Thread: Sous-Vide Cooking on the Cheap

add the cost of a vacuum sealer=ouch.
I've done water cooking on the stovetop before when heating tins of sardines and stuff like that...lol.

Originally Posted by Fisch

add the cost of a vacuum sealer=ouch.
I've done water cooking on the stovetop before when heating tins of sardines and stuff like that...lol.

A vacuum sealer is not required and there are low tech and less expensive options out there.


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyfPfQY4krM]YouTube - Beer Cooler Sous Vide[/ame]

Additional links:

Cook Your Meat in a Beer Cooler: The World's Best (and Cheapest) Sous-Vide Hack | Serious Eats

Sous-Vide 101: Low-Temperature Chicken | Serious Eats

The Food Lab: Foolproofing the Perfect Rack of Lamb | Serious Eats

Sous-Vide Steaks | Serious Eats : Recipes

http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/12/n...tml#show-66299

Originally Posted by Riofan

A vacuum sealer is not required and there are low tech and less expensive options out there.


YouTube - Beer Cooler Sous Vide

Additional links:

Cook Your Meat in a Beer Cooler: The World's Best (and Cheapest) Sous-Vide Hack | Serious Eats

Sous-Vide 101: Low-Temperature Chicken | Serious Eats

The Food Lab: Foolproofing the Perfect Rack of Lamb | Serious Eats

Sous-Vide Steaks | Serious Eats : Recipes

Serious Eats Slide Show

I think it would be required as the main reason to use the bags and this technique is to inject as much marinade into the food in the shortest time possible while maintaining the high level of juice retention.

I still stand by that it is not required since I've used the ziplock bag methhod before with success. It is preferred however as the vaccum sealed bags have less of a tendency to float.

Thanks to a tip I gleaned a couple of weeks ago from Dave Arnold of the French Culinary Institute, achieving this is a snap. It uses the simple property of displacement. All you have to do is place your food in a regular zipper-lock bag, seal the zipper most of the way, then slowly dip it into a large volume of water, keeping the zipper-lock end above the water line.

there you go: food sealed in a perfectly air-free environment.
As you submerge it, air should be steadily squeezed out (sometimes a little coaxing is necessary), and the bag will conform to the shape of its contents. Once you get the the very top, seal the bag, and there you go: food sealed in a perfectly air-free environment.

The Food Lab: Foolproofing the Perfect Rack of Lamb | Serious Eats

Cool, don't know if I would go through the hassle of making a homemade Sous-Vide, but maybe I'll give it a try one day.

Was at William Sonoma today and see they are jumping on the Sous-Vide bandwagon. Saw a cooking unit but didn't catch the brand. They also had T. Keller's cookbook too.
I was in there to get their dish soap refills and a Breville 4 slice toaster, but they were out of the toasters in the store which sucked.

I haven't seen Keller's book - I hear it's written for chefs but it's on my list for the food porn factor and to learn something more advanced once I get the basics down. I would also like to get my hands on his Ad Hoc at Home book.

I'm currently reading Sous Vide for the Home Cook by Doug Balwin: Very straight forward. Obviously you can't compare the mathematician/home cook with the award-winning chef but it's a good starting point.




A Practical Guide to Sous Vide Cooking


The unit you saw at William Sonoma was most likely the Polyscience Immersion Circulator, it's similar to what you'd find in a restaurant application. WS is offering a 20-qt commercial stockpot and a Camwear Professional Container with the purchase. At $800 it's a little too rich for my budget + I already have a good stock pot.

Polyscience Sous Vide Professional Immersion Circulator | Williams-Sonoma



After my trial run with the crock pot method I decided to pull the trigger and get the SousVide Supreme.

I couldn't be happier with the results.

The chicken was very moist and full of flavor. The potatoes were perfect. Actual cooking was very much hands free except for the preparation and the final sear. The Port, the chicken, the potatoes were all very inexpensive, I can't believe how good everything tasted.

I definitely want to try this again.

Rio you are looking like a pro!