Has anyone tried sous vide cooking at home?

[4speedy]

It looks interesting, but it's a lot of money to spend on equipment just to try it out.

How often do you cook this way?  What do you cook the most?  Do you cook anything other than meats?
Favorite equipment?  FAvaorite recipes?

[pamelasaur]

I have not tried it but a relative does this from time to time. The investment on the equipment is unbelievable though.

[jcbarbee]

I have not. I do have friends that do and while the equipment is expensive, I think there are some fairly inexpensive DIY ways to make it.

I have never thought about cooking anything other than meats, when I think of using a sous vide.

[ellebebold]

Any new experiences with this?

[TBM]

We were at a breakfast at Epcot Food & Wine Festival, where Geoffrey Zakarian was talking about sous vide cooking (and trying to sell us his sous vide product by giving us a discount on his website). He talked about using it at restaurants, and it sounds great in theory. He made grits and shrimp and something else to demonstrate. I think they made the grits that we had with our meal that way. They were wonderful, but my H wasn't impressed with the shrimp, which I didn't have because I don't eat meat and there was andouille sausage in that so they served me something else with the grits.

I was surprised that my H is so wary of it, since I thought that it would make sense to the engineer part of him, and he loves gadgets. I guess the part that was hesitant was the restaurant cook in college, long before sous vide was a thing in restaurants part of him. He is normally an easy sell.

[gtkim]

We have the Anova sous vide cooker and we love it!  We don't use it often but when we do it is amazing!  We primarily do steaks and they are the most tender we have ever had.  You do have to finish them in a pan or on the grill to give them some color but they are terrific.  I've cooked chicken a couple of times too with good results.  It's a great device when cooking doesn't have to be precise.  It's virtually impossible to overcook something so if you're busy or wanting to work on other parts of the meal it's a great tool to have.

[ellebebold]

It looks interesting.

[ellebebold]

I have not...so expensive!

[WOT?*]

spunbutterfly
(I accidentally clicked on this board and this was the first post that popped up. I saw sous vide and immediately thought of you.)

[spunbutterfly]

Been so long since I've been tagged in anything.

Yes, I sous vide cook regularly. I have a Joule.

We cook steaks, chicken breasts, fish, carrots, potatoes, corn, shell-"poached" eggs. Perfect ramen eggs.

I also make Starbucks imitation egg bites, pot de crème, crème brulee, infused alcohol (I made a marshmallow bourbon last winter and a lavender vodka), cheesecake.


Some other things I can't remember.


Pros: Don't have to turn the stove or oven on on hot days. Also cooks things to the perfect temperature and doneness. Perfect medium rare steaks? Yes.

Cons: Don't cook everything sous vide.

If you're curious, you can download the Joule app onto your phone and peruse the recipes they have there without actually having a joule.

[scottcool]

It's my favorite way to cook a ribeye. I marinate them in a vacuum sealed bag. I cook for an hour at the recommended temp for medium rare. then sear both sides in a non stick pan at the highest temp my stove allows. Allow the ribeye to cool some then eat.

[sdmade]

There are inexpensive models on amazon like Anova. You'll need to buy a separate container. I'm using mine on weekends for steaks/fish.