Discussion
Luca Brazzi said:
Fascinating thread. And great to see the results that some are achieving.
Can anyone work out the energy costs associated with sous vide...ie 6 hours at 60c for example, vs a traditional method of cooking? For example, taking the 90p piece of meat at 6 hr at 60c, what would that have cost to cook in order to achieve its tenderness?
I'm assuming costs are VERY low....as once the 60c temp is achieved, it would be minimal energy required to maintain at 60c.
Asking out of pure interest as opposed to any eco-ness. :-)
I have often thought about that myself. Last nights dinner an example, running the machine for 72h for about £3 worth of meat makes it a more expensive dish. Maybe someone with an energy monitor could check.Can anyone work out the energy costs associated with sous vide...ie 6 hours at 60c for example, vs a traditional method of cooking? For example, taking the 90p piece of meat at 6 hr at 60c, what would that have cost to cook in order to achieve its tenderness?
I'm assuming costs are VERY low....as once the 60c temp is achieved, it would be minimal energy required to maintain at 60c.
Asking out of pure interest as opposed to any eco-ness. :-)
Type R Tom said:
battered said:
The costs are sod-all compared to buying the thing. SV is a manufacturing technique, a way of cooking food without skill. It does nothing that a skilled cook can't do by conventional means.
You could argue that about pretty much every single gadget in the kitchen.Bullett said:
Excellent read. Thanks for that. :-)battered said:
Type R Tom said:
battered said:
The costs are sod-all compared to buying the thing. SV is a manufacturing technique, a way of cooking food without skill. It does nothing that a skilled cook can't do by conventional means.
You could argue that about pretty much every single gadget in the kitchen.Pferdestarke said:
Surely it's a big positive to have such tools at our disposal at affordable prices though? The results available with a little knowledge are certainly superior to most traditional methods of raising food temp.
It's a way to get good results with less skill, certainly, and for that I would applaud it. This is why it's popular in catering and manufacture. However with a cooker and vac packer running at £400-500 up it's not a cheap affair, for something that can be done in a normal oven by a skilled cook. £400 covers a lot of experiments, and as for people wanting to boil eggs in them, come on. Do you own a pan and a clock? In addition, you're never going to pay for it on energy savings, if you live to 100.But a way to consistently good results without spending a lot of time getting to know your oven, yes, it's great. If that's worth the purchase price to you, all the better.
battered said:
Pferdestarke said:
Surely it's a big positive to have such tools at our disposal at affordable prices though? The results available with a little knowledge are certainly superior to most traditional methods of raising food temp.
It's a way to get good results with less skill, certainly, and for that I would applaud it. This is why it's popular in catering and manufacture. However with a cooker and vac packer running at £400-500 up it's not a cheap affair, for something that can be done in a normal oven by a skilled cook. £400 covers a lot of experiments, and as for people wanting to boil eggs in them, come on. Do you own a pan and a clock? In addition, you're never going to pay for it on energy savings, if you live to 100.But a way to consistently good results without spending a lot of time getting to know your oven, yes, it's great. If that's worth the purchase price to you, all the better.
I beg to differ on the skilled cook, I have to rely on the cooker if I wanted to do 55 degree heat in the oven with my steak to get the same result, most normal cookers dont go to 1 degree temps, they are approx.
Poached eggs are a art form which sous vide takes the art out of it, maybe be stupid, but it works.
The overall result I have found is excellent and its another way of cooking that I enjoy as I can spend more time on other aspects knowing the protein is going to be good everytime.
Du1point8 said:
Its come a long way from £400-500, the anova (that a few people are using) is circa £130, you dont need a vac packer, so it really is a cheap way to get into cooking this way.
If that's so then it really is cheap enough, and as you say a way to know the meat is under control while you sort everything else.Du1point8 said:
I beg to differ on the skilled cook, I have to rely on the cooker if I wanted to do 55 degree heat in the oven with my steak to get the same result, most normal cookers dont go to 1 degree temps, they are approx.
The way you do it in a normal cooker is to sear the outside as before, then either set it to rest until you need it and blast it in a hot oven, or put it in a slow oven for longer. You then monitor progress with a meat thermometer, and the oven temp doesn't have to be precise.battered said:
It's a way to get good results with less skill, certainly, and for that I would applaud it. This is why it's popular in catering and manufacture. However with a cooker and vac packer running at £400-500 up it's not a cheap affair, for something that can be done in a normal oven by a skilled cook. £400 covers a lot of experiments, and as for people wanting to boil eggs in them, come on. Do you own a pan and a clock? In addition, you're never going to pay for it on energy savings, if you live to 100.
But a way to consistently good results without spending a lot of time getting to know your oven, yes, it's great. If that's worth the purchase price to you, all the better.
Like said a decent sv machine costs about a one'er now which TBF is naff all in the foodies kitchen, people in here think Im a chav for having "only" the £200 delonghi b2c as opposed to their juras and mieles. Sv is simple to get certain stuff bang on with little effort, no-one said you cant get stuff bang on by other meansBut a way to consistently good results without spending a lot of time getting to know your oven, yes, it's great. If that's worth the purchase price to you, all the better.
battered said:
It's a way to get good results with less skill
100% Agree, cooking should be hard, everyone knows it. Hence I only cook over a well stoked (needs to be roaring or it's too easy) open fire using only a pair of BBQ tongs.Only way to do it.
Electric cooking aids with automated heat regulation such as ovens, hobs, sv machines etc isn't really for good cooks.
An interesting thread. As someone who was given an Anova WiFi/Bluetooth sous vide for Christmas (along with obligatory vacuum sealer), I'm following with interest. So far I've used it twice for steaks (butcher's sirloin), as a way to try and understand the impact of changing the variables. The second time I did a lower-temp cook (51deg vs 54.5deg) with more seasoning for slightly longer than before (1hr45min vs 1hr), which resulted in a lovely rare piece of meat. Not having a BBQ means that I needed to get a flat pan smouldering hot, before flashing them for 60sec or so on each side.
So far, so good - the steak was tasty and the texture was good. However, I'm not necessarily convinced that it produced a better piece of meat than I could have managed with a pan alone. I had hoped that the fat/marbling would start to break down a little with a longer cook, but this hasn't been the case either time.
The next steps are to try it with a nice, thick piece of fillet steak, which I would probably struggle to cook pink (not rare!) and charred on the hob. I think a griddle plate might be a more effective way to get the charring results I'm looking for, so I'll get one of those on order too.
Once I've mastered that, I'm going to have a bash at a rack of lamb - but I'm a bit concerned about the vacuum process and the bones piercing the bag. What have others done?
So far, so good - the steak was tasty and the texture was good. However, I'm not necessarily convinced that it produced a better piece of meat than I could have managed with a pan alone. I had hoped that the fat/marbling would start to break down a little with a longer cook, but this hasn't been the case either time.
The next steps are to try it with a nice, thick piece of fillet steak, which I would probably struggle to cook pink (not rare!) and charred on the hob. I think a griddle plate might be a more effective way to get the charring results I'm looking for, so I'll get one of those on order too.
Once I've mastered that, I'm going to have a bash at a rack of lamb - but I'm a bit concerned about the vacuum process and the bones piercing the bag. What have others done?
fredt said:
100% Agree, cooking should be hard, everyone knows it. Hence I only cook over a well stoked (needs to be roaring or it's too easy) open fire using only a pair of BBQ tongs.
Only way to do it.
Electric cooking aids with automated heat regulation such as ovens, hobs, sv machines etc isn't really for good cooks.
Not sure if serious...Only way to do it.
Electric cooking aids with automated heat regulation such as ovens, hobs, sv machines etc isn't really for good cooks.
C70R said:
An interesting thread. As someone who was given an Anova WiFi/Bluetooth sous vide for Christmas (along with obligatory vacuum sealer), I'm following with interest. So far I've used it twice for steaks (butcher's sirloin), as a way to try and understand the impact of changing the variables. The second time I did a lower-temp cook (51deg vs 54.5deg) with more seasoning for slightly longer than before (1hr45min vs 1hr), which resulted in a lovely rare piece of meat. Not having a BBQ means that I needed to get a flat pan smouldering hot, before flashing them for 60sec or so on each side.
So far, so good - the steak was tasty and the texture was good. However, I'm not necessarily convinced that it produced a better piece of meat than I could have managed with a pan alone. I had hoped that the fat/marbling would start to break down a little with a longer cook, but this hasn't been the case either time.
The next steps are to try it with a nice, thick piece of fillet steak, which I would probably struggle to cook pink (not rare!) and charred on the hob. I think a griddle plate might be a more effective way to get the charring results I'm looking for, so I'll get one of those on order too.
Once I've mastered that, I'm going to have a bash at a rack of lamb - but I'm a bit concerned about the vacuum process and the bones piercing the bag. What have others done?
You dont need to vacuum pack, use water displacement and ziplock bagsSo far, so good - the steak was tasty and the texture was good. However, I'm not necessarily convinced that it produced a better piece of meat than I could have managed with a pan alone. I had hoped that the fat/marbling would start to break down a little with a longer cook, but this hasn't been the case either time.
The next steps are to try it with a nice, thick piece of fillet steak, which I would probably struggle to cook pink (not rare!) and charred on the hob. I think a griddle plate might be a more effective way to get the charring results I'm looking for, so I'll get one of those on order too.
Once I've mastered that, I'm going to have a bash at a rack of lamb - but I'm a bit concerned about the vacuum process and the bones piercing the bag. What have others done?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iULF9JCR3zg
Du1point8 said:
You dont need to vacuum pack, use water displacement and ziplock bags
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iULF9JCR3zg
Depending what I'm doing I sometimes squeeze/roll the ziplock bag to force the air out or sometimes use a straw to suck it out. I've got a vacuum sealer I use for long or hot work where I think ziplocks could fail but generally just use bags. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iULF9JCR3zg
Type R Tom said:
Du1point8 said:
You dont need to vacuum pack, use water displacement and ziplock bags
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iULF9JCR3zg
Depending what I'm doing I sometimes squeeze/roll the ziplock bag to force the air out or sometimes use a straw to suck it out. I've got a vacuum sealer I use for long or hot work where I think ziplocks could fail but generally just use bags. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iULF9JCR3zg
C70R said:
Type R Tom said:
Du1point8 said:
You dont need to vacuum pack, use water displacement and ziplock bags
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iULF9JCR3zg
Depending what I'm doing I sometimes squeeze/roll the ziplock bag to force the air out or sometimes use a straw to suck it out. I've got a vacuum sealer I use for long or hot work where I think ziplocks could fail but generally just use bags. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iULF9JCR3zg
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