Well got it up and running. Had to buy a stock pot as all my pans were not really deep enough.
I know this looks a little small, but its the camera angle, trust me its fine.
Click the machine on, top up with water between the min/max and switch it on. The machine heats up to what ever temp you set it to. The rota fan is fairly quite but is constantly making a dull 'ticking' noise. Not really a problem as you know its working.
The screen is large and easy to read, with 2 sensitive buttons on it (and I dial on the main body).
My first attempt was a poached egg, 45 mins at around 63deg. This was a little under cooked (I did break it apart here before taking the photo). Will try 65deg next time (or leave it for an hour).
It appears to hold it temp quite well, just going up/down by 0.3deg. As for accuracy, that appears quite good too (unless my other gauge is out of course).
I have now got a steak on the go and will come back with my findings.
I quite like the idea of having the main control unit out of the steam and heat
If you're not in a hurry then I don't see it as a huge problem. I think they are supposed to come out rather differently too.
I bought a food vacuum/sealer from Aldi (or was it Lidl?). Does a great job.
As for the time needed to boil an egg, then yes I fully understand that it may not make sense to some, but a lot of things in cooking are like that....
why bother making Yorkshires, when Aunt Bessy does them? why bother buying the ingredients to make a cake or a loaf when you can buy them for a fraction of the price over the counter or buy a packet mix? why spend hours making a chutney when you can buy them? why spend 90 mins cooking a chicken when Tesco sells them pre-cooked? Why do home brew taking months to ferment a rank tasting beer (lets face it, none of them are 'that' nice) when you can buy it from Hobgoblin?
Why spend 4 mins boiling an egg when you can microwave them for 60 seconds?
In fact, why spend 5-6 grand on AV equipment when a set for a couple of hundred will do exactly the same thing?
Sometimes things are just better home cooked and taste a little better if cooked for longer.
Having said that, my 45 minute egg wasn't eggsactly a success
Anyhow, back to the steak, cooked it (to rare) Sous Vide for 1h30m at 54deg (with a little garlic powder and rosemary), opened the bag and patted it down with kitchen roll, then browned it off in the frying pan with a little butter and it was amazing and succulent.
I only bought the cheapest piece if rump I could find (£2.98 from Tesco) to test it, but it was perfect. Will definitely do it this way again as I can imagine that thicker pieces of better meat will taste even better.
Author: Noggin1980
26-11-2019 04:56:44
