Sous Vide question

[Playa]

My wife bought me 2 different Sous vide cookers for my birthday. One is similar to a crockpot style, a Dash Digital Sous Vide.

The other is probe style that clamps to a container, she also got an Anova container with rack to go with that.

Anyone with experience with the Dash? Prefer one style over the other? Both seem to have good 4.5 star reviews on Amazon

[Cajun Blake]

I’ve only used the Anova , no experience with other brands. In the end, they all do the same thing. I like the Anova since I can research 1,000’s of recipes. Then find the one I like, prep the meat and his START and it automatically cooks my food per the online recipe.

[kck]

I have the Anova clamp on and I dig it. I just like that one since it’s easy to store and I can use any pot I want depending on the size of what I’m cooking. No experience with the Dash though.

[tvc184]

I have an Anavo clamp on style along with a couple of others. All of the clamp on work equally well.

I have never used one of the dedicated sous vide containers like the Dash but it seems their only drawback, if any, would be the size limitation. It is as big as it is, and that’s that. It may be as big as a person ever needs.

Since you already have both, it really doesn’t matter.


My tips….
*Season it more than you think you need.
*Saying pat it dry before searing should be an understatement.
*Season with what you want but salt, pepper and garlic powder could stand up to almost any other combination.
*If possible, use kosher salt at least an hour before starting the sous vide process.
*If you were going to pan sear after the sous vide, get your pan screaming hot. *Do you think it is hot? Great, now heat it some more.
*After I pat dry, I’ll try to sear no more than 30 seconds per side. There is no hurry in my opinion at this stage. It’s not like you have to take the steak out of the bag, pat dry and into the pan to sear in the next 15 seconds. Take your time. Once it hits the hot pan, then you’re up against a bit of a clock to keep from over cooking.
*This is the way I do that final stage. I typically use about a tablespoon of avocado oil in the pan simply because it has a high smoke point. I typically have a couple of tablespoons of clarified butter/ghee because it also has a high smoke point. I usually slice up several cloves of garlic. If available I have rosemary or thyme. I have my screaming hot pan (usually cast iron but sometimes stainless) have patted the steak(s) dry and here we go…. avocado oil and ghee into the pan, toss in steak and immediately start spooning ghee/butter over the steak. After about 30 seconds flip the steak and quickly toss in garlic and rosemary or whatever. Garlic can burn quickly and become very bitter. That is why I wait till the last few seconds of cookingbbefore I toss it in right at the end. I continue to spoon the butter, garlic and the rosemary mixture over the steak. After about 30 seconds on that side, it comes off the fire.

Other options to sear can be over a hot coals which is awesome but I like the whole garlic butter over the steak routine. You can also use one of the butane kitchen torches to sear the meat. Each has its own benefit in ease-of-use and flavor and it comes down to Chevrolet or Ford.

I usually sv mine at around 128° to 130°. I use regular freezer Ziploc bags.

Good luck and happy eating.

[Milkfisher]

Anova is the only one I’ve used. That being said, I have no idea how the other one you mentioned could be better. I use mine several times per week.

[tvc184]

Anova is the only one I’ve used. That being said, I have no idea how the other one you mentioned could be better. I use mine several times per week.

Yep, one thing that I found out was, the more I use it… the more I use it.

[ren087]

I have both. I started with the "crockpot" style and when it was just me as a single guy, it worked great. After moving in with my girlfriend and her family and cooking for more people, I purchased the Anova. I used it with a restaurant style food storage container that allows for more room when cooking more than one or 2 steaks or such. There are multiple shapes and depths to accommodate all shapes and sizes of food.

I prefer the Anova now for the reasons mentioned above, but also for the app and connection to my phone.