Sous-vide

[blackdawg]

I would like to purchase a unit, what is the cats meow? I could spend up to $350 on it if need be,, my wife is a crazy wanna be chef and we are down to the bottom of barrel with wild meat by July/August,, she has a July birthday, so the timing is good, all the talk sounds like it will work magic on the lower quality cuts of meat.


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[cmahoney]

The $150 joule is awesome. I use it a couple times a week. In addition to helping with low quality meats, it ads convenience. I pre package meats with seasoning and olive oil in vacuum bags and put them in the Sous vide frozen. Brined chicken breasts come out awesome.


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[Pro953]

I think 350 would be a bit more than you need to spend on the unit itself.

Probably best to put together a package of sorts. Most just use a large pot or cooler to hold the meat but custom plastic bins with covers are around. They help minimize evaporation so you do not need to top up water as much on longer runs.

Also, make sure you have a decent vac seal system. Maybe a couple rolls of heavy duty bags. Always a bummer when you run something only to find your bag had a small hole that let water in. You end up with some nice poached Venison vs the slow cook you are looking for.

Another fun tool for cuts like this is a Jaccard. Plus they just look crazy. It’s a love hate for some folks but I find it takes some of the tougher cuts and makes them tenter enough to grill and slice mid rare vs a slow cook or braise.

Good luck! Some of the wild game cookbooks like those from Hank Shaw are always cool as well.


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[durangobrad]

I have used the Anova and the Joule. The Joule I used can only be used via blue tooth and it didnt alway cooperate with my phone. The anova had wireless/bluetooth but I never used it. I prefer the analog dial to set the temp. I would never spend anywhere north of $150 on one, unless there are some features im not familiar with. All I want it to do is easily heat water to my desired temp.

 

[blackdawg]

I have a food saver vacuum sealer , the jaccard is great idea. What kind of durability/ life would a person expect from one with once a week use annually? Are some units more reliable than others?








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[Boxerboxer]

The bluetooth Anova Precision Cooker is what I have, and what I would recommend. As someone else said, it can be operated without a phone connection, and while Anova does have a decent phone app, it's really not necessary. It goes on sale for $100-110 regularly.

You CAN buy a vac sealer if you want, but ziploc bags are safe to use and in my experience (4 years of cooking with the Anova and ziplocs) work extremely well if you don't want to go down the vac sealer rabbit hole, or if you just want to get into sous vide and try it without big outlay.

I haven't heard anything bad about the joule other than the inability to control it without a phone or tablet, so I'm sure you'd be fine going down that path.

I don't see any reason you would need to even approach $350 unless you just gotta have the vac sealer.

 

[Rodéo]

No experience with the other machines but I have the $150 joule (got if off amazon warehouse for $90) and it's a great machine. I'm using it right now to cook some tri tip for later tonight actually.

Maintenance-wise, it's been pretty solid. I've used it about twice a week on average now for over 6 months and it's only needed a 'deep-clean' once. And that is pretty easy, just set it to 180 in a bath of vinegar and water for 20-30 min and it comes out good as new.

As a guy who cooks regularly, the sous vide method is a pretty solid mix up from the standard options available. If you or your wife are adventurous cooks, which it sounds like you are, I can't recommend one enough, but as stated by other members, I think you can get into a solid unit for way less than $350 all said and done.

I use either my yeti 20 for very large cuts of meat or a large stock pot for smaller cuts. If cook time is long (over 12 hours) I put plastic wrap over the top to help with evaporation.

 

[Downeaster]

I got the anova with blue tooth and wifi. Personally i dont use either of those features, so if i had to do it all again id just get a cheap one with a dial and be done with it.
Put the money you save towards some nice serving platters or a cutting board.
Ymmv, good luck.

 

[Dos Perros]

I like my Anova. I got the Wifi feature because I saw myself putting a frozen piece of meat in ice water (in a cooler) as I left for the morning, and then at lunch time launching the app and turning it on. Haven't really done that yet, but we do like the sous vide. I've received several "that was the best piece of xxxx I've ever had" kind of comments.

I do recommend trying to have some sort of insulated container, you lose a lot of heat in an open pot. And if you're running the A/C, you've spent money to make that heat, and now you have to spend money to get rid of it. Drives the engineer in me crazy.

 

[MuleyFever]

Sous vide

Which one? Too many.

www.rokslide.com

 

[blackdawg]

Thanks for the responses, I ordered the Anova. Another option in her bag of cooking tricks for her birthday.


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[shedav14]

We use the Anova precision cooker and love it! You can cook anything from Osso Bucco to steaks. The next thing to look at would be the searing options. There are some good Youtube videos on some good techniques.

 

[blackdawg]

I went with the Anova. The first couple times we have used it have been home runs! The kids were fighting over the venison sirloin we sliced into small pieces for sandwiches, they just wanted to gorge on the meat, 4 lbs didn't last long!

 

[fordcappy]

Anova here as well. I am a chef by profession, I have been using it at home for almost 3 years now, never an issue with it. Depending on your water the unit will have to be broken down and delimed on occasion. It comes apart very easily.