# New Sous Vide User? What Are Your Burning Qs? **URL:** \ **Category:** First Cook Essentials\ **Created:** [June 5, 2017, 10:22pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/new-sous-vide-user-what-are-your-burning-qs/7396 "2017-06-05T22:22:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![AlyssaWOAH](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/alyssawoah/32/2946_2.png) [@AlyssaWOAH](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/AlyssaWOAH)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 10:02pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/new-sous-vide-user-what-are-your-burning-qs/7396/326 "2018-09-17T22:02:00Z")
Yes, you can cook from frozen. Here are a few threads with info you might find helpful: > [@Frozen chicken - How long?](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/frozen-chicken-how-long/15148): > > Hey SV friends! How long do I need to cook FROZEN chicken breasts? I usually use the Anova guide (1hour for 150F) - but how long if its frozen? Thanks for the help slight_smile > [@Advice on cooking frozen food](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/advice-on-cooking-frozen-food/11538): > > Hi, I just got this today and pretty excited to try it out. Anyone who can share some experience/advice/suggestions on cooking some frozen food? Also, I’d like to use it while I’m at work so that I can have my dinner when I get in. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![mrsbrite](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/mrsbrite/32/3255_2.png) [@mrsbrite](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/mrsbrite)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 10:54pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/new-sous-vide-user-what-are-your-burning-qs/7396/327 "2018-09-17T22:54:02Z")
Thank you for your info and suggestion. I will try to do that ---
**Author:** ![prudencesprite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/97f17d/32.png) [@prudencesprite](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/prudencesprite)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 12:31pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/new-sous-vide-user-what-are-your-burning-qs/7396/328 "2018-09-28T12:31:48Z")
My cooker does not maintain the set temperature, it keeps dropping. Although I set it for 145, after 45 minutes, it’s down to 123. What gives? What do I need to do to get it to maintain the set temperature? Thankyou, Prudence ---
**Author:** ![Ember](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/ember/32/729_2.png) [@Ember](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/Ember)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 9:28pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/new-sous-vide-user-what-are-your-burning-qs/7396/329 "2018-09-28T21:28:16Z")
Contact Customer Support. They are the ones best able to help you. ---
**Author:** ![AlyssaWOAH](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/alyssawoah/32/2946_2.png) [@AlyssaWOAH](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/AlyssaWOAH)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 5:09pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/new-sous-vide-user-what-are-your-burning-qs/7396/330 "2018-10-01T17:09:53Z")
It might be defective. Definitely reach out to [support@anovaculinary.com](mailto:support@anovaculinary.com) so we can help you out with this! ---
**Author:** ![Joshua\_Barber](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/joshua_barber/32/4044_2.png) [@Joshua\_Barber](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/Joshua_Barber)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 6:59pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/new-sous-vide-user-what-are-your-burning-qs/7396/331 "2018-10-11T18:59:12Z")
I vaccume seal ribs but after about hour in bath 167 they get air in bags and float causing me to take them out and reseal this is the only thing that does this looking for solution. ---
**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/Diane)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2018, 7:37pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/new-sous-vide-user-what-are-your-burning-qs/7396/332 "2018-10-23T19:37:23Z")
I have been using my sous vide successfully. However today, I think it got switched to Centigrade. Would only go to 99.5—and over cooked my chicken. Can that be and how do I change it back? ---
**Author:** ![AlyssaWOAH](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/alyssawoah/32/2946_2.png) [@AlyssaWOAH](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/AlyssaWOAH)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2018, 7:53pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/new-sous-vide-user-what-are-your-burning-qs/7396/333 "2018-10-23T19:53:38Z")
It might be switched. But we can find out. Here’s how to toggle between F and C: > [@Video: Setting the timer and switching from Celsius to Fahrenheit](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/video-setting-the-timer-and-switching-from-celsius-to-fahrenheit/1162): > > A quick video on how to set the physical timer and switch the temperature from C to F [[- YouTube] ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJdNmLCI7cw) If you have any questions, please ask them below! Check out these other helpful videos! [Video: The Secret to the Perfect Sear](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/video-the-secret-to-the-perfect-sear/1222/7)[Video: The Immersion Method](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/video-the-immersion-method/1221)[Video: Unboxing your New Anova!](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/video-unboxing-your-new-anova/1143) If the temperature is still not working like it should, please email us at [support@anovaculinary.com](mailto:support@anovaculinary.com). ---
**Author:** ![Joellunsford](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7cd45c/32.png) [@Joellunsford](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/Joellunsford)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2018, 7:24pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/new-sous-vide-user-what-are-your-burning-qs/7396/334 "2018-11-09T19:24:40Z")
How do you keep the water levels up during a long cook cycle ---
**Author:** ![AlyssaWOAH](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/alyssawoah/32/2946_2.png) [@AlyssaWOAH](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/AlyssaWOAH)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2018, 7:38pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/new-sous-vide-user-what-are-your-burning-qs/7396/335 "2018-11-09T19:38:50Z")
I would cover the water bath. Wrap, foil, or if you have a cooler. We also have a lid that will be up on our online store soon! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Joellunsford](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7cd45c/32.png) [@Joellunsford](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/Joellunsford)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2018, 8:21pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/new-sous-vide-user-what-are-your-burning-qs/7396/336 "2018-11-09T20:21:47Z")
Thanks for the reply on water level Can the unit sit flat on the bottom of the cooker ---
**Author:** ![fischersd](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/fischersd/32/5594_2.png) [@fischersd](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/fischersd)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2018, 8:29pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/new-sous-vide-user-what-are-your-burning-qs/7396/337 "2018-11-09T20:29:11Z")
Yep - you don’t need any clearance at the bottom of the APC. Having a container with a well sealed lid (and a hole cut for the APC) means you can have long cooks with next to no evaporation. Hole saws - you’re looking at 2 1/2" if you want to line the hole with a softer material, 2 3/8" to fit the exact diameter of the base/skirt of the APC. (if you can find a grommet somewhere that would fit, that would be even better - if you do, please share the info here) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mirozen](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/mirozen/32/2786_2.png) [@Mirozen](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/Mirozen)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2018, 4:54am UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/new-sous-vide-user-what-are-your-burning-qs/7396/338 "2018-11-10T04:54:51Z")
Hi @Joellunsford Actually while a well sealed lid is very nice it’s not an absolute necessity for long cooks. I use bubble insulation over a Coleman cooler and I’ve done 72 hour cooks without needing to add water. Off topic - it’s nice to see you back posting @fischersd! I hope your travel adventures were interesting! 🙂 Thought I’d add a pic of my setup for clarity… ![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/anova/original/2X/7/77354f135b0c787f40cb3828231141858d26b241.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Joellunsford](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7cd45c/32.png) [@Joellunsford](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/Joellunsford)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2018, 5:58pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/new-sous-vide-user-what-are-your-burning-qs/7396/339 "2018-11-10T17:58:09Z")
Thanks again for the info. So the next one is do I need to pre heat water that needs to be added during long cook times? ---
**Author:** ![whybuynew1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5fc32e/32.png) [@whybuynew1](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/whybuynew1)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2018, 8:24pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/new-sous-vide-user-what-are-your-burning-qs/7396/340 "2018-11-10T20:24:04Z")
Hi Joel. I Have never really had problems with evaporation in my long cooks, Although I generally use a coleman cooler for those big tough honkin pieces of meat. I would think that with long cooks you are using lower temps than, say veggies. My hot water heater puts out 130F at the tap and this is usually not that far from my cook temp to merit turning an alternative heat source on. Plus…I may have an exceptionally good anova as my water temp heat up time seems to be minimal and I always had a hard time relating to others that say their units took to long to heat. Good luck to you! As a side note…I bought a hot tub 12 years ago and joined a website pertaining to that tub. I ended up micromanaging chemicals, temp and water hourly so much that it was hard to enjoy the spa itself. My advice is to jump in and enjoy it! Haha 😀 ---
**Author:** ![fischersd](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/fischersd/32/5594_2.png) [@fischersd](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/fischersd)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2018, 1:48am UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/new-sous-vide-user-what-are-your-burning-qs/7396/341 "2018-11-12T01:48:47Z")
The size of your vessel, the starting temp of the water and how well insulated the vessel is all contribute to your preheating time (elevation may too, if we want to split hairs) 🙂 . (and, yep, 130F is pretty common for hot water - handy that it’s the temp a lot of us use for cooking our steaks) 🙂 The advantage of using preheated water is that it will prolong the life of the APC’s heater - all components being engineered for X (usually being hundreds of thousands of) hours of use before failure, if you save the APC some heating effort, it’ll last you longer (mine was still perfect when I sold it 3 years later), I pretty much always filled my vessel with hot water first. ---
**Author:** ![perfessor101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@perfessor101](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/perfessor101)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2018, 9:24pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/new-sous-vide-user-what-are-your-burning-qs/7396/342 "2018-11-12T21:24:00Z")
I was curious as to how I could Sous Vide a roast and have the fat render during (or after) the cook? We tried a blade roast last night at 140F for 24 hours and very little of the fat rendered. It seemed the easiest way would have been to pan sear thick slices after Sous Vide-ing. We tried it under the broiler and that crusted the outside of the roast but did very little to render the fat inside. Thanks for your time and help, Bobby ---
**Author:** ![Ember](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/ember/32/729_2.png) [@Ember](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/Ember)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2018, 9:37pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/new-sous-vide-user-what-are-your-burning-qs/7396/343 "2018-11-12T21:37:33Z")
Fat won’t render at sous vide temperatures. That’s a job for your finishing method of choice. ---
**Author:** ![russmitchellcsp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@russmitchellcsp](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/russmitchellcsp)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2018, 5:49am UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/new-sous-vide-user-what-are-your-burning-qs/7396/344 "2018-11-22T05:49:32Z")
just got my Anova today so I am in no way skilled nor have I been able to research thoroughly but it’s pretty clear that there are vastly different temperatures and times recommended for different foods, is there a systematic way to sort out how to cook multiple different dishes concurrently? Short of having multiple units I would like to see if there is an approach that addresses this need. Thanks in advance and I apologize if this has been covered before … ---
**Author:** ![AlyssaWOAH](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/alyssawoah/32/2946_2.png) [@AlyssaWOAH](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/AlyssaWOAH)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2018, 4:53pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/new-sous-vide-user-what-are-your-burning-qs/7396/345 "2018-11-22T16:53:56Z")
It’s definitely a learning curve. There are different temperatures + times for a handful of factors: doneness preferences, texture, how lean or tender the meat is, how thick the meat is. You can cook multiple different dishes together, but it just depends on what it is and what you’re hoping to achieve. I would suggest using our [time + temperature guide](https://anovaculinary.com/anova-sous-vide-time-temperature-guide/) to get a better idea of what you’re looking for. This community is also super helpful, so feel free to ask any questions you might have. [Previous page](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/new-sous-vide-user-what-are-your-burning-qs/7396.md?page=16) [Next page](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/new-sous-vide-user-what-are-your-burning-qs/7396.md?page=18)