What was the first thing you cooked?

Hi All, The first thing I cooked was poached eggs. I did’t keep it in long enough. The yolks were perfect, but the white part was completely runny. So I moved on to a pork brisket. I seasoned it with a mixture of fresh rosemary, maple syrup, salt and pepper. I cooked it at 157 degrees for 35 hours. When the meat was done I let it cool for about 30 minutes, took the meat out and drained off the liquid. In a pan I seared all the sides (about 2 minutes). The end piece of the meat was falling apart, tender and juicy. I put it on a a cutting board and tented it while I cooked some apple, red onion and sprig of rosemary. I added the meat juices, chicken broth and apple cidar vinegar after the apples and onion were browned. I cooked the juices down until they were almost gone and the apples were tender. I went back to the pork brisket and when i cut into it to serve the end piece was still tender, but the rest of the brisket was dry. :-(. What happened? I thought you couldn’t over cook the meat? That is why this was such a wonderful method? I would appreciate any input as to why it turned out dry. :-). I am now attempting a couple boneless skinless chicken breasts. I will NOT be deterred! Hahahaha…

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Hi Ember, I am dying to try a rack of lamb. Can you give me your recipe? Temp you used and amount of time you cooked it?

I did the saffron pears first. Came out fine. Then did a strip steak (perfect result) and followed with a bunch of eggs in the same water.

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@Merwin- I would say the temp was too high. I’ve done multiple pork tenderloin @ 135 for 36+ hours with wonderful results

Thanks Thames - I will try it at a lower temp and see what happens!

Eggnog and cocktails, lots of them! I recorded my findings here: Sous vide cocktails

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Hi @Merwin. For a small 8 bone rack I used a little rosemary, salt and pepper in the bag. Cooked it for 90mins at 132F. Finished with a little more salt on the fat before it hit a hot cast iron skillet to caramelize and render…

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Hi Ember - that sounds very easy. Thanks for the info! I am very excited to give it a try.

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First try: Medium rare steak with chive potato mash, broccoli and a whisky cream sauce.

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Got my Precision Cooker for Christsmas and first cook was a bit of a guess. Had a 1 1/2" boneless ribeye for one guest who didn’t want boiled fresh lobster (her loss). Cooked at 129 F for 1 hour, seared after cook. It was perfectly done. Rare/med-rare, juicy, great texture (I had to have a bite). Good news is about half was left for the next day which I reheated in the APC for 45 min and it was fantastic.

Cooked boneless lamb sirloin two days later. 134F for an hour. Again, perfectly done, med rare, moist, tender. As fine a lamb meal as I have had.

Meal three (really enjoying the APC experience) was a frozen wild pheasant that I had in the freezer longer than I would have preferred. Cooked at 140 for 1 hour. The breast was a little dry but still tender and very flavorfull. The legs and theighs were perfect!
Can’t wait to try more recipes and expand the things I have cooked.

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We were visiting in Seattle over Christmas and my daughter’s boyfriend used an Anova to cook up several steaks. I was so impressed that I ordered one and it was waiting on me when I got home. This was my first try- 2” steak, medium rare, pan seared in grapeseed oil and butter. This thing is going to get a lot of use!

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My Anova arrived today. I thought I would start off with something simple so I started with pork loin chops.

I seared the first one on medium heat and I think it took a few minutes to brown and came out a bit dry but still better than any other chop I’ve had.
Second one I jacked the heat to max and got quite a bit of smoke which I was a little worried about however it seared in under a minute. Turned out much better than the first. So moist.

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I also tried poaching some eggs for 14min @ 167 after. Is it normal for a little bit of egg white remain in the shell when extracting? I managed to get the poached egg out in one piece but there was about 4mm of egg white still stuck to the shell. Is that normal?

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Two things that I have found impact the timing of eggs. The first is egg size. All the recipes I have seen want you to use Large eggs (US grading) and the other is age of the egg. I get eggs from a farm and they are huge compared to those seen in the store. They are ones that don’t meet the standards fro normal sale. I get quite a few with double yolks. Experiment a little bit.

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Got my APC in Jan, and finally got to use it early Feb. The first things we cooked in it were:

  • pork ribs – 2 days @60C, then BBQed for 10 mins, turning and basting with Stubbs Hickory BBQ sauce several times. Almost as good a smoked ribs.
  • beef short ribs – 5 mins @85C (as a recommended bacteria killing step for beef), then 4 days @ 60C. Shredded the beef, then fried in frypan with family recipe sauce (ketchup, garlic, soy, brandy, S&P), to produce wonderful beefy slivers. Just finished a second batch last night, and we just had toasties with the left overs. :slight_smile:
  • chicken breast - 1 3/4hrs @ 68C. Used them in a lovely Vietnamese chicken salad. Very interesting texture.

Next step is some egg cups - got some balls mason jars to try these out. And of course I need to build a frankencooler.

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I have never fancied chicken breasts my entire life and now I preferred it to thighs/drumsticks!!
140F for about an hour and you’re good to go. Skin on won’t matter much though, you can discard it after cooking. I find it gives a better taste to the meat :wink:

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Just got my Anova last weekend and decided to try some moose I purchased from a friend not too long ago. Had a nice sirloin and seasoned it with salt, black pepper and rosmary. Vacuum sealed the meat and tossed it in the water. I used 55.5 C temperature for 2 h. Made a finishing touch for the sirloin with hot cast iron pan with some butter and oil. Served the moose with oven baked potatoes and some sour cream + natural youghurt with garlic, rosemary, honey, mustard, black pepper and salt. I was really satisfied with the result and can´t hardly wait for the next time I get to cook!

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My first meal was very simple. A recipe of the spanish chef Joan Roca. Egg at 65*C. Cooked in the shell for around 70-80 minutes.
I highly recomend this book: Sous Vide Cooking (La cocina al vacio) Joan Roca and Salvador Brugues, if you want to understand this cooking technic.

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My first meal was tenderloin steak (that’s as best as I can remember the name of the cut I bought, lol). Went medium-rare, left it in there for about an hour and 15 minutes, served with baked potato and grilled asparagus.

The steak though, perhaps the best piece of meat I’ve ever cooked in my life. REALLY looking forward to this new take on cooking. I’m pretty sure that I’ll use this every time I will make any kind of meat.

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Boneless fresh chicken breast was my first SV yesterday. I cooked at 60 degree Celsius for 2 hours. Then pan fried at high heat for 20 seconds to give it a slight browning. Result was not so bad but i find it still there is room for improvement as I want it to be more juicier.

  1. 60 degree Celsius for 2 hours.
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@easterntigerboo nice! I love chicken breast sous vide. Maybe try playing around with time and temperatures. Lots of recipes on the site call for 65.6C for 1 hour. Here’s some:

Simplest No-Sear Necessary Sous Vide Chicken Breast

Chicken Breast from Kenji