Sous Vide--Yes, or No?

[acorgihouse]

I don't use it that much, when I get it out and put the setup on the counter, I use for several days. I used to poach eggs for caesar dressing, but since I starting taking daily steroids about a year ago, I no longer eat eggs anything but well cooked. Same with a lot of stuff.
What sold me on the sous vide was a long weekend with family here at my house. We had everyone from my mom in her 80s, to infant great/grands, and everything from veg to carnivore to pescatarians. And wanted to cook outside, with everyone pitching in. I prepped sous vide cooked chicken cubes, steak cubes, scallops, shrimp, and set up a kabob station. Everyone could load their own skewers, the food was cooked enough the kids could handle their own safely, and my nephew handled putting the skewers on/off the grill. Total hit. I also learned, when I was gone working every day, that I could put a frozen bagged something in the vat, with ice cubes, and turn the sous vide stick on mid afternoon with my phone. Get home with food cooked to right temp, and just needing quick sear or sauce, etc., to have dinner. I'm not off working every day now, and we don't amass for long weekends as much (mom gone, kids older and involved..) so it isn't used as much, but it still has it's place. If I didn't have the room to store, It could go though.

[jfmorris]

Yep - that ice bath and remote start worked great for me when I first got my Anova. Since I've been in a home office, not so much.

[FireMan]

I try my dangedest to avoid cookin and plastics, especially plastics where any kind of fat is involved, e.g. butter, animal fat, olive oil etc.

[bbqLuv]

And why? You got my interest up

[Santamarina]

I don’t have a soux vide *yet* but I want one. I do faux soux vide regularly for heating up leftovers and keeping food warm for parties - just a stock pot cycling low heat on/off to keep water at desired temp with vac sealed bags in the water.

This is how I’d envision using a dedicated machine most of the time. Of course, I’d test things out with full cooks!

[bbqLuv]

Our instant pot has a sous vide setting. We have been trying to learn the "who, what, when, and how.

[Potkettleblack]

Yes, but less than before.

My wife said something recently that has kept me thinking. We made phở gà recently, Vietnamese chicken noodle soup, and my wife said that she enjoyed eating it more than preparing it.

The thought I had was, “is there anything that I enjoy cooking more than eating.” The answer was “nothing.” And further, if there was something where the preparation gave me more joy than the final dish, why would I make it? I cook to eat and to feed others. If I don’t enjoy the final product, and it doesn’t bring great joy to my audience, the joy from the making is wasted. At least for me.

which brings me to cooking methods. Sous vide is a method. So is throwing something in the science oven. Or the traditional oven. Or the smoker. What matters is my enjoyment of the final product. Not necessarily how it got there.

[Skinsfan1311]

Sometimes?