag it out of them .. they confirmed their bags are NOT cerified safe for sous vide processing.
 
This is going to annoy the hell out of everyone (sorry Randhir :D) but it sounds like boil-in-a-bag.

I've seen it used on TV etc, just don't get it. Do temperature and timing enhance the flavours.
 
maumau said:
This is going to annoy the hell out of everyone (sorry Randhir :D) but it sounds like boil-in-a-bag.

I've seen it used on TV etc, just don't get it. Do temperature and timing enhance the flavours.
Click to expand...

It's not boiling at all, it's very low temperature.

It's pretty much about EXACT cooking more than anything else.
 
I've just built my own sous vide machine.
Temperature controller + Heating element + water pump.
No idea how good or bad it's gonna work but I can't afford a real sous vide machine neither do I wanna spend the crazy prices being asked for high-end beef cuts ...I'm a cheapsteak (see what I did there?) and I'm okay with that. But I still would like to eat good steaks. So I'm gonna get me some cheap beef cuts and take a swing at it.
So far I've tried doing sous vide eggs and cracking them over some pasta (...this is what happens when you watch ChefSteps videos) , but I screwed up with my timing. Tasted fine, but I wanted runny yolks and got jammy yolks cos of my own stupidity.
 
maumau said:
This is going to annoy the hell out of everyone (sorry Randhir :D) but it sounds like boil-in-a-bag.
I've seen it used on TV etc, just don't get it. Do temperature and timing enhance the flavours.
Click to expand...
I dunno why anyone should be annoyed... It most certainly is like boil-in-a-bag, but it's actually cook-in-a-bag
And it's cook-in-a-bag with style :)
[video=youtube_share;q21O515OLxU]https://youtu.be/q21O515OLxU[/video]
 
maumau said:
So Heston Blumenthal style. OK now I get it. Tks
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The French have done it for years.

It's for some reason only caught the world by storm now. Probably Americans waking up to "ancient technology".
 
SauRoNZA said:
The French have done it for years.

It's for some reason only caught the world by storm now. Probably Americans waking up to "ancient technology".
Click to expand...
The cooking industry has done it for years, but no home kitchen alternative was made available until the last decade or so. The commercial kitchen units are prohibitively expensive for home cooks.

Even the early units designed for home use were out of reach for many due to the price.
 
Randhir said:
Even the early units designed for home use were out of reach for many due to the price.
Click to expand...
Hey man, even the current units are waaaaaay out of reach of me due to price!
...hence the attempt at a DIY.
But I still need to test my machine properly before I "self-certify" it as being worth the effort and cost.
 
Inevitability said:
Hey man, even the current units are waaaaaay out of reach of me due to price!
...hence the attempt at a DIY.
But I still need to test my machine properly before I "self-certify" it as being worth the effort and cost.
Click to expand...

I hear you, but I'm sure many started off with a DIY test which made them justify upgrading. I know I did.

I see you're attempting to long cook. I would exercise caution. Unless you're extremely confident that your setup will maintain temp over a long period without too much of a temperature swing, I'd stick to shorter cooks. Things like chuck and short rib need 24+ at low temps to break down the collagen. If your temps start dipping into the danger zone then you're going to have a bad time.
 
Randhir said:
I hear you, but I'm sure many started off with a DIY test which made them justify upgrading. I know I did.
I see you're attempting to long cook. I would exercise caution. Unless you're extremely confident that your setup will maintain temp over a long period without too much of a temperature swing, I'd stick to shorter cooks. Things like chuck and short rib need 24+ at low temps to break down the collagen. If your temps start dipping into the danger zone then you're going to have a bad time.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the heads up. That's an important point.
Thing is, from my initial testing, I actually expect to have the opposite problem : too much heating power!
I made a test batch of eggs when i first hooked it all up, and when the temp dropped below the set point, the 800w element kicked in and the "transport delay" of the temperature probe trying to keep up with the rapidly rising temp of the water resulted in the water overshooting the set point by a few degrees (... I hope that made sense. If only Prof Boje/Burton could see me now!)
This was partly due to the small water vessel I used for the test (about 2L volume), but the test vessel was badly insulated which meant that the water would lose heat quickly and there wasn't too much of a price to pay for the temp overshoot.
What concerns me is that if I use a properly insulated vessel (like a cooler box) then the transport delay (and the resulting temp overshoot) will mean that the water gets too hot and stays too hot for a long time, which screws up the whole point of sous vide (i.e. precise temp control)
I might buy a lower power heating element if I find that this happens with the cooler box.

...apologies for going off topic
 
Inevitability said:
Thanks for the heads up. That's an important point.
Thing is, from my initial testing, I actually expect to have the opposite problem : too much heating power!
I made a test batch of eggs when i first hooked it all up, and when the temp dropped below the set point, the 800w element kicked in and the "transport delay" of the temperature probe trying to keep up with the rapidly rising temp of the water resulted in the water overshooting the set point by a few degrees (... I hope that made sense. If only Prof Boje/Burton could see me now!)
This was partly due to the small water vessel I used for the test (about 2L volume), but the test vessel was badly insulated which meant that the water would lose heat quickly and there wasn't too much of a price to pay for the temp overshoot.
What concerns me is that if I use a properly insulated vessel (like a cooler box) then the transport delay (and the resulting temp overshoot) will mean that the water gets too hot and stays too hot for a long time, which screws up the whole point of sous vide (i.e. precise temp control)
I might buy a lower power heating element if I find that this happens with the cooler box.

...apologies for going off topic
Click to expand...

Test it out in the bigger vessel with something cheap like eggs. Any chance you can monitor the temperature accurately in real time? Some sort of readout or feedback?

Also, if you have an accurate thermometer, test the accuracy of your temps.
 
I built a pretty decent unit on a budget using a STC-1000. It can control any applicance you plug into it such as a slow cooker or immersion water heater. Can do pics if anyone is interested.
 
codus said:
I built a pretty decent unit on a budget using a STC-1000. It can control any applicance you plug into it such as a slow cooker or immersion water heater. Can do pics if anyone is interested.
Click to expand...

+1 for this solution. There's an alternative firmware for the STC-1000 called the STC-1000p. With this you can set up PID control which would compensate for over shooting. I have a couple of these for brewing and fermenting and they work really well.
 
I bought the Elitech E-1000, which is just a nicer looking STC-1000.
I think a good test would be to hook everything up with the cooler, then set my phone as a time-lapse camera and leave it overnight to see how the temp gets controlled over a long period (...with nothing in the water, I mean).
 
Hope this is not too far off topic...
How much salt per kg of steak if I'm seasoning before sous vide?
I intend to do some cheap beef on a long cook at around 67°
Maybe 16 hours
The plan is:
Sear, salt, sous vide, sear, mushroom sauce :)
 
Inevitability said:
Hope this is not too far off topic...
How much salt per kg of steak if I'm seasoning before sous vide?
I intend to do some cheap beef on a long cook at around 67°
Maybe 16 hours
The plan is:
Sear, salt, sous vide, sear, mushroom sauce :)
Click to expand...
Don't salt for long cooks.
 
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