It seems to me that Anova could be »the girl«. The only question I have, that I have not been able to find out about is if it is possible to program a delayed start. Say that I want my breakfast eggs cooked on a week day, how wonderful it would be to set the Anova to start cooking 45 minutes before I get up, or letting a chicken thaw for a couple of hours before the Anova starts operating, et cetera.
I know that some manufacturers have disabled this functions, pointing out the food safety risks. On the other hand, one could still handle the food inaccurately and become ill. And after all, other manufacturers, VacStar among others, do have this feature in the immersion circulators enabled.
If it is not featured, can one program it oneself in the app, in hacker mode or something like that?
@Kamelion Yes, it is possible to program delayed start in Anova. My Android Anova Remote app allows you to program multi-step cooking. See further discussion on G+.
And no, even if my app allows you to do the programming, I am not planning to simplify it very soon yet, because of food safety risks. Let me share the e-mail I’ve got from USDA:
Dear Mr. Temkin:
Thank you for writing the USDA’s Meat and Poultry Hotline.
It is not safe to store eggs in water for 8 hours, whether it is cold or warm (although cold would be safer than warm).
We have information on egg safety at:
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/egg-products-preparation/shell-eggs-from-farm-to-table/ct_index
Sincerely,
Meat and Poultry Hotline Webmaster
To speak to a Food Safety Specialist,
call the Hotline at 1-888-674-6854
e-mail: mphotline@fsis.usda.gov
Food safety information is also available 24/7, by going to “Ask Karen,” our automated virtual representative at www.askkaren.gov. You may type your food safety question directly into the automated virtual representative feature.
The killer idea would be a sous vide machine that can also chill the water to almost freezing, and then bring it back up (quickly). You could (theoretically) leave food in there overnight to start cooking at a predetermined time.
@vtemkin Thank you, that is very interesting, and a joyful piece of information.
I wonder, however, why USDA regards the storing in water non safe. It cannot be the temperature itself, regarding regulations of temperature and shell life of eggs. And his link does not explain this either. I will research the matter further, and ask the german association as well, since I live there.
@Kamelion Yes, it is possible to program delayed start in Anova. My Android Anova Remote app allows you to program multi-step cooking. See further discussion on G+.
And no, even if my app allows you to do the programming, I am not planning to simplify it very soon yet, because of food safety risks. Let me share the e-mail I've got from USDA:
[…]
@Kamelion I think you also need to take into consideration the difference between US eggs and European eggs. Besides what I thought was a US cultural tendency to want to refrigerate eggs (which goes against the concept of the eggs sittint in water at room temperature for a few hours), it appears that we treat our eggs differently with a focus on a keeping salmonella off the shells, which can weaken the shells.