You can also get an egg chart (see link) to have eggs cooked exactly the same way every time to specification, it does not matter how cold/hot/big/small the eggs are. The sous vide system can be set up to do anything which will require exact temperature control, such as making yogart, hatching eggs, pasteurize eggs (for ice cream raw eggs), pasteurize milk, proofing bread, starting seeds, ---------. The steak took me about 8 hours. I like to serve steaks as hot as possible without overcooking. The sous vide method does not require resting. This is how it works: Since you cannot overcook the meat, you can take the time to prepare every other sides, then when it's time to eat, you tell everyone to sit down and fire up the cast iron skillet. I normally get the skillet to about 520F with an IR thermometer. Sear the steak about one or two minutes each side, get the house to smell real good. Perfect timing. Served hot !!! dcarch Here is a link that might be useful:

FOAS, I will always look at the name Thomas Keller and think of Hubert. Plllog, I know risotto is not a difficult dish to make. But I would love to tuck it in the SV and go on about my business until the timer rings. As I read the Modernist Cuisine chart I posted above, they cook many risottos (I was not aware that that was a generic term which did not apply only to an arboria rice dish) sous vide, but NOT arboria rice, which is the one I want to do. I am confused by terminology and exclusions. I can make spelt, oats, and pine nuts risottos sous vide, but not arboria rice risotto? I am confused (Yeah, well, that ain't unusual), but I am going to try the Sous Vide Supreme recipe for arboria rice SV. I'll report on it when it's in my tummy. And, congratulations on becoming a sous vide cook. I have really enjoyed my SV Supreme, which I bought years ago on a super special package on eBay (Er, actually, which I convinced DH to buy for me as a birthday present.) It was my introduction to vacuum sealing as well as SV cooking. Thanks to Dcarch, I think, I got in on the Anova innovative deal and bought two of their new units for a great pre-production price. One went to my brother and sister-in-law, who keep telling me how WONDERFUL chicken is in SV. Please post your experiences with SV cooking. And please, has ANYONE cooked risotto (with arboria rice, which I did not specify), in a SV setup? And if you did, how did it work, what would you do next time. . . all that stuff.)

Since there seems to be some renewed interest by those who’ve yet to try sous vide, thought I’d add a few comments/observations… For me, the most wonderful thing about sous vide is the ability to take a cheap cut of meat and make it tender and tasty – and cook it to perfect mid-rare (our preference). Whether it’s Select steaks on sale for DH and I to enjoy and feel as if we’re dining on quality steak on a weeknight, or finding some cut at the grocery which I’ve no idea what it is and SV’ing, then slicing for a fantastic lunch meat or a quick dinner sandwich… it’s amazing what the SV can do with cheap cuts… Second most wonderful thing for me: Bulk SV’ing (thanks to Sleevendog). I SV and freeze several pork chops to thaw, reheat in the SV, sear and serve; chicken to make salads and sandwiches. And DH’s favorite weeknight meal: Several cheap steaks in bags of 2, mass SV’d to desired doneness. Drop in ice bath, label, then freeze. I only need to remove a couple from the freezer, pop in the SV at one degree under the temp initially cooked, it thaws and reheats in about 45 minutes, and meanwhile I whip up a quick sauce, some veggies, and finish by searing off which also helps to heat the steaks. Makes for an easy weeknight meal. Below is a Select New York Strip, little to no marbling (uber-cheap cut), with a (too thick) peppercorn sauce. It was quite good! And my embarrassing confession: I can prepare fish and seafood… but for some reason I can’t consistently make it come out perfectly cooked. Sometimes my shrimp or scallops are a wee bit on the too done side. Same with salmon (as mentioned above). Sure, should be easy for many, but for me? Eh. So SV to the rescue. I made this scallop dish last summer and while the scallops were in the SV for their 30 minutes I fried up baby kale, baked my maple glazed bacon, sliced the tomatoes and avocados, and made a sauce for BLT Scallops. Seared off the scallops for 15 seconds, sliced in half, assembled, and they were perfection. To those who scoff and say they can sear a scallop in moments, I say great for you, but I can’t and know beyond any doubt they won’t be under cooked or overcooked. With SV I can : ) fillmoe, and anyone else interested, have fun and enjoy!

The Anova box was on a promotional e-mail. I really didn't need it at all, but I'm very pleased with it. The e-mail was entitled "Hurry before they are gone", though it was a pre-issue promotion. Since it arrived immediately, I have to think they were already ready to ship. I don't know if the "hurry" was a marketing ploy or if they're not going to be keeping these in stock permanently. I just was in the mood, having just done the cheese. It's not like blintzes are daily, or even monthly, food. It'll just be so much easier to open the cheese, take its temperature, cut the curds, etc., if the whole deal is on the counter, and a roaster pan has too much evaporation and is too in the way... Anyway, sometimes I get all happy from having a new, mostly useless, toy, and I'm delighted. I think it's the blackest thing I own. It's like black hole black. Even white light doesn't bounce off it. Kind of beautiful and spooky. Here's the flyer: Anova Box Re blintz flavors, I think too much sugar overwhelms the distinctively blintzy flavor, though it does well for disguising having the wrong cheese. :) OTOH, nothing wrong with a sweet blintz with blueberries or mint. Or raisins. If you want traditional Northern European, they're served with sour cream and applesauce. You don't combine the two, but many will alternate bites, to maximize the tickling of the taste buds. My applesauce secret is to cook the apples down in TJ's sparkling apple cider rather than sugar and water. It keeps it very apple-y and has just the right amount of sugar, not too much. (The latter part is why I use that particular cider, but any would do. If it's too sweet, there's always water. :) ) On the blintz making, I can only hope for intelligible instructions. Do you have a hand crank rotary egg beater?