Regarding the frozen topic - I think the guideline they have over on chef steps is a pretty good one - whatever it is, you take what would have been your cooking time and increase it by 50%.
So, for a steak that you would have cooked for 2 hours, that extra hour from frozen should do it. But, if you’re cooking a roast from frozen, you’re increasing your cooking time accordingly for the much thicker cut.
What are the ping pong ball looking things?
http://mailchi.mp/anovaculinary.com/1wvz7wjxoy-584969?e=75b8c6dfcc
Thanks
@Pmad the ping pong balls help with insulation. So things like preventing evaporation. Cole wrote a blog post about it. Ping Pong Balls: The Ultimate Sous Vide Container Lid – Anova Culinary
I have a lid with a hole cut for the machine. That seems to work fine.
A pain in the ass to clean. That’s what they are.
Lids are so much easier to work with.
Hi there! First time user as of last night so still in the newbie status 
(loved it by the way)! What kind of container do you recommend for cooking sous vide? My husband and I used the bowl in our slow cooker and it worked fine but its pretty small. Looking for something that might be a little bigger!
Thanks!
Wohoooooooo!!! @melramir
You don’t need anything fancy - just depends on your cooking needs. I use a deep saucepan, since I only cook for myself. Sometimes I’ll use a large container that’s laying around at work. There’s an ongoing discussion on this thread: Best Vessels/Containers for Precision Cooking.
Perfect! We had large plastic storage containers from moving but I was iffy about using those, especially because they were so big! Don’t wanna waste so much water haha I’ll check out that link, thank you!
I bought both the balls and a lid - this lid: EVERIE Collapsible Hinged Sous Vide Container Lid for Anova Culinary Precision Cookers, Fits 12,18,22 Quart Rubbermaid Container (Corner Mount)
But the neck of holeid is too narrow for my Anova. So I’ve been using the sous vide balls. I rather like them - how do they get dirty? I’ve only used my Anova twice so far, but they haven’t gotten dirty.
can you share the particulars…what time & temp? boneless or bone-in? i cooked boneless chicken breast and after 2 hours at 146F still not cooked and very rubbery.
I have the wifi enabled unit but am confused. I thought you shouldn’t put anything in the water until it was at the proper pre-heated temp? Was thinking of doing Brussels Sprouts while I’m at work, but am assuming I can’t leave them in the bag in the pot and then turn it on from work?
I used boneless breast. Cooked per directions on Anova app.
Preheat bath to 150 F and imersed for 1 hour. If you go longer than that it is not as though will overcook it. That is determined ny the temperature you cook at. I feel that the 150 degree temp gives me abetter mouth feel when eating.
Also i browned it in a cast iron skillet for finishing it. I did it on my stove in the kitchen but NEVER AGAIN. TOO MUCH SMOKE!! Now i heat the cast iron skillet on my gas grill outside for 15 minutes on high then put in the meat. Chicken, pork, steak turn out nice and chared on the outside and mo smoky kitchen.
Hope this helps. The app is the best guide for all Anova cooling.
Thanks!
In most cases you can put food in shortly before the water is fully heated up, there are some exceptions, like eggs, shrimp, etc.
Putting the food in hours before and starting the cook remotely can present challenges with meats, in particular, how to hold the meat at the safe temp before starting the cook. This ties in to the ice bath function that is currently unavailable because it is being reworked.
In the case of vegetables, there is little, if any risk. You should be absolutely fine to leave a bag of brussel sprouts in the water and start the cook remotely in the middle of the day.
I’ve tried Googling and checked the manual, but cannot find an answer. Can/should the Anova Precision (WIFI version) be left in the water between use? I currently have distilled water in the container so am not worried about mineral deposits, but am wondering if leaving it in the water over time can cause issues. Thanks.
@dragonspearls I personally don’t leave my cooker in water. There has been a couple of threads on this. You’d probably see some build up, but can be cleaned off. Check out these threads:
2) Reduce, Reuse, Recycle water from @Ember
Isn’t the part of the bag hanging over the pot unsanitary? That is, when I put the meat into the bag it touches the mouth of the bag and if we keep that part of the bag outside the water by clipping it to the pot, doesn’t that create the perfect condition for bacteria to breed?
Second, I still think all the oil and fat is unhealthy though there are some opinions now to the contrary, so I usually bake my chicken and render all the fat and throw it out. In sous vide all the fat is locked in with the chicken inside the bag. Doesn’t that make for a rather fatty meal?
If you roll the top of your bags back on itself you’ve got little or no chance of getting meat anything on it, unless you’re particularly uncoordinated or messy.
Some of the fats from the meat will render into the bag juices when cooking. If you’re going to use the bag juices for a sauce, then the fats can be strained or skimmed from the juice as would be done with any normal stock. It’s no different to any other form of cooking regarding fats. If you don’t like them, remove them.
Actually, sous vide is a very good and gentle way to cook very lean meats.
In most instances, there is little to no benefit to adding extra fats/oils to the cooking bag. They will not penetrate meat. They may be added as a flavouring with vegetables, but once again, they do not penetrate. If you’re worried about adding fats to the product you’re cooking, simply don’t add them. Anything can be cooked without.
Uncoordinated and messy? Probably. 
In any case, I guess I have the wrong type of bag, It has a tab and I did try rolling it back but the tab came off. I put it back on and decided to submerge the whole thing. A good a solution as any I suppose. Although the fact that there was some oil floating on the water afterwards probably meant that either the seal was not as good or there was lot of the meat juice on the mouth of the bag as I tried to wrestle with it.
As for the fat situation, I just thought that something sitting in it’s own fat for the entire time seemed, well, fatty. Perhaps I’m wrong. Maybe there’s very little re-absorption and there’s no problem. Though at some point the fat in the meat vs the fat outside will probably be at equilibrium and it probably won’t further reduce or expel the fat from the meat vs in the oven on a rack. It was just a thought as there was a lot of talk about how healthy sous vide cooking is vs other ways of cooking, and I wasn’t so sure.
BTW, my cheap cut of 1/2" chuck steak came out fine.
Although my digital thermometer seemed to indicate that the unit was 1 degree off. I’ll have to get another thermometer to confirm the next time and perhaps recalibrate the unit (if that’s possible).
Thanks for your reply. Much appreciated.
Great community!
