Hey there! If you haven’t experienced the lovely world of immersion bath cooking, often referred to as sous vide, which is French for “under vacuum,” this is an excellent place to start. There are more books and blogs than I can count dedicated to recipes, so we will leave those outside of the scope of this post. This is a crash course on how to get started.
“Eric, what do I need to get going?” A heater, a container, and a bag for what you want to cook.
The most important item you need is an immersion heater. I have two Anova models, and I like this brand because they can be used on any stiff wall container and they do not rely on an app to control the operation. Anova Heater/Bluetooth: http://a.co/d/ghkbiid I don’t use the apps with these, but they are there if you are so inclined.
I have two different size plastic bins: 12 qt square http://a.co/d/h6ZMg2b & 26 qt rectangular http://a.co/d/6eRk9aZ . I don’t know why the bigger one is so expensive, I didn’t pay that much 🙂 I use it for ribs, and can fit six racks in at once.
Some other “nice to have” items are lids, a rack for stacking and weighing down, and an insulating pad. Lids are great to keep evaporation down over longer cook times; I have observed next to zero loss over forty eight hours on my ribs. The rack can help weigh down buoyant items, as well as organize bulk cooking from swimming around the container.
Food Saver:
I have two, one I bought (http://a.co/d/3mGwl0T ) and one that was gifted (http://a.co/d/1VMwPg3) The one I bought is at least 12 years old, and still works. I use it to seal bags that I make from a roll, and use the newer machine for sealing. Either of these models are great.
That said, you do not have to have one of these tools to get up and running. A Ziploc bag can work as well. FoodSaver bags are BPA free, and I am comfortable using them. Here is an in depth article from Bon Appétit about plastic cooking safety.
Immersion cooking is a really rewarding cooking experience in my opinion. You can cook proteins, vegetables, and the best soft boiled eggs you have ever enjoyed. For us, being able to purchase in bulk, portion and prep, store, and cook in this manner is efficient, healthy and cost effective. The ability to transition a portioned and prepped bag from the freezer to the bath is amazing, with no worry about over defrosting or over cooking.
We will tackle cast iron pans and the Maillard reaction in a later post 🙂
Proof of concept: is sous vide for you? If you can put protein in a bag, into water, heat up a pan and sear said protein, this is for you.