With practice and successes your confidence will grow quickly.
When you get your container may I suggest trying corned beef. My food critic (my wife) thinks it is best when cooked using sous vide methods. Another quick and easy cook is chicken breasts.
Hi @Newbie-May-2020,
I’d just like to add that any time you are cooking ground meat (especially ground meat you did not grind yourself) you should ensure you cook it long enough for it to be pasteurized. Ground meat has a lot of exposed surface that potentially could be contaminated with something nasty! Best to play it safe and cook long enough to pasteurize. It will still only be as “done” as the temperature you have selected.
Good luck!
Newbie, on that sealing (or air) problem with the filets mignon blot them dry before packaging. If you don’t already, fold back the opening of the bag to form a cuff before adding the items. That keeps the sealing area dry to prevent leaks. If you think the bag might be a little too tight for the item to be cooked form a slide with parchment or waxed paper into the bag and ease the item in. Doing that will also protect the sealing area.
Just before sealing pat most of the air out and gently squeeze the bag moving towards the openeing. That gives your pump a head start.
Good idea on the pasteurizing - I hadn’t thought of that.
It seems I accidentally pasteurized it, when I cooked it a little more done than I wanted because I was starting from frozen…
Balwin’s chart has it as 55 mins at 145.5 F for 3/4" thick, and I did mine for 1 1/4 hr at 145 F.
Ready - Fire - Aim, - even so sometimes accidents have happy outcomes.
It’s somewhat unfortunate Dr. Douglas Baldwin lives in a science based world that uses the International System of Measurements. I recommend Community members using his tables and living under the British System of Measurement convert 25 mm to an inch. It’s not precise, but close enough for SV.
Therefore 3/4" thick is approximately 19 mm. Fortunately, rounded to 20 mm that equates to 1 1/4 hours using his Table 2.3.
But for pasteurizing, isn’t it Baldwin’s Table 5.1 that needs to be used, which shows 3/4" as 55 mins at 145.5 F ?
He states in his notes for Table 2.2, “heating time may (counter-intuitively) be longer than pasteurization time”, but his Table 5.1 doesn’t cover times for, from frozen, so I’m not sure what you do to pasteurize, from frozen…
I agree on the metric vs imperial measurement. As a Canadian-American, I grew up in Canada with the imperial measurement system, and then when I finished high school, they switched over to metric. It was a PITA. All the conversions (except temperatures) are still etched in my brain, so I constantly convert, very easily.
However, there aren’t many countries left, that still use the imperial system of measurement. Even the UK is using metric, except for a few things like driving speed, and pints for beer.
Go longer to be safe starting from frozen.
How long? Hard to say without monitoring core temperature, - another PITA. That’s why i prefer to batch Pasteurize meat then freeze.
It won’t do harm to go 50% longer at a moderate temperature and with a minced product you want total heat diffusion if the item is not being consumed immediately. Note that Baldwin recommends a 24-48 hours Pasteurization at 130ᴼF/55ᴼC for tough cuts of meat.
I’m a recovering American who worked all over North America making me bilingual measurement wise too.
I understand how the steak wouldn’t get more “done” but what if I wanted to do fingerling potatos (1 hour), and corn on the cobb (1/2 hr), both at 180 F. Then I want to do a steak or pork chop at 140 F.
Can I leave the corn, and potatos in the cooker at a lower temperature, while the meat is cooking? Wouldn’t the potatos, and corn get over done (IE: too soft).?
Or, am I better off with conventional cooking for the potatos, and corn?
Careful, you’re sliding back towards conventional thinking a little.
The answer is yes.
Corn and potatoes are sturdy menu items.
Better off? - Could you define that?
Depends on how long you want to spend cooking and your expected outcomes. It’s up to you to decide. Meals like that are the reason i’ll use a second water bath.
Chefs have been using Bains Marie (water baths) for several centuries to effectively hold cooked items before service. No reason to stop now.
I don’t want to reveal how often or how long i’ve left SV cooked sides hot holding at a prevailing lower SV temperature while cooking a protein without noticeably detrimental results. They won’t be over done as long as you get the water temperature down promptly. Besides, it gives you time to spend with your guests before dinner and it gets dinner on the table quicker and easier.
Happy cooking and keep well.
What’s unfortunate is that there are still some parts of the world that still uses the imperial system. Even the UK is going metric, inch by inch 
I think someone is trying to stir up the SV pot here.
They should pick two different dates for transition.
If you were born after 1975, you should use the metric system.
If you were born before 1975, you use the imperial system.
In 2075, everyone will be using the metric system, and it won’t bother ME one bit !
Measurements are lot like cooking, you learn to think according to the system you’re using.
My Anova SV cooker arrived.
I like it.
Way better than using a 10" dia pot.
It reminds me of being a kid, looking into my aquarium, and watching the tropical fish swim around.
But now I’m watching potatoes, and corn on the cobb swim around.
This is way better.
Pretty soon, I’ll be watching pork shops swim around, as well.
One thing for us newbies to watch out for:
While it doesn’t take long to get 120 F (49 C for Raginhild) tap water, up to 140 F (60 C for Ragnhild), it takes one helluva a long time (around an hour), to get all the water in that tank up to 185 F (85 C for Raginhild).
I think next time, I’ll fill it half way full with tap water, and then boil the kettle a few times, and add that to the cooker.
You can really mess up your timing, if you’re not aware of how long it takes, on it’s own.
I use an electric kettle to quickly bump up the bath temp quite often. Quite handy! 
That was prompt delivery from Anova.
Use separate circuits for the Anova and the kettle as they will both be drawing up near the load limits.
Did my fingerling potatos, corn on the cobb, and pork chops last night.
The potatos, and corn were fine, albeit a little cooler than I’d like, having sat in the 140 F bath for a couple hours while the pork chops were cooking.
I did the 1" thick center cut loin pork chop at 140 F for 2 1/2 hrs (which was double what Baldwin’s table shows), and while it was juicy, it was still tough.
Just read trabfountain’s post about “Tough Loin Pork Chops”. I wish I’d read that yesterday. I think I need to bump up the time even more.
Got some baby back ribs in the cooker right now. 20 hrs in the bath at 140 F, then I’ll cool them, and put them on the wood pellet smoker. This one will be interesting. The ribs have been in the bath for 3 hrs already, and they sure look weird - very dark brown, like old cooked blood. They should be pretty tender after 20 hrs though.
Your experience with the corn and potatoes indicates why i use a second SV rig for sides if i do them using the SV technique. Hotter is better.
Unfortunately you have to cook them at different temperatures to get the doneness throughout the meat. So it requires two anovas if you want them done at the same time. ie, if you do them at say 130 F for rare and pull one out after the time required, leaving the other one in with out without a temperature increase will result in the same internal temperature. Hope this was helpful.
I think cast iron is the way to go for searing. Previously, whenever I’ve cooked a filet mignon, I’ve always seared it in a cast iron pan on both sides for about 3 mins, then the edges for 30 secs, and then stuck it in a 350 F oven for 12 mins. Always worked fine but wasn’t pink from edge to edge which I should get with SV.
I’ve ordered the Anova SV cooking container. I like the idea of being able to see the food throughout the cooking process, and I can’t fit a half rack of ribs in a 10" dia pot, plus that one looks good to boot. And it’s got a cover, which John mentioned, will reduce/stop evaporation…