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Would you “contaminate” your sous vide?

2 years ago

last modified: 2 years ago

A Serious Eats method for cooking bangers starts by holding them in 149° water, checking temp frequently. I have no idea why they were so specific about the 149° and I can’t imagine any of this needs to be precise at all, but it brought to mind a question I’ve thought about before: Any reason not to use a circulator like Anova directly in a clear poaching liquid? I always wash mine after use anyway, and if I did this I’d probably go an extra step and boil it. Somehow the thought of it bothers me.

What do you think? Not necessarily for these sausages but in general.

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Comments (4)

plllog
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
I don't think I'd want to boil mine if I didn't have to, and don't like the idea of fat and stuff from the sausages getting up into the works. If the sausages are being cooked in water, fine, just put them in a container in the bath. I've only done it with PP plastic, which isn't much of an insulator, but I know people do use the "water oven" with glass jars to good end, without having it interfere with the temperature. It would be easy to check other vessels. I'd guess that once it comes to temperature, keeping it steady within the vessel shouldn't cause a significant temperature fluctuation.

The biggest I've done that way is a five quart container of milk for making cheese which has to be held consistently at eighty-some degrees for 12 hrs. That's probably a little more forgiving than the bangers, but when I've checked at various times through process, the milk inside the container was the same temperature as the water outside. I'm remembering now that I did do the glass jars once, but I forget for what. It wasn't cake, though people do that... It wasn't "canning". Whatever. That's what I'd do...
foodonastump
Original Author
2 years ago
Yeah that’s how I’m leaning and I guess that’s why I’ve never done it. Hadn’t thought about the fat specifically though.

This reminds me of watching Alton Brown using electric tea kettles for warming chicken stock. That bothered me, too too, even if it were a totally smooth glass or stainless, washable interior.
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plllog
2 years ago
Well, yeah. You can't immerse an electric. It's hard enough to get scale out of it. But at least that will boil its own self clean. :)
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
2 years ago
"------Any reason not to use a circulator like Anova directly in a clear poaching liquid? I always wash mine after use anyway, and if I did this I’d probably go an extra step and boil it. Somehow the thought of it bothers me.----"

Keeping in mind that the inside workings of a SV circulator is complicated. The heating coil, turbine, temperature sensor. It's almost impossible to really clean. Boiling may not be a good idea. It may kill the electronics.

dcarch

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