Kitchen Toys

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Post up your neat kitchen toys, we all have them...

I have been wanting a sous vide for some time, but wasn't willing to shell out the coin for the high quality units. So, for my birthday the did some research and came up with the versatile solution.

Crock pot (4 Qt)
Temp controller
Vacuum gun with bags

What is nice about this setup is that I have 3 separate items and for the most part I can use 2 of them repeatedly for other cooking and storage needs.

Here is what I think is an awesome B-Day present. I'm ready to start practicing and honing my sous vide skills.

and good eats fellas,

J

 

[spressomon]

Like you there was a less than a winning lottery ticket's chance of me spending stupid coin on a sous vide set-up. Can't wait to get the full report and pics from cooked products J!

 

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Dan,

Crock pot $17.00 (MUST have OFF/ON control)
Temp controller $100.00
Vac gun $60.00

Far less than the $500.00- $1200.00 for the sous vide units I was looking at.

We had a large crock pot.. wanted the smaller 4 Qt for quicker ramp up temps.

I'll let you know and post up a review as soon as I test this trio out. Salmon will be the first experiment.

J

 

[KLF]

I'm quite curious to hear how this works out for ya. We have 4 CrockPots of various sizes, all the manual style so they would work with that controller.

Have you seen the ZipLoc Vacuum bags? We have a bunch with the little pump, I think they would work well for this.

http://www.ziploc.com/Products/Pages/VacuumFreezerSystem.aspx

I'm trying to convince the head of our Culinary program to invest in a sous vide machine. Last year he bought an ice cream machine, which has been a blast to play with.

 

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I believe the ZipLoc bags will work with my pump as well. It came with 50-quart and 50-gallon bags. I hope to play with this set up in the next few days. I'm researching salmon and tenderloin recipes now. Seems self explanatory however, most recipes call for a min and a max time to cook the meats....

I'll report back as soon as I try it out.

J

 

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Ok, here we go... Salmon sous-vide tonight...

skinned salmon, lemon, Himalayan sea salt, cracked pepper, fresh dill and butter..

A few starter pics..

J

 

[spressomon]

First time I tried sous vide cooking was at a Larkspur CA restaurant, Pico...and it was salmon. It was a memorable tasting! Super tender buttery and melt in your mouth kinda goodness.

Can't wait to hear more about it J!

 

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I cooked the salmon at 140F for 30 minutes.. Rule of thumb from what I read is 30 minutes per inch on fish.

 

[spressomon]

Not as sexy as a sous vide set-up but my immersion blender is a tool I can't do without. Although I still use the blender and food processor this stick blender works so much quicker, easier and cleanup is a snap.

The Thermapen is something I recently added after too many bad experiences with other less expensive so called instant read thermometers over too many years to admit! My only regret I have with my Thermapen: Not buying one sooner!

 

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The result was.. FANTASTIC.. The vacuum process locked in the dill and lemon, very delicate flavors.

Salmon was extremely succulent. I will definitely have this again and again.. Andrea said we will have steak by the end of the week for sure.

I am thoroughly impressed with the equipment and how simple it makes this cooking process.. 5* review from me.

Most website and articles I've read say that most meats are grilled afterwards to enhance the look of the item.. The salmon looks pasty pale , but I wanted the sous-vide "experience" by itself. If I were serving a meal to a group or in a restaurant I could see the reasoning behind the aesthetically pleasing secondary prep. But, the flavors will stand on their OWN.



J

 

[myquestoyota]

Wow, I just recently found out about the sous vida and thought about how to do exactly what you are doing. Thanks for the tip, let us know how the steak works!

 

[rusty_tlc]

Best tool I have acquired lately is my 23 qt pressure canner. Pressure cookers in general are extremely useful.

 

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Best tool I have acquired lately is my 23 qt pressure canner. Pressure cookers in general are extremely useful.

Absolutely... I use to make my chili beans in a pressure cooker. Fast and so tender.

I'd like to try my hand at canning one day.

J

 

[myquestoyota]

We use our pressure cooker/pressure fryer all the time. I can't remember the brand but you can do the pressure fried chicken in it as well as anything a pressure cooker can. We use it all the time for pot roast in 45 minutes and pork chops and saurkraut. Plus the huge one we use for canning. Put up a ton of green beans, salsa, and tomato sauce this year. One of our favorite toys.

 

[rusty_tlc]

Absolutely... I use to make my chili beans in a pressure cooker. Fast and so tender.

I'd like to try my hand at canning one day.

J

Canning is easy, I just need to find an organic U pick farm. Our little garden doesn't produce enough.

Sent via the ether from my candy bar running ginger bread

 

[KLF]

I have a cheap stick blender, I can't wait for it to finally break so I can get a good one. Super handy. Best way to make pasta and pizza sauce. We have a couple of Warings in the kitchen at school, the bearings are worn out so they make an awful howl when we use them.

This will seem really trivial, but I love my OXO flat roux whisk. Perfect tool for making gravies and pan sauces.

 

[JohnVee]

I have a cheap stick blender, I can't wait for it to finally break so I can get a good one. Super handy. Best way to make pasta and pizza sauce. We have a couple of Warings in the kitchen at school, the bearings are worn out so they make an awful howl when we use them.

This will seem really trivial, but I love my OXO flat roux whisk. Perfect tool for making gravies and pan sauces.

Yes, on the immersion blender. And WAY easier to clean than a blender bowl.

I just found a flat whisk that I forgot I bought last year. Need to start using it.

--john

 

[rusty_tlc]

Breathing life into this thread. Last night I made a pot of chili Verde in a 2qt pressure cooker.
Easy peasy.
Seared off the cubed up pork shoulder in grape seed oil.
Gave the onion a sautee with the garlic.
Threw everything in the cooker (the chilis were fire roasted, peeled and seeded, the tomatillos were just cubed up)
Just enough water to cover, a few spices salt and pepper were added.
Once it hit pressure I let it cook for 15 minutes
Seriously, it tasted like it had been cooking all day.

IMHO one of the best kitchen toys ever.

 

[rusty_tlc]

Did beef stew a couple of nights ago. Prep took longer than cooking and according to my wife it tasted better than the same dish cooked in the slow cooker all day.

 

[Teddy]

I love our Kitchen Aid counter top mixer and all the attachments for it (meat grinder, sausage maker, pasta, etc). Worth every penny and easy to talk the wife into with the baking aspects.

We got a Vitamix blender as a gift 3 or 4 years ago and it's pretty nice as well. I don't know that I'd spend my own money on one, but I'm pretty sure it'd turn rocks into powder. I don't know why that matters, but I like it. Feels like I'm firing up a two stroke.