Evaporation Issues

[johnmiami]

I was looking at some meals I would like to cook.
When it comes t some meats of larger size, I see cooking times of 10 hours.
How does the water evaporation over that time period affect the process?
Besides the fact my wife says I don’t have the patience for that…

[john.jcb]

The bath water will evaporate when you do longer cooks. Covering the container is the best solution. It does not take much to minimize evaporation. I often use plastic wrap. It is a good idea to check the water level periodically.

Here is a link to a lengthy discussion on various ways the problem has been addressed.

Covered container?

I purchased a regular plastic cooler and cut a hole (bandsaw) on one side of the lid. I noticed that the lid was hollow, so to avoid water getting inside and to better insulate it, I sealed it by purchasing metal duct tape (looks like nice shiny aluminum, not affected by heat) and sealed the cut edge. Shortly before sealing it, I sprayed expanding foam spray (Home Depot) to fill the interior of the lid. This helps avoid the problem of water getting inside. Finally, as a tip, take some masking ta…

[fischersd]

There’s also lots of information here:

Best Vessels/Containers for Precision Cooking

This may not spark a discussion, but I wanted to get the info out there. I’m Very happy with the performance of my cooker but I was confounded in trying to find a large enough (and correctly-dimensioned) cooking vessel. I’ve got alot of pots and pans but none were hitting the mark, so I started searching restaurant supply stores. I figured that a large mise tub would do the deed… but no, too small, no lid, flimsy construction. The “aha” solution? I bought a camping cooler for thirty bucks a…

I would caution you about using plastic wrap though - I used to as well, but it allows most of the water vapour to escape right around the ANova PC - which is not what you want - the electronics at the top of the unit are quite sensitive to hot water vapour - often causing unpredictable results if you’re not careful. For any prolonged cooks, I’d definitely recommend a covered vessel with a hole that’s been cut for the PC (if the vessel is deep enough, then you don’t need to use your clamp - just use a hole saw and let the lid support the PC).