sous-vide at home

Science versus Tradition.

I finally have my home kitchen set-up for sous-vide cooking.  This is something I hope to see a lot more of in the 'not so far off' future.  Even as chefs, we often draw a distinctive line between the food we can cook at work and the food we cook at home (at least it is if you utilize modern cuisine techniques at work).  Other labels are thrown on home cooked food such as comfort food or just good old home cooking... but what can be more comforting than an incredible piece of meat cooked using sous-vide methods.  Why should this experience be removed from the home.  True... there have been 'meal in a bag' type products in the past, but when we say sous-vide we mean controlled.  The ability to control a water bath to the degree is necessary.

So, what do you need to accomplish this.  Basically, 3 things.

A rice cooker or slow cooker as a heat source.  I am using this Black & Decker Rice Plus which has a great steam-lined look, holds 24 cups (ample water bath is important to control fluctuations in temperature as well as providing room enough to cook larger items when desired), and has a convenient little hole on top.  I tried a 'crock pot' type slow cooker before this one, and the rice cookers work better because the heating element is on the bottom and it can recover temperature drops more quickly.

The hole is important to the 2nd piece of necessary equipment... a PID (proportion, integral, derivative device).  This controls the amount of power going to the cooker while monitoring the temperature of the water bath.  The hole makes for a convenient place to slip the sensor wire.  The set-up allows the PID to keep the water at a constant temperature.  I am using a device called Sous-Vide Magic which I purchased from Fresh Meals Solutions.  Frank Hsu, who is president of FMS, went out of his way to back up his product.  He emailed me several times with information, and called me when I had minor issues with the device.  There is no lack of customer service at FMS.  Mr. Hsu also recommended the rice cooker that I am using above.

The last necessary equipment is a vacuum sealer.  In order to cook in a water bath, you must be able to seal foods in waterproof bags.  The Food Saver has made it's way into the American kitchen by being sold in most major retail stores (places that sell kitchen wares).  Although they promote it as a 'food saving' device (hence the name), hopefully we will see it used more as a vessel for preparing foods for sous-vide cooking.  Although the power on the Food Saver is not enough for compression techniques that we often use commercial vacuum sealers for, it does eliminate almost all of the air from around the food.

There is a certain appeal to what can be done with sous-vide once home cooks become familiar with the concept and practice.  It can even fall into the 'fix it and forget about it' category.  There is the power of control and 'fool proof' cooking that comes with this method.  There is the possibility of really reproducing restaurant food because you reduce certain uncontrollable factors.

This set-up can be added to your home kitchen for a small price.  $130 for the PID.  $50 for the rice cooker.  $100 for the vacuum sealer.  That's $280 for the whole system... when a Polyscience thermocirculator costs almost 3 times that.  It's tax refund time... go for it.  The home system actually does not circulate the water... but I've cooked several things in it already, and it does the job.  Imagine dropping eggs in before going to sleep and waking up to perfectly cooked eggs that only need to be pulled out of the water and cracked open.

So... with this leap, what are some other things that can be taken from the modern professional kitchen and brought into the home with interesting results?

... growing your own micro herbs and other edibles.

Comments

[Pong Sirioput]

What vacuum sealer do you recommend for compression?

[chadzilla]

I don't know any home vac's that have enough power for real compression. There is a commercial unit called Vac Master that is on the cheaper side, but does a good job.
I think certain 'fruit confit' sous-vide recipes could work if there was sugar in the form of syrup or honey etc. to break the plant structure down given enough time, although I haven't tried it yet.

[Roberto N.]

Do you happen to recall what's the approximate temperature for the crock pot? I have thought of using it for home SV, but haven't gotten around to measuring it's temp on warm. I think do recall measuring about 125°C on the low.

[chadzilla]

Not sure on the crock pot temps, Roberto. I think the rice cooker works a little better from what was explained to me.

[Ed]

Just received my temperature controller and am about to join you on this journey. look forward to it.

[Pong Sirioput]

I think I found the Vacmaster for $1,500 to $5,000.

Maybe one could make a DIY version powered by one of those "cyclonic" vacuum cleaners they sell door-to-door. The FoodSaver is just a bag sealing device with a vacuum behind it, isn't it? I imagine a powerful vacuum is cheaper than a powerful vacuum-sealer.

I sometimes see used FoodSavers at flea markets and yard sales. Maybe it would be possible to combine two vacuum units in one FoodSaver.

[John]

Now I think I can justify a second TIC to supplement my PolySci TIC! I own a VacMaster SVP 10 and it works well, though a little slow. Over time the lower price of the bags and the additional versatility of a chamber vacuum (liquids, compression) seems to justify the higher entry costs. Being cheaper than ziploc bags I also use it for general storage in the fridge. Now how about a home CVap!!

[sonofaglitch]

I have recently become a sous-vide chef at home.
I use a slightly different pot and cook steaks at around 140 degrees (I like mine medium / medium-well)

At first when I saw that one pic, I thought -
is he trying to get his meat high?

And then I looked at your image description-
you should probably explain thats for home smoking your meat. lol

Good idea tho kudos, enjoyed reading your experiences.

[scott love]

Have you had any issues with that rice cooker and being compatible with the temp control. I am looking to buy the same outfit. What is the model number of the rice cooker?

[lllowe]

I would like to know what it is that you are using to smoke with and where it might be purchased at

[tomdarch]

Yeah - about that smoker?!?! I, uh, might possibly recognize the top "bowl" of the device ... maybe ... but what's the rest of it? Is it some sort of fan?