Author Topic: Can the SI be used as the Sous Vide device?  (Read 3834 times)

TXVA

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Can the SI be used as the Sous Vide device?
« on: June 28, 2018, 04:18:28 PM »
If all that is needed for Sous Vide is water, heat and time in an airless environment, it seems to be that a pot of water in the SI could do the trick. Has anyone tried?
Chris from Virginia
Smokin-It #2, Weber Genesis & backyard fire-pit for marshmallows cooked low and slow.

Pork Belly

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Re: Can the SI be used as the Sous Vide device?
« Reply #1 on: June 28, 2018, 08:10:07 PM »
In theory you could  ut it would be less hassle to use your wife's crock pot. Aubor sells a control pretty cheap to control a crock pot to a set temp.
Brian - Michigan-NRA Life Member
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cookingdude555

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Re: Can the SI be used as the Sous Vide device?
« Reply #2 on: June 30, 2018, 03:28:47 AM »
Once you put the cold meat in the 134 water inside the SI, the water temp would drop fast and the SI would be much slowe to recover the water temp since the heating element is not in the water. Just grab a cheap wand type sous vide, I think your experience will be much better. Water conducts heat better than air.
John - Utah

TXVA

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Re: Can the SI be used as the Sous Vide device?
« Reply #3 on: June 30, 2018, 12:51:18 PM »
In theory you could  ut it would be less hassle to use your wife's crock pot. Aubor sells a control pretty cheap to control a crock pot to a set temp.

Thanks Pork Belly. I looked up a few hacks. Will see if the price difference and effort is worth the difference between just getting a proper wand.
Chris from Virginia
Smokin-It #2, Weber Genesis & backyard fire-pit for marshmallows cooked low and slow.

TXVA

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Re: Can the SI be used as the Sous Vide device?
« Reply #4 on: June 30, 2018, 12:52:20 PM »
Once you put the cold meat in the 134 water inside the SI, the water temp would drop fast and the SI would be much slowe to recover the water temp since the heating element is not in the water. Just grab a cheap wand type sous vide, I think your experience will be much better. Water conducts heat better than air.

Thanks cookingdude 555. This will save me from ruining a proper piece of meat!
Chris from Virginia
Smokin-It #2, Weber Genesis & backyard fire-pit for marshmallows cooked low and slow.

barelfly

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Re: Can the SI be used as the Sous Vide device?
« Reply #5 on: June 30, 2018, 01:00:51 PM »
TXVA -

You will not be disappointed with a SV.  I love mine. It opens up a number of different ways for SVQ and QVQ with different cuts of meat. I’ve done chuck roast in smoke for 4 hours then SV at 180* for 20 hours and also 130* for 48 hours. My Brisket to pastrami process now goes by qvq as well. Also really the only way I’ll prepare ribeye. SV at 129* then sear your preferred way and you have perfection. Chicken breast also is the best I’ve had coming off the SV, moist and tender. Really a fun option to have in your Q arsenal.

Watch for Anova to drop the price on theirs, the lowest I’ve seen the WiFi model is $129. It goes from there to $150. Their main site as well as some other buy anything type sites.

Enjoy.

Jeremy in NM
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SconnieQ

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Re: Can the SI be used as the Sous Vide device?
« Reply #6 on: June 30, 2018, 11:23:00 PM »
You really need the little propeller that circulates the water. Plus an element that can keep the temperature within 1/10th of a degree. I see a lot of gadgets, like the Instant Pot, that claim to do sous vide. They don't. Accuracy plus or minus 10 degrees is not sous vide. Even though the definition of sous vide means "under vacuum", the cooking technique requires precise temperature, achieved by being in a water bath controlled by a precision instrument, where the water is circulating to maintain that precise temperature throughout.

You should just buy the sous vide stick. These things used to be much more expensive, but are very affordable now, and well worth it. Sous vide often pushes the limit of low temperature cooking for very long periods of time, so if you do not have temperature precision, you could be seriously risking food safety.
Kari from Madison WI "77 Square Miles Surrounded by Reality"
Singing the praises of small and simple. SI Model #1 with "Libby the dog" poultry skin eating accessory.
Weber Smokey Mountain (are we still friends?), Weber Kettle Grill (stop complaining WSM, I still have a chance)
Anova WiFi Sous Vide

TXVA

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Re: Can the SI be used as the Sous Vide device?
« Reply #7 on: July 01, 2018, 09:53:43 AM »
TXVA -

You will not be disappointed with a SV.  I love mine. It opens up a number of different ways for SVQ and QVQ with different cuts of meat. I’ve done chuck roast in smoke for 4 hours then SV at 180* for 20 hours and also 130* for 48 hours. My Brisket to pastrami process now goes by qvq as well. Also really the only way I’ll prepare ribeye. SV at 129* then sear your preferred way and you have perfection. Chicken breast also is the best I’ve had coming off the SV, moist and tender. Really a fun option to have in your Q arsenal.

Watch for Anova to drop the price on theirs, the lowest I’ve seen the WiFi model is $129. It goes from there to $150. Their main site as well as some other buy anything type sites.

Enjoy.


Thanks Jeremy- Sounds like you prefer the WiFi option. What benefits do you see with WiFi?
Chris from Virginia
Smokin-It #2, Weber Genesis & backyard fire-pit for marshmallows cooked low and slow.

TXVA

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Re: Can the SI be used as the Sous Vide device?
« Reply #8 on: July 01, 2018, 09:55:32 AM »
You really need the little propeller that circulates the water. Plus an element that can keep the temperature within 1/10th of a degree. I see a lot of gadgets, like the Instant Pot, that claim to do sous vide. They don't. Accuracy plus or minus 10 degrees is not sous vide. Even though the definition of sous vide means "under vacuum", the cooking technique requires precise temperature, achieved by being in a water bath controlled by a precision instrument, where the water is circulating to maintain that precise temperature throughout.

You should just buy the sous vide stick. These things used to be much more expensive, but are very affordable now, and well worth it. Sous vide often pushes the limit of low temperature cooking for very long periods of time, so if you do not have temperature precision, you could be seriously risking food safety.

Thanks Kari. Don’t want to get anyone sick!
Chris from Virginia
Smokin-It #2, Weber Genesis & backyard fire-pit for marshmallows cooked low and slow.

barelfly

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Re: Can the SI be used as the Sous Vide device?
« Reply #9 on: July 01, 2018, 10:35:46 AM »
Chris,

I’ve used the WiFi to get the machine going when I’ve been away from the house. I had my daughter plug in the machine and drop the meat in and presto. When I got home I was about ready to pull. Also have travelled out of state and was able to monitor a 48 hour cook with the WiFi. The WiFi version also is 900 Watts vs 800 with the Bluetooth version. Just allows you to SV a little larger quantity. Another nice thing with Anova is being able to control everything from the machine itself and not having to run through an app. I’ve read on other sites this was what led people to Anova vs Joule.

Jeremy in NM
3D for lazy q
Bullet 4 burner gasser by Bull Grills
Weber Kettle with a Slow n Sear

TXVA

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Re: Can the SI be used as the Sous Vide device?
« Reply #10 on: July 02, 2018, 01:15:48 PM »
Jeremy,

That sounds fantastic. I would love to be able to have someone else put the meat in the pot and come home from work and just do reverse sear. The idea of not having to rely on an app is great (Battlestar Galactica). I'll be looking out for a sale and may just have to pull the trigger before then  :)
Chris from Virginia
Smokin-It #2, Weber Genesis & backyard fire-pit for marshmallows cooked low and slow.

SconnieQ

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Re: Can the SI be used as the Sous Vide device?
« Reply #11 on: July 02, 2018, 02:39:45 PM »
Most of the time I'm around, so I just start up and set the Anova from the device itself as I'm putting it in the water. The app connects by itself, so it's there if needed. The dial on the Anova only moves the temperature by .5 degrees. If you want to set it to a more accurate temperature, by tenths of a degree, you will need to use the app for that. That's how mine works anyway.
Kari from Madison WI "77 Square Miles Surrounded by Reality"
Singing the praises of small and simple. SI Model #1 with "Libby the dog" poultry skin eating accessory.
Weber Smokey Mountain (are we still friends?), Weber Kettle Grill (stop complaining WSM, I still have a chance)
Anova WiFi Sous Vide

TXVA

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Re: Can the SI be used as the Sous Vide device?
« Reply #12 on: July 03, 2018, 11:46:42 AM »
Most of the time I'm around, so I just start up and set the Anova from the device itself as I'm putting it in the water. The app connects by itself, so it's there if needed. The dial on the Anova only moves the temperature by .5 degrees. If you want to set it to a more accurate temperature, by tenths of a degree, you will need to use the app for that. That's how mine works anyway.

Thanks Kari. Sounds handy.

When is it useful to adjust temperature by tenths of degrees?
Chris from Virginia
Smokin-It #2, Weber Genesis & backyard fire-pit for marshmallows cooked low and slow.

SconnieQ

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Re: Can the SI be used as the Sous Vide device?
« Reply #13 on: July 03, 2018, 12:07:04 PM »
When is it useful to adjust temperature by tenths of degrees?

1/2 degree is accurate enough probably 99% of the time. If a recipe calls for 143.7, then I'll set it to that through the app, because I can. but 143.5 or 144 would probably be close enough. Eggs are something where you might want tenths of a degree, but even then, I'm not sure if you need that much accuracy. 1/2 degree is pretty accurate, and the most critical part is that Anova holds it right where you set it.
Kari from Madison WI "77 Square Miles Surrounded by Reality"
Singing the praises of small and simple. SI Model #1 with "Libby the dog" poultry skin eating accessory.
Weber Smokey Mountain (are we still friends?), Weber Kettle Grill (stop complaining WSM, I still have a chance)
Anova WiFi Sous Vide

TXVA

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Re: Can the SI be used as the Sous Vide device?
« Reply #14 on: July 04, 2018, 11:20:22 AM »
When is it useful to adjust temperature by tenths of degrees?

Thanks Kari. That makes sense. Sounds like a balance with the option for perfection!

1/2 degree is accurate enough probably 99% of the time. If a recipe calls for 143.7, then I'll set it to that through the app, because I can. but 143.5 or 144 would probably be close enough. Eggs are something where you might want tenths of a degree, but even then, I'm not sure if you need that much accuracy. 1/2 degree is pretty accurate, and the most critical part is that Anova holds it right where you set it.
Chris from Virginia
Smokin-It #2, Weber Genesis & backyard fire-pit for marshmallows cooked low and slow.