New Sous Vide User? What Are Your Burning Qs?

[kenkjer]

I cannot connect to wifi, because the apt building I live has the router secured in a closed room. I there fore need to use Bluetooth and that works fine until I go somewhere it naturally disconnects when I get to far away. However when i get back my Samsung s8+ will reconnect, it stays on searching for Anova, Do you have any suggestions for either my wifi problem or bluetooth problem. With bluetooth I have to shut my Anova off in order to get it to reconnect.

[AlyssaWOAH]

Naturally, Bluetooth has a range and cannot go as far as Wi-Fi can. However, when coming back into range, it should find and connect to the Anova. I'm not sure how much access you have to your building's Wi-Fi, but I would still reach out to support so they can figure out your options and also help with the Bluetooth connectivity issue you're having.

[Mirozen]

@kenkjer I'm not clear on the problem with the WiFi...unless the issue is that you can't get your Anova close enough to the router to get a decent connection. If this is the case then I'd suggest getting a WiFi range extender and using it to get decent WiFi connectivity.

[angeladub]

I received my Anova Wifi yesterday thanks to Amazon Prime Day woooo. First impressions: wow this is big. And also wow, this is slick. I wanted to start immediately and so tried out boiled eggs. I used a normal metal pot and covered the water with ping pong balls to reduce heat loss and evaporation. I followed the app guidelines for soft boiled egg: 62.8 °C for 45 min however, the white wasn't cooked enough to eat. Sad. So should I always add a few degrees on what the recipes say? I would hate to overcook anything. Tonight I will try fish.

[Mirozen]

Hi @angeladub, and Welcome!
I've found eggs in the shell to be problematic when cooked at lower temps - whites tend to be a bit runny. It has to do with the temperature needed to "set" the egg white, versus the temp you want that will be needed to get the yolk just the way you like it!

I've not yet tried this, but I've heard that this approach might work:
1. Drop your egg in boiling water for a couple minutes
2. Take it out, cool it slightly
3. Drop it in the sous vide bath at the temp that will make your yolk the way you like.
From what I heard this will set the white, but the yolk will still be cool enough to allow the sous vide to cook it perfectly.

As far as other recipes I'd say follow then as written and then decide what you like. I think you can get a LOT of useful information by reading some of the posts in this forum. And if you have any questions just sing out and you'll likely have people trying to help very soon!

Again, Welcome!
(And let me know if the trick I described with the egg works. If I don't see a post from you shortly I'll give it a try myself and let you know!)

[stevej]

Eggs can be a little tricky since different parts cook at different temperatures and rates. What I found really helpful was reading Kenji Lopez-Alt's Food Lab guide to sous vide eggs:

The Food Lab's Guide to Slow-Cooked, Sous Vide-Style Eggs

I suspect that Mirozen's suggestion should work well although you may need to experiment a bit with the boiling duration to get the results you want. In fact, when you start with sous vide there's a lot of trial-and-error as you dial in to your personal preferences. I recommend that you keep a journal so you can refer back to both your successes and your failures.

[Mirozen]

@stevej Good link! And I strongly second the suggestion to keep a journal!

[Angeladubb]

Thanks @Mirozen and @stevej. I’ll try eggs again on the weekend.
Tonight I did white fish (cod) with prawns, in the same bag. And then asparagus afterwards at a higher temperature. The cod was very tasty and flaky but a little bit overdone. Same with the prawns. I got scared from the eggs and raised the temp at the end so that’s probably why. The asparagus was perfect at the tips but the base was a bit stringy. All very tasty though. I added mandolined-thin shallots and garlic and thyme and butter.
Just got to find my perfect temperature.
Will keep journal - thank you!

[Matthew]

Hello, my new Anova 800 watt arrived yesterday. As a test run I "poached" two eggs at 167F for 12 minutes. They turned out well.

My question is: what is the proper starting temp of the water? I just used tap water, that the unit displayed as being 76F. When I added the simple recipe for poached eggs in the app, and hit start, I got a beep and it said the water was too hot. I added a handful of ice cubes, waited a minute, and it allowed me to start the recipe. It took about 40 minutes for the water to reach 167. I'd like to be able to start with water that is more than 76F.

Thanks in advance.

[Ember]

I start with tap water which usually pretty close to cooking temp. Your Anova shouldn't complain/warn about water temp unless it is higher than your target. Are you sure that the beep wasn't just Anova saying 'Thanks,I'm starting now.'

[Mirozen]

I fill whatever cook container I'm using mostly with hot tap water, then nudge the temp up with boiling water from the tea kettle. This way I rarely need to spend more than 10 or 15 minutes to bring the water up to temp, regardless what that temp is...and I figure it may save a little stress on the Anova by not requiring it to run a full power as it would have to otherwise.

[Matthew]

Thanks. No, When I heard the beep the app had a pop-up that said the water was too hot. In fact, it would not continue. I'll try again tomorrow.

[Ember]

That's weird. Could be an app problem I suppose. If it happens again I'd get in touch with support.

[jctwo]

Can a steak be cooked from frozen or must it be thawed first?

[Mirozen]

Can a steak be cooked from frozen or must it be thawed first?

No problem starting off with frozen steaks. You just add some time. Personally I add about a half hour,
Per Jason Logsdon (author of several sous vide and modernist cookbooks) add about 10 minutes extra for a 1" / 25mm thick cut and 45 minutes extra for a 2" / 50mm thick cut.

[ddh]

I just received my Anova Sous Vide cooker. I see all kinds of guidelines regarding temperature and length of cooking time, but don't see quantity guidelines. I tend to cook in bulk and freeze in small portions. So...if I cook 1 pound of boneless chicken thighs versus 2 pounds, how does that impact the length of cooking time? Are there general rules to apply? Also, should I put it all in 1 bag? Or break down into multiple one-pound bags? Or do one-pound bags sequentially? Thank you!

[AlyssaWOAH]

The cook time for your food will not change when you have multiple quantities of food. Example, if you're cooking 20 steaks instead of 2, your cook time will not change - as long as you don't stack the meats on top of each other.

Also, thickness is what plays a part here, not the weight.

You can add all the meats in one bag, in one layer. And you'll be good to go to cook it at the recommended time. However, you can also break it down into multiple bags.

Here are some really good threads on your question:

cooking multiple items in one shot

I'm cooking 7 2lb steaks at one time,,,any suggestions?

Timing for steak

Good answer.

Putting more than 1 piece of meat in a bag to cook?

I'm new to the Sous Vide way, and will be cooking 2 bone in ribeye steaks this evening. My question is do I need to put each ribeye (or chicken breast later) in its own vacuum sealed packed before the soak or can I put both of them in 1 package? Thanks, Tod Cox

[Sparker]

Hi, about to use my Anova for the first time. I have a rolled and tied piece of brisket, approx 3lbs. Can I SV as it is? If so, time and temps please.

[Brian1]

How thick is it now? The temperature is how well you're looking for it to be done. I'd probably go 154 °F / 68 °C for about 24 hours, but this is for unrolled.

[Sparker]

Bought it already tied and rolled. Have been told 131 for 36/48 .