Anova Wi-Fi Precision Sous Vide Cooker Becomes First Cooking Device Available in Apple Retail Stores

I am a chef by trade and although I have not used this specific product I have used the sous vide cooking technique extensively.

Sous vide translated to English means "in a vacuum" and in general, the cooking technique refers to cooking food items in a vacuum at a low temperature for long periods of time, usually in a water bath. Time and temperature need to be controlled hence the advent of equipment like the one in question which can get very expensive up to thousands of dollars.

You also you need some way of vacuum bagging the food items, we use professional cryvac machines costing thousands of dollars, however a foodssaver unit costing $75-$150 will work for home use.


There are several reasons to use the sous vide cooking technique.

1. Tough cuts of meats, short ribs, pork cheeks etc., can be cooked over long periods of time breaking down the connective tissues that make them tough, essentially tenderizing them. You can do the same thing with braising, but the lower temperatures of sous vide can fully cook something like a short rib and maintain a pinkish color instead of the grayish color of braising. You can also sous vide with much less liquid which as a chef is important because we tend to use expensive products like veal stock and wines to braise with. The down side is that you don't have all that liquid the meat was cooked in to reduce, concentrate favors and glaze the finished product with.

2. Another reason to use this technique is control Doneness (rare, medium etc.) and quicken pickup times. For tender cut of beef, filet, ny strip, ribeye for example you can sous vide to a specific temperature, then finish off on a grill or sauté pan to caramelized the outside. I find there is a textural difference from traditional methods that I am personal on the fence about regarding beef products, but I love the technique for chicken. You can sous vide a skin on chicken breast then finish off in a pan, crisp and brown the skin perfectly in a fraction of the time it would normally take with less chance of burning or drying out the meat.

3. for tougher cuts like top rounds, flat iron or hanger steak, the sous vide method breaks down the connective tissue more than traditional cooking methods and tenderizes the meat. Searing the cut after sous vide caramelizes the outside for flavor and results in a more tender eating experience.

4. Sous vide is great for making perfect soft or hard boiled eggs and poaching vegetables without getting them soggy. For example I want to pickle some squash which is too hard to cold pickle. If I simmer the squash, it gets too soft on the outside before the center is done. If I sous vide before pickling the texture is improved and a better product is created.

all i can think of is the recent story about WiFi-enabled Barbie being hacked and giving up customer data (and children' voice recordings) because a non-computer manufacturer skimped on encryption techniques to get their product out there. i sense a big mess in the near future as this becomes more common and uninformed consumers buy them up as fast as they're made.

My god, you are absolutely right. It's going to be a dark day indeed when ISIS hacks into your sous vide and turns the temp up to 150 degrees, locks you out of the app, and your eggs get completely over cooked! The horror!!

:)

Unless I really don't get it, does this boil everything?

I don't want to boil a steak. And I could buy a lot of steaks for $200.

I was wondering about this too. The article explains somewhere, but I missed it at first and actually misread it like 3 times, which is why I edited my reply so many times. You are correct. I guess this device mixes it for you. The device itself is cool, but I'm dubious of the cooking method. Maybe the fact that water is more heat-conductive than air makes it better than baking in some way? I've never tried it, though.

Here in the frat, I've gotta shove food for 18 people into a pot that's too small or several pans, light pieces of spaghetti on fire to ignite the stove burners, and mix it like a mad man to make sure nothing burns. Not to sound arrogant, but I think my food turns out pretty well.

Here's the thing about sous vide: you can make a ton of meat or whatever consistently. I have the first generation of this product and it's pretty awesome, it takes the guess work out of making steaks, chicken, etc. It works by heating everything from the outside in at exactly the same temperature, meaning that you don't end up with a overcooked exterior and undercooked interior or some variation of that result. I sear everything afterwards because stuff that has been browned on the outside tastes better (Malliard reaction). Anything made this way is also ready to be frozen and reheated in water for about 10 minutes, which makes preping healthy food for a week easy. As a fellow college student, I think that it would work for making nicer meals for 18 people. But it's possible (probable) no one has time for that in a frat house.

Unrelated, but why FreeBSD? And is there a reason I should get a small server with it? Also, is your PC a hackintosh?

The whole thing sounds quite dumb to me. You've replaced the heated air from an oven with heated water in this device. Seems like it would be quite a bit slower than the oven, since the water would take longer to heat than the air.

Even then, it sounds like you've baked your food. Baked steak is okay, but grilled is better.

I agree with the others... you should read up on what sous vide actually is.

With a 400 degree grill it would take a steak about 5 quick minutes on each side to reach an internal temperature of 140 degrees. Thicker steaks are tricky because the outside will get done before the inside.

With sous vide... you slowly cook the steak in the bag in 140 degree water. The entire steak cooks at the same time. Yeah it takes an hour or so... but it's completely cooked and at the proper temperature. (and you can't really overcook it if you let it sit in the water too long)

Then you should finish it off with a quick sear in a pan or on the grill.

The point of sous vide is perfect, repeatable results every time.

I wouldn't consider that dumb.