WiFi Cooking While Away All Day

Anova Precision® Cooker
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I’ve tried searching for tips/discussions of other people like me on how they use their cooker in this fashion - Starting next week, I’ll be leaving my home at 7 am, I work 1 hr away and don’t come back home until 8 pm, and have to deal with getting dinner on the table in a reasonable fashion, while still getting my kids to bed on time (by 9:30). My goal is to make a way to get everything ready each morning, let the meat sit in the ice bath all day, and then cook it, and have it waiting for me to quickly sear before serving it only minutes after getting home in the evening. Please tell me I’m not the only one who does this. 

I’m loving the WiFi feature - it’s working out amazingly! 
Today is my first time trying out cooking some chicken breasts while being away all day. I filled my pot with ice water before I left and have been monitoring it. It has definitely rose in temp faster than I had hoped (I did a test on Saturday, and it took almost 5 hours for it to get to 40, but today it’s already at 41 and it’s only been 3 1/2 hours), so not too happy about that. But air temp may be higher today, since it’s a warmer day.  Next time I plan to freeze my meat, and I’m looking into getting a cooler for better insulation.

Any tips with this style of cooking using the precision cooker would be great! I can’t use a crockpot because it over cooks my food after being cooked for 12 hours! 
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I was thinking of doing exactly this. I’m out of the house for 12 hours each day and want food to be ready when I come back. 


I got my Anova today and i’m trying to set a up a system where I can safely leave the cooker on. I read that the food shouldn’t be cooked for longer than 3-4 hours, else it might not taste as good. 

However, leaving food lying around sounds like bacteria heaven. 

The ice bath idea sounds great. I still have yet to test if the temperature will remain low enough to prevent bacteria growth. 

I’m tempted to attach a networked webcam to monitor the cooking progress. 
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The Anova should be able to alert you when the temp. gets too high (over 5 degrees C) - but I have not tried it, and so far notifications does not seem to be working :frowning:

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Get some packaged ice packs (like these https://www.amazon.com/Rubbermaid-Brand-Weekender-x1-63-Reusable/dp/B00941J1E2/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&qid=1478844142&sr=8-5&keywords=cooler+ice+pack&linkCode=ll1&tag=anovacommunity-20&linkId=082d0588a26a1bfd6ab25b0a4298d4f0), and use them in combination with ice. The pack will last longer than regular ice, giving you more time on the clock. If you use the ice bath feature on Anova, you should get good results. :round_pushpin:

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I would like to try this myself, when did you turn your cooker on and how long did it cook at your target temperature?

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Lots of information here about doing a delayed cook by having an ice bath in your vessel:

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