Sous vide supreme

[Tom Turophile]

I recently had the chance to work along side with Richard Blais, he of Top Chef fame, as well as his excellent burger restaurant in Atlanta, Flip.  He has been touring the country a lot, touting a new product -- the first sous vide machine available for home use, called the Sous Vide Supreme.

I asked him what the temperature range was -- and he said 203F.  I was more interested in how low it got, for possible cheesemaking, but he wasn't sure.  I've checked the specs -- it ranges from 41F - 203F.

The capacity is 10 liters, or 2.64 gallons.

This is an expensive option, but its precision is fantastic, and it has other uses (sous vide cooking, of course).  However, that precision is based on having water in the bath.  I can't see why it wouldn't work with another liquid, but it is possible that the instruments are just calibarated for water.

I don't have one, but I thought I would let you all know about another possible option.

[Sailor Con Queso]

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[MarkShelton]

Here is a better link for the Sous Vide Supreme. Checking out the FAQ's it looks like you could make cheese in it, as it claims you can make stew in it.
I think it would be overkill though, to pay that much for something, especially when 1 degree precision isn't necessary with cheese. Plus, it will only accommodate ~2.5 gallons. Really, there is no way for me to justify it as a necessary cooking system for meals, but if anyone else does, it theoretically could double as a cheesemaking tool, assuming you can control the rate of heating.

[sominus]

As I was saying to my wife last night, we can do sous vide cooking quite easily with our Wyott food warmer and a PID controller from Auber instruments ( see http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=8&products_id=110 ).  I think the food warmer, without a pan, would hold about 8 gallons of water.  You could put an aquarium power head for curculation, and that's all you'd need.

While you wouldn't be saving much money, you'd have a couple of multi taskers to make Alton Brown proud...

[iratherfly]

Hey guys
A bit late to this but I noticed the topic. Here's a sous vide machine and digital cheese vat I built just this way. Posted last night on another thread here: http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,5951.msg43003.html

[Tatoosh]

Side question about sous vide.  It requires the food to be vacuum packed, right?  So do most vacuum bags work for sous vide cooking?  There are some Chinese manufacture vacuum machines here in the Philippines. Not many (or any) high end ones like the nice Cabella unit.  And there are rolls of plastic bag material here.  What bags should I be looking for if I want to investigate this style of cooking? A specific thickness? A required composition? 

Any on-line sous vide recipe guides or technique discussions that I should be reading?   And does it work as well as say, braising, for tenderizing tougher cuts of meat, or should I simply look at it as a way to ensure foods are not overcooked?  Anyone tried ribs? Starting on with sous vide and then maybe finishing on grill for caramelizing the exterior?  Just curious.

Edit:  I spent some time looking online and found some interesting recipes, including a few for short ribs. One that cooked the ribs sous vide and then finished by deep frying.  That just warmed my heart!  I can see an Aubers temperature regulator and my slow cooker getting converted to this process! Failing to find a reasonably priced, good quality vacuum sealer, I will likely opt for a simple plastic sealer and use the trick of placing the bag (one end already closed) in a bucket or sink full of water to force the air out.  Then a regular sealer without vacuum capability will work fine.   We used to use the bucket of water trick to limit air exposure/freezer burn before vacuum sealers were common. 

 

[iratherfly]

Sorry for taking so long to respond. As long as this is food grade plastic you are fine. You want a machine that isn't too violent and will crash your food or take all the liquids out of it.  I think the FoodSaver does a fantastic job (only it is VERY wasteful; they designed it to assure you waste about an inch of plastic wrap every time you seal which I find lame and infuriating). You can also use restaurant style vaccum chambers. They are usually more expensive (you can get a used one in a restaurant supply shop maybe). They work differently; you put the bag with the food in a chamber. It vacuums the chamber so there is no air inside and outside the bag and the equal pressure is more gentle on the food. It then seals the bag while still in the chamber.

I would do shorter recipes before going to short ribs which is a minimum 48 hour sous vide. Try steaks, confit of duck leg, chicken, veggies... even fruits and custards.