I wanted to cook boneless chicken breast. How do I adjust for thickness? Is there a guide I can lookup that will show me settings for different thicknesses for different meats?
While I have you, I tried to cook hard boiled eggs. When I peeled them they sort of fell apart. The yolk were okay put the white part came off with the shell. Did I peel them to soon? Was it suppose to put them in a ice bath after I cooked them?
Thank you in advance for your help.
There are guides in the Anova app if you are using that. Or else you can use the Anova recipes website. There is also information at Serious Eats and ChefSteps.
My go-to guide for chicken breast is this one from Anova (it’s in the app too):
Peeling hard boiled eggs requires two things. The white needs to be firmly set so that it releases from the membrane that lines the shell. This is usually easier if the egg is cold, so shock it in a water bath will help. But it is also easier if you have an older egg. If you put your egg into a glass of cold water and it starts to stand upright on the bottom of the glass it’s perfect for hard boiling. If you have a really fresh egg that you want to hard boil, you might need the assistance of a spoon to peel it.
Ah, thought I had responded to this! @Ember gives really great resources for cooking chicken breasts and info on sous vide eggs! 
Thank you for your prompt reply. I am still at a bit of a loss. I was wondering if there is someplace I can find a chart or something that will help with different thicknesses of meat.
My original question was does weight of the meat matter and if so how do I adjust for it. I was told thickness matters more. Thus, I was wondering how to adjust for thickness. I hope I am asking this correctly.
Thank you for your help.
Each site has their own style of such information.
And here’s the BIBLE of sous vide cooking from which all other knowledge has been extravted and evolved.
I know how to cook steaks for serving after sous vide and searing. But I do not know how I have to warm up sous vide’d steaks from the refrigerator. How long and what temperature?
You likely want to reheat them at the same temperature you cooked them at in the sous vide (as you want them as hot as possible when being served).
How long really depends on the thickness of the steaks, but for the most part, thawed coming from the fridge, I’d say half an hour to 40 minutes should do it.
You don’t want them any hotter, or you’ll be increasing the level of doneness…usually not desirable.
Thank you very much. I will try it like this.
Hi! This is probably a silly question, but when is the food supposed to be vacuum sealed (or sealed with the water displacement method), and when do you leave the top of the bag open? Or is it always supposed to be closed? Thank you!
I think it’s just personal preference. For me, I always seal the bags (vacuum sealer) it’s just simpler not having to worry about clipping stuff to the side of the vessel or having it spill.
I just received my Anova BT today. I ordered it from Amazon for $99 on Tuesday - such a steal! Can’t wait to start using it!
My question: Can I prepare two steaks at the same time, one medium rare and one medium well? Do I start the medium well first at a higher temp and then bring the temp down before putting in the second steak?
I’m going to have to prove this device is worth the cost or my husband will want to send it back.
Thanks for your help.
Yep, you have it exactly right. Do the steak at the higher temp first, then lower the temperature of the bath for the second steak (leaving the first steak in) - the additional time won’t cook it any further, it’ll just keep it warm.
You could just use a pitcher to remove some of the water, adding cold water to get the bath down to temperature (be the quickest way…rather than waiting)
Thanks! So, basically I would cook the first steak medium well for an hour, leave it in the bath but take some of the hot water out and add some ice and water to bring to temp down to about 130 and then put the second steak in the bath? I would then have both steaks in then bath for an hour at 130 until then second steak was finished? Then sear both steaks prior to eating.
Since it’s the first time I’ll use it, I want to be sure I get both steaks right. I’ve almost given up on steak because it’s rarely done right in restaurants anymore and the last time the waiter argued with me that my over cooked steak really was medium rare. He said I just had hold my phone up to it to see it … wrong.
Whoops! I knew I should have talked about thickness!! 
Thickness is what determines your cooking time. Me, for most of the 1 1/2"+ steaks I buy, it’s pretty much 2 hours.
That being said though, for your more well done steak, I’d be a big fan of the second hour+ being at the lower temperature - it’ll preserve more of the juices.
So, in this circumstance, it’d be the first med-well steak cooked at higher temp for an hour, then reduce the bath to 130 and drop your second steak in for two hours (provided it’s around that thickness). The extra time won’t harm the more well done steak at all.
Great thickness/time chart on the sansaire site here:
https://sansaire.com/cook-steak-sous-vide/
And, of course, the Serious Eats steak guide (scroll up).
They actually explain a fair deal about moisture loss as well in that article.
Remember, when it comes to your sear, you really want those steaks completely dry. (and if you want a smidge of “forgiveness” time, you could do up an ice bath and plunge the steaks in the bag into it for 5-10 minutes before your sear, so the cook is completely stopped and the exterior of the steak is nice and cool, and not as prone to over-cooking by your sear).
How do you adjust for different weights of meat from a recipe?
It’s not the weight of the meat that determines the time, but the thickness. The meat needs to be cooked for at least long enough for the heat (warmth) to penetrate to the centre of the product and bring it to the desired temperature. The overall weight has little impact. Have a look at the thickness/time chart that @fischersd mentions above.
Hi! I just plugged in my new sous vide from Anova… Should the bottom of the device be off the bottom of the container?
I’m super excited about our new kitchen toy…I’ve heard nothing but good about sous vide and a friend recommended an Anova.
It’s not ideal but it won’t hurt it to contact the container so long as you aren’t applying heat to the bottom of the container to bring the bath up to temp at the beginning (as with a stock pot on a stove, for example).
Best to raise it up a smidge so that it doesn’t rattle. 1cm / 1/4 inch or so will do it.
I’ve cooked a few things (BLSL chicken breasts, 2" pork chops) and seem to be consistently under-cooking them, despite following directions and recipes. I’ve checked the temperature of my heated water and it’s within a degree or two of the set temperature (assuming my thermometer is accurate at those temperatures). All of the items had been frozen in my deep freeze before I cooked them, but what I’ve read says I need to add only 1/2 hour.
This evening I cooked spare ribs, following J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s timings (I cooked at 155 degrees for 21 hours) after partially thawing to divide the ribs, then letting them sit in the fridge with rub for 12 hours. They were somewhat bloody at the bone and the texture of meat closest to the bone was tough, although much of it was excellent.
Suggestions?
A “couple” degrees can potentially yield rather significant differences in results for SV cooking. This is one of the few processes where an accurate calibration can be critical.
How much longer to add to the time from frozen kind of depends on the size/thickness of the cut and how much the temperature of the water falls when you add it. I typically add 1 hour for all but the smaller bags.