Getting into Sous Vide cooking with the Codlo.
Discussion
I've read the articles online, seen recipes in cookbooks, and seen all sorts of videos from Modernist Cusine and discussions on tested.com. My interest was piqued by the Sansaire and Anova immersion heaters though as the price seemed now obtainable.
My thoughts, as with many others, turned to controlling a slow cooker I already had to turn that into a bath. Sadly I don't have the technical skills (or patience) to rig up something DIY and then I saw the Codlo. It was what I had in my head, looked simple enough for me or my wife to use, plus it's good to support new enterprises. I was also encouraged that the website was focussed on the cooking rather than building a thing, and giving away a cook book too!
I waited until they were shipping, and jumped in to order one. The one I have is marked as a backer's edition, even though it isn't.
Next problem was bagging food. My plan was to use sandwich bags and the water displacement method to form a vacuum. The only advice I found was to use non-PVC bags over concerns for chemicals leeching out over time, so off to the supermarket I went. Turns out the descriptions on the packets are not very descriptive at all. The only bags I found marked for heating food up in were tie top and not self-sealing. There are some specifically marked for sous vide cooking, but they're not cheap or easy to get hold of. Someone pointed out the Andrew James vacuum sealer machines, and for the sake of £50, I bought one.
After a read through the instructions, we found something to vac pack
Well, that worked... Meat!
That's £3.50 of Aldi's finest...
The Codlo is a chunky old thing. Make no mistake, it's big, but very clear and easy to read. The packaging is really well designed, and I like the way the instructions are slide down one side, and there's even a recipe printed on the outside of the box. It sits well in a mains socket, stable enough when pressing buttons, and once you've used it once it's all pretty straight forward.
Pulling my wife's old slow cooker out from the back of a cupboard, we found it was a digitally controlled one and ultimately not suitable for use with the Codlo. Off to Morrisons then where I picked up a basic Breville slow cooker for under £20. Some Aldi steaks were vac packed, and water put into the slow cooker. I put the temperature probe in, turned everything on, and watched as the water temp went up.
Really, really slowly.
Really, very slowly indeed.
So a 250W (probably, again difficult to find specs on the box, website or in the manual....) heater with a big heavy pot and a couple of litres of water is not a recipe for a quick heat up. Lesson learned, start with warm water!
Other than that it works exactly as intended. The temperature fluctuates a couple of degrees initially but was pretty solid by the end of the cook - 56 degrees-ish for two hours - and the steaks were seasoned and finished in a stinking hot pan for thirty seconds a side. What came out I was very impressed with. Juicy, well rendered fat, bit a bite from the crust, overall very happy.
Post bath
Post pan
Nom...
My thoughts, as with many others, turned to controlling a slow cooker I already had to turn that into a bath. Sadly I don't have the technical skills (or patience) to rig up something DIY and then I saw the Codlo. It was what I had in my head, looked simple enough for me or my wife to use, plus it's good to support new enterprises. I was also encouraged that the website was focussed on the cooking rather than building a thing, and giving away a cook book too!
I waited until they were shipping, and jumped in to order one. The one I have is marked as a backer's edition, even though it isn't.
Next problem was bagging food. My plan was to use sandwich bags and the water displacement method to form a vacuum. The only advice I found was to use non-PVC bags over concerns for chemicals leeching out over time, so off to the supermarket I went. Turns out the descriptions on the packets are not very descriptive at all. The only bags I found marked for heating food up in were tie top and not self-sealing. There are some specifically marked for sous vide cooking, but they're not cheap or easy to get hold of. Someone pointed out the Andrew James vacuum sealer machines, and for the sake of £50, I bought one.
After a read through the instructions, we found something to vac pack
Well, that worked... Meat!
That's £3.50 of Aldi's finest...
The Codlo is a chunky old thing. Make no mistake, it's big, but very clear and easy to read. The packaging is really well designed, and I like the way the instructions are slide down one side, and there's even a recipe printed on the outside of the box. It sits well in a mains socket, stable enough when pressing buttons, and once you've used it once it's all pretty straight forward.
Pulling my wife's old slow cooker out from the back of a cupboard, we found it was a digitally controlled one and ultimately not suitable for use with the Codlo. Off to Morrisons then where I picked up a basic Breville slow cooker for under £20. Some Aldi steaks were vac packed, and water put into the slow cooker. I put the temperature probe in, turned everything on, and watched as the water temp went up.
Really, really slowly.
Really, very slowly indeed.
So a 250W (probably, again difficult to find specs on the box, website or in the manual....) heater with a big heavy pot and a couple of litres of water is not a recipe for a quick heat up. Lesson learned, start with warm water!
Other than that it works exactly as intended. The temperature fluctuates a couple of degrees initially but was pretty solid by the end of the cook - 56 degrees-ish for two hours - and the steaks were seasoned and finished in a stinking hot pan for thirty seconds a side. What came out I was very impressed with. Juicy, well rendered fat, bit a bite from the crust, overall very happy.
Post bath
Post pan
Nom...
Edited by F-Stop Junkie on Wednesday 21st January 21:30
Edited by F-Stop Junkie on Wednesday 21st January 21:31
The following morning, and not just because I hadn't put everything away, I decided to try the recipe for poached eggs on the box. An hour at 63 degrees, eggs shell on.
If you don't believe me, here it is:
Once done, I took them out, carefully cracked them open and straight onto some waiting toast.
The outer white is loose, no other word for it. Except maybe watery. The inner white is ok, but still runny for my taste. The yolk however is thick and barely oozes but instead is like spreading creme pat over toast. The taste is the same as any other egg, but the consistency is very interesting indeed. As a result, I now really fancy a go at the spaghetti carbonara.
If you don't believe me, here it is:
Once done, I took them out, carefully cracked them open and straight onto some waiting toast.
The outer white is loose, no other word for it. Except maybe watery. The inner white is ok, but still runny for my taste. The yolk however is thick and barely oozes but instead is like spreading creme pat over toast. The taste is the same as any other egg, but the consistency is very interesting indeed. As a result, I now really fancy a go at the spaghetti carbonara.
Today's tea started off from this recipe for pork belly bites. Pork belly slices acquired and trimmed. These pieces were then chucked in a pouch with honey, white pepper, star anaise, some fresh ginger batons, and chinese five spice. A quick mix around, then vac packed.
Now I'm not sure what went wrong, but it started with the classic mistake. I prepped the food before putting the water bath onto warm. Suddenly a stone cold bath and food ready to cook. Bugger. I chucked in boiling water, turned it all on, and let it do its thing.
Nope, still too slow. Chuck out some water, add more from the kettle.
I pop out, wife sees the temp climbing slowly, so chucks the pork in at 80 degrees (aiming for 85) and it drops to 76. No problem, it will do that. It's in for 10 hours, so what's a few minutes below target temp?
The slow climb continues, as we can see the Codlo manipulating the slow cooker to try and manage the temp. Some how though it's learned something incorrectly, and in the end it takes almost 10 hours to climb 9 degrees. It actually got 4 minutes at the target temp in the end. I'm sure this is user error, but frustrating.
I crack open the bag, save the liquid that comes out, and taste it. It tastes a bit bland. I chuck the pork pieces in a pan quickly to crisp up the outside a little, and serve with rice and veg.
The pork was unbelievably tender and juicy, but I think somewhat overcooked as the fibres of the meat were getting a bit powdery to my taste. 6 or 8 hours might be the sweet spot. The thing that surprised me was how subtle the flavours were. The ginger that had cooked with it had lost the aromatics but they hadn't gone anywhere. I was expecting big punches of flavour, but it was really lacking. Somewhat disappointed with that, and keen to find out what I could do differently.
Next learning point - as I intended to do, and my wife suggested - is that finishing in a pan fat side down to crisp while the meat stays juicy would be a good touch. Completely agree, but I was so surprised by the lack of flavour that I didn't think about it.
Last thing to remember next time - The market selling bone in pork belly for a quid a slice isn't as good as Aldi selling 500g trays of it boned and skinless for £2.39...
Oh, and dry meat, rice and veg need a sauce. And I've just this second remembered I bought one and didn't use it! Oh well, need to try again now!
Now I'm not sure what went wrong, but it started with the classic mistake. I prepped the food before putting the water bath onto warm. Suddenly a stone cold bath and food ready to cook. Bugger. I chucked in boiling water, turned it all on, and let it do its thing.
Nope, still too slow. Chuck out some water, add more from the kettle.
I pop out, wife sees the temp climbing slowly, so chucks the pork in at 80 degrees (aiming for 85) and it drops to 76. No problem, it will do that. It's in for 10 hours, so what's a few minutes below target temp?
The slow climb continues, as we can see the Codlo manipulating the slow cooker to try and manage the temp. Some how though it's learned something incorrectly, and in the end it takes almost 10 hours to climb 9 degrees. It actually got 4 minutes at the target temp in the end. I'm sure this is user error, but frustrating.
I crack open the bag, save the liquid that comes out, and taste it. It tastes a bit bland. I chuck the pork pieces in a pan quickly to crisp up the outside a little, and serve with rice and veg.
The pork was unbelievably tender and juicy, but I think somewhat overcooked as the fibres of the meat were getting a bit powdery to my taste. 6 or 8 hours might be the sweet spot. The thing that surprised me was how subtle the flavours were. The ginger that had cooked with it had lost the aromatics but they hadn't gone anywhere. I was expecting big punches of flavour, but it was really lacking. Somewhat disappointed with that, and keen to find out what I could do differently.
Next learning point - as I intended to do, and my wife suggested - is that finishing in a pan fat side down to crisp while the meat stays juicy would be a good touch. Completely agree, but I was so surprised by the lack of flavour that I didn't think about it.
Last thing to remember next time - The market selling bone in pork belly for a quid a slice isn't as good as Aldi selling 500g trays of it boned and skinless for £2.39...
Oh, and dry meat, rice and veg need a sauce. And I've just this second remembered I bought one and didn't use it! Oh well, need to try again now!
Looks good! If the egg whites are a bit too runny for you (and they can be for me when cooked like this!), pop the eggs into a pan of hotter water (it doesn't have to be boiling) for a short time. It might take a couple of experiments to get them how you like them, but it should firm up the white and hardly affect the yolk.
F-Stop Junkie said:
The following morning, and not just because I hadn't put everything away, I decided to try the recipe for poached eggs on the box. An hour at 63 degrees, eggs shell on.
If you don't believe me, here it is:
Once done, I took them out, carefully cracked them open and straight onto some waiting toast.
The outer white is loose, no other word for it. Except maybe watery. The inner white is ok, but still runny for my taste. The yolk however is thick and barely oozes but instead is like spreading creme pat over toast. The taste is the same as any other egg, but the consistency is very interesting indeed. As a result, I now really fancy a go at the spaghetti carbonara.
An hour for a poached egg , who are you trying to kid ? One born every minute for this tosh .If you don't believe me, here it is:
Once done, I took them out, carefully cracked them open and straight onto some waiting toast.
The outer white is loose, no other word for it. Except maybe watery. The inner white is ok, but still runny for my taste. The yolk however is thick and barely oozes but instead is like spreading creme pat over toast. The taste is the same as any other egg, but the consistency is very interesting indeed. As a result, I now really fancy a go at the spaghetti carbonara.
fttm said:
An hour for a poached egg , who are you trying to kid ? One born every minute for this tosh .
I'm another one firmly in this camp ^^^Can't see the point of sous vide personally, fish comes out like mush and meat, although tender, I don't think tastes any better.
It's another one of those fads that I blame Masterchef for, a couple of years ago it was the same with celariac mash, couldn't look at a menu without it appearing half a dozen times
I appreciate it's something a bit different and not an every day tool for home use. It's a fun thing to try though, and to see how it gives different textures and effects.
To me it's the same as the barbeque. I can cook a shoulder of pork in the over in 90 mins or so, so why bother doing it for 10 hours instead? A different tool, a different technique...
To me it's the same as the barbeque. I can cook a shoulder of pork in the over in 90 mins or so, so why bother doing it for 10 hours instead? A different tool, a different technique...
Just to add, the reason why I'm starting with steak is because it's easy to get hold of, cooks relatively quickly and there's lots of information out there on how to do it. I'm happy doing it in a pan, but when I get the chance it's a learning opportunity for some sous-vide nonsense.
So the latest attempt was to try a sirloin steak, a cut I usually avoid, and see how it compares to the usual rib eye. As it's a bit of a cheaper cut, I went a bit posher with a 30 day aged piece. Happy with this marbling!
56 degrees for two hours and the usual finish in a hot pan. It wasn't as tender as the ribeye, but it had a very pleasing texture, very juicy, and tonnes of flavour. An interesting comparison to be able to cook two pieces of meat consistently and see how they vary. I wonder if the sirloin would have benefitted from longer cooking, or if this is as good as it gets.
So the latest attempt was to try a sirloin steak, a cut I usually avoid, and see how it compares to the usual rib eye. As it's a bit of a cheaper cut, I went a bit posher with a 30 day aged piece. Happy with this marbling!
56 degrees for two hours and the usual finish in a hot pan. It wasn't as tender as the ribeye, but it had a very pleasing texture, very juicy, and tonnes of flavour. An interesting comparison to be able to cook two pieces of meat consistently and see how they vary. I wonder if the sirloin would have benefitted from longer cooking, or if this is as good as it gets.
Mrs Troubleatmill puts our sirloin steaks in the Sous Vide thus...
1 inch thickness = 4 hours
2 inch thickness = 6 hours
Temperature.
Rare 120F, Medium 134F, Medium 140F, Well Done 160F+
Then flash fry to colour to taste. ( as it comes out quite anaemic )
They do come out looking a lot better than yours.
Never had a problem with the Sous Vide for meat, veg or fish.
The halogen oven though - it's bloody useless.
1 inch thickness = 4 hours
2 inch thickness = 6 hours
Temperature.
Rare 120F, Medium 134F, Medium 140F, Well Done 160F+
Then flash fry to colour to taste. ( as it comes out quite anaemic )
They do come out looking a lot better than yours.
Never had a problem with the Sous Vide for meat, veg or fish.
The halogen oven though - it's bloody useless.
Gassing Station | Food, Drink & Restaurants | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff