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[Free Mr. Tony]

Just a pain to set up, bag, get water out, finish, put away...next time have to get out, set up...Why I have not used my deep fryer in 6 months...

Well, that was sort of what I was saying in a long winded sort of way.

For all the negative though if I cooked more steaks or anything that sous vide excels at I would have definately kept it. I just didn't really see myself dragging it out much based on what and how I typically cook. I was glad I tried it, so I knew what I was or wasn't missing.

SV excels at cooking vegetables.

Whats your go-to veg/process?

[pmillen]

Whats your go-to veg/process?

It varies by vegetable.

Corn on the cob

• Put 4 ears of husked corn in one or two bags
• Put a tablespoon of butter per two cobs and some (not a lot and not all of these at once) cilantro, scallions, garlic, dried chilies, etc. for additional flavor
• Cook SV for 30 minutes at 183°F (weigh them down, they'll want to float)

[Fire708]

Add the ne of these to your crockpot and your golden!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/LED-Digital-Temperature-Controller-Outlet-Thermostat-Control-Switch-AC-110V-10A/401320277786?epid=2084038782&hash=item5d708d771a:g:K-YAAOSww9xZCXwf

[pmillen]

Add the ne of these to your crockpot and your golden!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/LED-Digital-Temperature-Controller-Outlet-Thermostat-Control-Switch-AC-110V-10A/401320277786?epid=2084038782&hash=item5d708d771a:g:K-YAAOSww9xZCXwf

Bentley,  it might control the temperature by turning the power off and on.  Before you invest in it, pull the plug to kill the power on your crock pot.  Then plug it back in and see if it retained your setting.  If it didn't, this item won't be a good temperature controller for your cooker.

[pmillen]

Here are a few more successful SV cooks–

Beef ribs
Brisket
Brown rice and quinoa pilaf
Brussels sprouts
Cauliflower, mashed (potato substitute)
Chicken Breast (best cooking method for breasts that are of varying thickness)
Chuck roast, SVd and then smoked
Corn on the cob
Ribeye
Salmon
Sweet potatoes, coconut mashed
Tuna
Wine poached pears

I could list more but decided to stop.  I haven't been posting about SV cooking here because I wanted to focus on pellets.

[Fire708]

Add the ne of these to your crockpot and your golden!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/LED-Digital-Temperature-Controller-Outlet-Thermostat-Control-Switch-AC-110V-10A/401320277786?epid=2084038782&hash=item5d708d771a:g:K-YAAOSww9xZCXwf

Bentley,  it might control the temperature by turning the power off and on.  Before you invest in it, pull the plug to kill the power on your crock pot.  Then plug it back in and see if it retained your setting.  If it didn't, this item won't be a good temperature controller for your cooker.

That is how they work. Didn’t notice Bentley’s crockpot was digital.

[pmillen]

That is how they work. Didn’t notice Bentley’s crockpot was digital.

I'm not certain that it is.

[Bentley]

Once again I am late to the show.  Way over done for me, but that could easily be remedied with correct equipment.  85% of my family would have considered this meat perfectly cooked. 

This piece of meat would have needed to be marinade because it had no flavor.  I understand why a friend on the SFF forum said it needs to be at 125° water temperature, cuz I would have preferred to sear a rare piece of meat then a medium piece.  But without eating this, there is no way I would have believe you could take a cut, that would usually need 3-4 hours at a braising temperature to even get close to being this tender, and have it come out like it did...it is truly amazing. 

If you have never had a piece of tough beef cooked in a sous vide process, and you have a vac sealer and a crock pot that will stay below 140°, you need to experience it!

I think if I had a unit that would go to 115°, that is what I would cook to as I am not a fan of the French style of steaks, with the pan sear.  If I have a  Bordelaise or a Bernaise or even a Madeira I could see not even worrying about searing and just finishing with it.  And for this cut, with no flavor a sauce like that would have been perfect.

But if I am going to have a steak, I want some char on it!  And with the meat at 115°, I could get a nice char on both sides and I bet stay under 135°!

From a tenderness standpoint, this is a phenomenal technique.  If I had it to do again, I would have poured the bag goo in with the instant potatoes as they were being mixed!

[Bentley]

Next experiment will be to see how low a temperature my deep fryer will do with water!

[Chris__M]

I have a Codlo, which is a small temperature controlled mains switch, originally launched via Kickstarter. I don't use it a lot, but have had some fun with it. Why I favoured it was - like your experiment - it utilises kit that I already have in my kitchen, rather than buying (and storing) another large device.

My initial experiments had the Codlo controlling my slow cooker. It worked, but the power of my slow cooker meant that the water bath itself took so long to come to heat. While I could speed that up by starting with hot water, I found that this messed up the Codlo's predictive cooking profile.

So my later work used a large rice cooker instead, again with the Codlo controlling it. Although it had no fan, I found this wasn't a problem, providing I didn't try to over-fill the cooker with items to cook.

[Bar-B-Lew]

Bentley, could you provide a summary recap of how you did this (i.e. temp setting on crock pot, how much water you put in crock pot, how long you waited until you put the meat in, how long you left the meat in, etc.)?

[Bentley]

It does not.  As far as settings, you plug it in and all 3 lights blink-high-low-warm.  You then push the left button to select one of those temperatures.  If you unplug it and plug it back in, you are at the blinking light.  So I am going to assume you mean this would not work?  Just realized the little red pad is so you can set a timer, never even knew it was there.

Add the ne of these to your crockpot and your golden!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/LED-Digital-Temperature-Controller-Outlet-Thermostat-Control-Switch-AC-110V-10A/401320277786?epid=2084038782&hash=item5d708d771a:g:K-YAAOSww9xZCXwf

Bentley,  it might control the temperature by turning the power off and on.  Before you invest in it, pull the plug to kill the power on your crock pot.  Then plug it back in and see if it retained your setting.  If it didn't, this item won't be a good temperature controller for your cooker.

[Bentley]

That will be up to you, Kristin and the Members.

Jumping the gun based on the fact the other hasn't happened yet, but that would be a good one to pool some money and review. People seem to be curious like you, so probably would pitch in 5 bucks.

[Bentley]

Why certnlee...

I established that low setting was a solid 170°f and the warm setting was the same solid 140°f on this slow cooker.
This is a 16 cup ( 4 quart/1gal) slow cooker and it had 11 cups of water in it. It was hot water from tap which was about 125°f, put cooker on high for about 20 minutes, when it got to 139° (about 20 minutes) I turned to warm.
I took the meat out of the fridge, sliced off what I though was a 1 inch thick piece (weight 12.4oz) put in vac bag.
Meat immediately went into water and I left there for 2 hours.
Seared on high (heat was on for 5 minutes) in Aluminum non coated skillet with butter rub on top of each side for 90 seconds on each side, would reduve that to 45 seconds if I ever did it again.

Bentley, could you provide a summary recap of how you did this (i.e. temp setting on crock pot, how much water you put in crock pot, how long you waited until you put the meat in, how long you left the meat in, etc.)?

[Quadman750]

Did you or would you in the future add any flavoured butter, seasonings or herbs to the vacuum bag