How many of you guys here really, really enjoy cooking and planning meals?

[IslandTractor]

One more thing on this sous vide topic: there are apps that calculate the appropriate time and temperature for cooking depending on the food and the exact thickness of the meat. One is called SousVide Dash and costs about $5. It allows incredibly precise calculations and allows you to modify all sorts of parameters to insure that cooking time and pasteurization time (for longer hold times) are appropriate. It's really just a very fancy calculator but one that is well designed and user adjustable. The other app, Anova Culinary, is free from Anova but useful mostly as the controller and recipe source for the Anova Precision cooker. It allows you to choose a recipe, enter a few details about thickness and preferred degree of cooking and then the iphone via bluetooth sets the cooker, starts it, begins cook timing only after it reaches set temperature and then alerts you when it is done. I haven't tried that app as I don't have the cooker yet and it appears that there are some teething problems with version 1.0 based on feedback but it does seem like it will eventually be a simply way to keep your recipes organized and repeat exact cooking instructions to the Precision cooker.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Darn it! Cooking is supposed to be an art...make it a science and food begins to lean toward being fuel as opposed to cuisine.

 

[GolfAddict]

A very strange thing happened yesterday. Our credit card company called to ask about some charges on our card. Going through them, there were four fraudulent charges, all made within the day. They were to a crazy variety of places - some skin and hair place in GA for almost $800, Craigslist in SF for $25, Match.com of all things, and a Toyota dealership.

I wanted to mention it, as there were only two uses of our card recently that were unusual, one being the online purchase of the Anova. I really don't think it's likely that was the cause, (I'd suspect the other would be more likely) but wouldn't hurt you recent buyers just to do a check...

 

[GolfAddict]

One more thing on this sous vide topic: there are apps that calculate the appropriate time and temperature for cooking depending on the food and the exact thickness of the meat. One is called SousVide Dash and costs about $5. It allows incredibly precise calculations and allows you to modify all sorts of parameters to insure that cooking time and pasteurization time (for longer hold times) are appropriate. It's really just a very fancy calculator but one that is well designed and user adjustable. The other app, Anova Culinary, is free from Anova but useful mostly as the controller and recipe source for the Anova Precision cooker. It allows you to choose a recipe, enter a few details about thickness and preferred degree of cooking and then the iphone via bluetooth sets the cooker, starts it, begins cook timing only after it reaches set temperature and then alerts you when it is done. I haven't tried that app as I don't have the cooker yet and it appears that there are some teething problems with version 1.0 based on feedback but it does seem like it will eventually be a simply way to keep your recipes organized and repeat exact cooking instructions to the Precision cooker.

Thanks for that - going to look at downloading that app.

 

[IslandTractor]

Darn it! Cooking is supposed to be an art...make it a science and food begins to lean toward being fuel as opposed to cuisine.

The art is in the sear. Two minutes of intense artistry! The rest of grilling is just waiting around drinking beer. You don't need to tell your guests precisely how you prepared perfect steaks. Just announce that you are the Michelangelo of steak.

 

[downsizingnow48]

I can see the attraction for a commercial operation. Improved replicability to a specific standard, a more easily managed and probably safer production process, cheap machines replace semi-skilled labor.

 

[GolfAddict]

Darn it! Cooking is supposed to be an art...make it a science and food begins to lean toward being fuel as opposed to cuisine.

My "cuisine" results suck way too often. I'm ready for some exquisite fuel!

 

[polo1665]

Darn it! Cooking is supposed to be an art...make it a science and food begins to lean toward being fuel as opposed to cuisine.

I agree with you, but knowing the science behind the art can certainly smooth out the learning curve. It sure helped me to establish a healthy and active sourdough starter on the first try.

I always enjoy watching "Good Eats" with Alton Brown. He mixes the science in nicely.

 

[GolfAddict]

The art is in the sear. Two minutes of intense artistry! The rest of grilling is just waiting around drinking beer. You don't need to tell your guests precisely how you prepared perfect steaks. Just announce that you are the Michelangelo of steak.

:thumbsup: :drink:

 

[IslandTractor]

I can see the attraction for a commercial operation. Improved replicability to a specific standard, a more easily managed and probably safer production process, cheap machines replace semi-skilled labor.

Exactly. Man, if I were a caterer I'd buy into this technology big time. Given all the jokes about rubber chicken dinners, the ability to serve large quantities of accurately cooked fresh food would be a huge advantage. And, as you point out, instead of a line of $30/hr cooks who cook food an hour in advance to store in a steam oven, you could literally get better results with one guy feeding the sous vide steaks into the searing apparatus and another guy on the other end plating the seared food as quickly as the waiters could deliver it, still piping hot.