I was just thinking that it might be nice to pre-package individual hot dogs in my FoodSaver and then just toss however many I wanted into the bath. Maybe pre-bagged chili also. You could just cut open the bag and dump it into a bowl, and not dirty an extra pan. Both of these are pre-cooked foods that just need to be reheated.
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Oh yeah you can totally do that. Makes it so much easier and you don’t have to keep an eye on it. BTW there is a sous vide hot dog recipe on the site. Sous Vide Hot Dogs
Different strokes, whatever works for you, etc, etc…but I don’t think you’d actually be saving yourself any real time/effort by doing this. In fact you’re more likely to be increasing the total expenditure of both, albeit at different times. I find the combination of vacuum packing items (especially something like chili), setting up and putting away my APC far more trouble than pulling out a pot/pan, putting it on the stove and then washing it afterward…even counting the step of dumping something (like chili) into a piece of Tupperware beforehand.
Hi DParker. I get what you mean, but I often have moments of “spare” time that I don’t have later. Also, I left out the long part where I explain that our kitchen is being remodeled and we have a “makeshift” kitchen set up in a back room, where the APC is standing at the ready 24/7. 
Ok. So the test is done . . . and sous vide loses. 
I did 3 dogs using the “recipe” that Alyssa linked to. 140 deg’s for 1 hour. I made sure the dogs stayed submerged in a Ziploc bag. The first two dogs we dropped into room-temp, (70 deg’s), buns and then added mustard and ketchup, both straight out of the 'fridge. The buns themselves pulled some of the heat out and the M/K did the rest. They were luke-warm at best, and dropped to room temp by the second half of the dog. Not great.
Then we took the third dog, along with another that was straight out of the 'fridge, and popped them into the toaster oven. The sous vide one came out in about two minutes. The cold one, six minutes later. Both had nice grill marks on them and the last one had done that “skin-burst” thing that I love. (Makes a nice little nook to hold the mustard.) Both dogs warmed the buns and didn’t cool much from the M/K. Both were hot and delicious to the last bite.
This was my first sous vide “cook”. I wanted to keep it simple. But for dogs, eight minutes of toaster oven clearly made a better dog than 1 hour of sous vide. Now I’ll have to try something more complex.
Artie
OK, well that’s certainly an exceptional situation. But even so, reheating chili in a pot is going to be very similar to your hot–dogs-in-the-toaster-oven scenario in that it only takes a few minutes. And cleanup for a single put is almost nothing…unless your “makeshift” kitchen also means that you have no easy access to a working sink for that cleanup…in which case I’d have to ask what it is that you’d be eating the chili out of. Disposable paper bows and plastic spoons?
We’re using a tub that we fill from the bathtub. Thank God our Corian counter/sink comes in next week. However, the great dawg experiment has convinced me to do chili the old-fashioned way. On our induction “hot plate”. (I’ll do the dishes.) 
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@Artie, I think you’ve experienced a perfect example of an instance where sous vide doesn’t give a big “value add”. For me it’s the instances where you want to avoid raising your food above a given temperature that let sous vide really shine. A hot dog that has been raised to almost boiling might lose a little flavor, but with the addition of condiments most would never notice; and people usually want their hot dog served…well…“hot”!!!
But beef and chicken and pork cuts…and many sausages…can really benefit by not letting their temperature rise above a given temp “doneness”. (I could add a lot to this list, but these come immediately to mind.)
The lower temps that many sous vide items get served at are a big reason that you see many discussions in the forum about how to keep your food warm for serving. (Heating your plates is suggestion number one I think, but look around for more. I think @chatnoir has posted some excellent detailed suggestions on this subject more than once.)
Hot dogs were probably pretty disappointing as a first cook, so take them as a lesson learned and move on to the good stuff! 
Give chicken breast a try, or maybe my personal favorite - medium rare steak! You’ll be amazed at how good these can be!
Best of luck!
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Thanks Mirozen. I’m trying my first chicken breasts today.
(I’ll also check out chatnoir’s posts.)
P.S. How do you get the @username link in there?
Type the @ then start typing the name - you’ll get a pop up list!
Good luck with the chicken!
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Thanks.
Check with the manufacturer and/or installer for your countertop. Some materials don’t handle heating well and could discolour or crack. (ie. You would have something between your sous vide vessel and your countertop).
Me, I normally have my vessel in my spare bedroom on the carpeted floor.
Thanks @fischersd. That is the one unfortunate downside of Corian. But we’ve got that covered in a couple different ways. We have a roll around “island” with a marble top, and some medium to large trivets that we also will be using.
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