Tried a stepped temperature cook a few days ago, actually quite pleased with the results.

Took about a 1" thick sirloin steak. 1.3 hours at 103F, then 1.3 hours at 120F, then 2.5 hours at 127F.

Somewhat impressed with the flavor and tenderness developed in what was a not-so-special select grade cut from Safeway. Going to have to try this again with a better steak.

I've never really been happy with the bark on a sous vide steak. Yeah, it's not the worst out there, but it just doesn't hold a candle to what I can get on any one of my grills (other than the pellet grill). To get a good bark, I was basically wrecking all the work I had done for the SV cook. So I played around with a heavy pre-sear, then a cook, then a normal post sear. Making sure to dry the steak with a few paper towels before each sear. This actually kind of worked, the pre-cook sear could be heavier/longer since the meat is still cold and not going to be as affected by it, the post-cook sear was basically just re-crisping the work from the onset. Not to mention the flavor that was infused into the meat during the cook from all the little burnt bits. Need to try that again, but this time, with a frozen steak. That way I can sear the crap out of it yet only have that part of the cook penetrating a few mm.

I still prefer stuff grilled, but I'm starting to find a usable alternative with this process.
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Oh, and I did a 52 hour cook, not really intended to be, but just how things worked out, at 127F and it didn't fvck the meat up like it had in the past at 131+. So I guess temps need to go down a bit for the longer cooks. Not my preference, but nice to know.
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I haven't had enough coffee to remember what they are, but aren't there risks to longer cooks below 130°?
I've never been a fan of how long cooks come out, and would love to try them at a lower temp.

Adam, the solution to your searing problems is to cook thicker steaks! :-)
I don't remember the last time I had a steak in the bath that was less than 2" thick.
And before you ask, the answer is yes, even when I'm eating alone. :-)
Seriously though, even going to 1.5" will be more forgiving and allow you to get a great sear on the grill without undoing all the good work of the sous vide.
The best part is there are plenty of great things to do with the leftovers! :-)

I did a bottom round roast beef for 12 hrs @131° the other day.
I was upset to find out that the Anova doesn't have a delayed start.
I needed to get the roast in by 5am.
So, my choices were to either bring the water to temp the night before and hold it there, or hope I got it to temp in the morning before I had to leave for work
It just doesn't make sense.
Roast came out great. Went in the bag with fresh garlic, thyme, a touch of salt and pepper, and some chopped onion.

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Dom, you could just use a plug-in outlet timer for a delayed start. I've done that.
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^^^ some good French Dip making there.
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That won't work with the Anova PC. When the power is cut and then restored to the Anova PC, it only remembers the temp, not the cook state. It would still have to be started manually.
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Yeah, I haven't been a fan of the longer cooks either, hence why I started looking into just how low I could drop the temp. The risks are in cooking at too low a temp or for too short a time, or both. In regards to what is safe: at 131F, bugs die in less than 2 hours. At 126.1F they die in many hours to days. Below 126F, they stop reproducing. So, in short, at 127F, or even 126.5F, a few days or more and you should be safe, but a shorter cook would be where you could run into problems.

Please note, this is only for whole muscle cuts of beef. I have not looked into this for ground beef, poultry, pork or any other hoof animal (lamb, etc).

I like how you think, brother.

Dom, supposedly this 3rd party app can do delayed starts.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...ph.anovaremote
I've never used it though. Heck, I don't even use the app from the manufacturer. Such being the case for me, I'd go with heating the water the night before, since these things don't really use that much electricity once they get up to temp.

Nice roast too.
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Late last year, Serious Eats released a sous vide cooking procedure for thick cut bacon. I just got around to trying it...

O.M.G.

Melt. In. Your. Mouth.

Crispy, melty all at the same time.


Here's the recipe:
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2...on-recipe.html

Here are my comments/notes:
- I used bacon from the butcher program at the local UC. They've won multiple awards for their bacon. And it's meaty, not the bag o' belly fat you typically get with the cheap store bought stuff. Moral of the story here: Don't skimp. Buy the good stuff.

- The author says you can just put the pack right into the water, I wouldn't do that if it were a commercial pack with cardboard inside. Freeze it, cut it open, hold the cardboard in your hands for a moment, it will warm enough to peel away and then rebag the frozen bacon either with a vacuum sealer or ziplock immersion method.

- All that juice in the bag when you are done, save that. That's liquid gold. Use it to make a sauce, gravy or cook with it, even brush your teeth with it, you'll thank me later.

- I cooked it for 36 hours just because that's how things worked out. You have to handle the bacon gently, it will crack and fall apart before it makes it to the pan. Not sure if a shorter time will change this.

- The bacon cooks very quickly once in the frying pan. Don't get it too hot and heed his time recommendations of 2 minutes on one side, then 30 seconds after the flip.

- I would not try this with thin bacon, it would probably fall apart.

- If you are really slick, since the water is already at the perfect temp, the morning of when you are going to serve this, get a couple of large eggs, pick the shells, drop them into boiling water for one to two minutes max, immediately put them into an ice bath to shock them, then, once cooled, drop them into your sous vide water bath with the bacon, let them cook at the 145F temp for an hour and fifteen minutes to have the ultimate soft boiled egg along with the bacon. Reduce the cook time for smaller eggs, increase for XL & jumbos.
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I'm on that like white on rice. :-)
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Did boneless skinless chicken thighs tonight.
Light salt and pepper, EVOO, and some dried oregano. 160 degrees for 100 minutes. Finished in a cast iron skillet.
Fantastic! Juicy, tender, and very flavorful.
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My first attempt was frozen solid strip steak, about 1.5 thick. I vac sealed them frozen and unseasoned. 130 degrees for 2.5 hours. seasoned and seared in cast iron. I was less than impressed. Although the were super tender the flavor was "off". They had a Steamed/boiled aroma to them. My second attempt was a 3 lb bone in pork loin roast. This was rubbed with smashed garlic, S&P and coated in Penzy's Bavarian spice rub and some fresh rosemary for good measure. 145 degrees for 5hrs.
Finished in cast iron. This time I was very pleased with the results. the flavors penetrated throughout the whole roast.

I'll give the steak another try today, this time I'm going to defrost them and will season as I usually do and hope for the best.
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My second attempt at steaks was another disappointment. I guess I cant get over the fact that the fat doesn't render and the meat flavor is muted. Are others experiencing the same????
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I think what flavor you are missing is the seared flavor or possibly the juxtaposition between salt and the beef flavor. Salt adds a lot to flavors. Technically, a sous vide steak will be the beefiest thing possible.

Question, are you drying your steaks well before you sear them off? The dryer they are the better the sear and the more browning you will get?

Just spit balling here.
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Just tossed some chicken wings in. One bag salt and pepper, one bag some jerk dry rub. 160 for around 3.5 hours.

I'm not expecting them to be "better" from sous vide, but I'm hoping I can get them cooked all the way through leading to a short and hot fry time for the crunch.

Also may try them just under the broiler.
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Please follow up on this as I'm really curious how they turn out.
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Cooked/ate 1/3 of them. I finished these in the oven and they weren't great. I dried them off (there was a ton of fat on the outside) and put them on broil. Didn't really get a great crust. However, the meat was really good!!!

I have one more batch still in a bad that I'm going to deep fry. I think results on those should be great but I'll update.
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Update!

I deep fried the second batch. And my god were they good. Perfectly crispy crust, with no worry about cooking the inside all the way through. Tender and juicy without being greasy. I'd highly recommend this method.
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:-)
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I'm really loving this sous vide machine. Starting the Whole30 diet with some coworkers this week so I'm pre portioning everything I can.

Up for this week, Salmon (first time), Beef Shank (first time), Pork Chops, Chicken Breasts (in the freezer still), and green beans.
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Boneless beef short ribs for 72 hours at 129F. Insane.

Super tender. Super flavorful. Do not serve them without searing, because they look like the paint on an unrestored 1950's Army truck.
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