Anova's countertop combi steam oven is out

[K_F_o_l_e_y]

Both the sandwich and wings look great, Kevin. But…I have to ask (at least for the grilled cheese…wings I can see being better): WHY? I can have a great grilled cheese in a pan in about 10 minutes, max. Is it more about the tinkering and hobby of it? I’m truly seeking to understand.

This was better than any grilled cheese I’ve ever made in my life. It was so good, I had 2 more for dinner lol. And I didn’t have anything to clean up. YMMV

Didn’t the mayo get on the rack?

Very, very little mayo, it basically vaporizes or is absorbed by the bread.

Sous viding to caramelize some heavy cream in the APO now. Saves 20 minutes vs heating up the water bath, even with my Joule, which is twice as fast as an Anova. (And someone posted on Facebook that it uses only ~10% more energy than a immersion circulator in an insulated water bath.)

[Scott_Brunson]

Both the sandwich and wings look great, Kevin. But…I have to ask (at least for the grilled cheese…wings I can see being better): WHY? I can have a great grilled cheese in a pan in about 10 minutes, max. Is it more about the tinkering and hobby of it? I’m truly seeking to understand.

This was better than any grilled cheese I’ve ever made in my life. It was so good, I had 2 more for dinner lol. And I didn’t have anything to clean up. YMMV

#DukesMayonaise

[K_F_o_l_e_y]

Both the sandwich and wings look great, Kevin. But…I have to ask (at least for the grilled cheese…wings I can see being better): WHY? I can have a great grilled cheese in a pan in about 10 minutes, max. Is it more about the tinkering and hobby of it? I’m truly seeking to understand.

This was better than any grilled cheese I’ve ever made in my life. It was so good, I had 2 more for dinner lol. And I didn’t have anything to clean up. YMMV

#DukesMayonaise

Boston is Hellman’s country!

[Mel_Hill]

Hellman’s is Best!

[Scott_Brunson]

This was better than any grilled cheese I’ve ever made in my life. It was so good, I had 2 more for dinner lol. And I didn’t have anything to clean up. YMMV

#DukesMayonaise

Boston is Hellman’s country!

I know
I love Hellman’s too. I usually have both in house.

Following this thread closely

[D_Zurcher]

I finally used the Anova yesterday-decided to try the rib recipe. Please note-while we sous vide many things I have never thought sous viding ribs was a good idea and I have never tried it. I’ve always done the 3-2-1 method on the Big Green Egg. Looking at the Anova recipe it looked easy and was worth trying.

I dusted the ribs the day before with a creole rub and left in the frig overnight.

Yes-it was easy-using the app I simply tapped the button to start the cook- the app set up to the oven to the correct specifics-I didn’t touch it for 10 hours:

At the 10 hour mark I pulled them out to let them dry for about 15 minutes before using the broiler. There is an option to sear them on the grill or use the broiler-I decided to just using the Anova oven for the whole thing to see how it turned out.


The ribs did leave a lot of juice in the pan-I used this to baste the ribs before broiling:

The Anova app prompts you to start stage 2-broil for 5 minutes-I just hit tapped the button and the oven did the rest:

I filled up the water tank before this cook-I didn’t fill it all the way to the max line. It was at 100% humidity for 10 hours-I was surprised how little water was used:

Here are the ribs after 5 minutes under the broiler, then cut, then on the plate:



So-the result? I will say they were as tender and juicy, likely far more than my smoker method. The meat fell right off the bone. That said they were missing the smokiness that we like. They also lacked the dry rub flavor-it got muted with the 10 hours @ 100% humidity. We don’t sauce our ribs which this recipe may be better for those that do. I think the process needs some adjustments for next time.

I’m thinking next time I’ll start them on the egg for about 60 minutes to get the smoke flavor then put them in the Anova oven. I’d also dust them again with rub prior to broiling.

The oven itself worked perfectly and very easily. Ribs likely wasn’t the best recipe to try first, and may not be the best recipe for this oven-especially for folks who are used to the low and slow 6 hour smoker method.

I’ll try a few other things in the coming weeks.

[gene_keenan]

Arrived on Sunday and finally set it up today. Zero connectivity issues. Fans don’t make any weird noise like I have read about on the Reddit group. Finished the fan burn in period and now ready to cook.

[K_F_o_l_e_y]

A lot of “serious home chefs” don’t require or use a lot of fancy new options - just sayin.’ Use whatever you like or need to cook as you want, but let’s not make “serious” equal “expensive new tools”

Like serious wine lovers who don’t have a wine cellar?

I thought you were being a bit tongue in cheek? more razzing.

[K_F_o_l_e_y]

If you are having trouble maintaining a low temp when proofing, try turning the fan off, since it seems to add heat to the oven (more details on the Reddit combi board). Obviously, can’t do with steam, which requires the rear heater with fan on high.

[Robert_M_yers]

Are there special pans to go in the oven? My wife just ordered one and is asking me how to get the perforated roaster pan.

[gene_keenan]

I did two side by side roast chickens (Mary’s Heritage birds) the other day using the Zuni method. Sous Vide for about 2.5 hours @150 followed by browning for about 15 minutes at 482. I’d say they were the best roast chickens ever. The juiciness of the chicken while eating was like wringing out a wet sponge it was that juicy.

Spatchcocking the chicken in the future would likely make for a greater area of the chicken being caramelized.

[K_F_o_l_e_y]

Are there special pans to go in the oven? My wife just ordered one and is asking me how to get the perforated roaster pan.

The Anova perforated pan that appears in some of their videos is not available yet (don’t ask me why).

Unfortunately, the 2 racks and 1 sheet pan that come with the oven are crap. The racks can expand when heated and become stuck in the oven until cooled, whereas the pan commonly warps a much as 1" when heated (which is inconvenient and potentially dangerous).

A traditional jelly roll pan should just fit in the oven on a rack, and certainly a quarter sheet pan. For some reason, they made the decision to make the interior size in between a 1/2 sheet and a jelly roll (would have been nice to slide a sheet pan into the racking grooves like in a professional combi oven). I recently purchased these, which others have confirmed fit and don’t warp (the cookie rack fits in the wall groves), but which I haven’t tried yet. I wanted stainless instead of the aluminum used by most of the well-known sheet pan producers so I could just put them in a dishwasher.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JYY134B/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H94EPJ2/?coliid=I2NSJW36OVBIWL&colid=11BZQESIUNTBK&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B081TZ5KPD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[K_F_o_l_e_y]

I did two side by side roast chickens (Mary’s Heritage birds) the other day using the Zuni method. Sous Vide for about 2.5 hours @150 followed by browning for about 15 minutes at 482. I’d say they were the best roast chickens ever. The juiciness of the chicken while eating was like wringing out a wet sponge it was that juicy.

Spatchcocking the chicken in the future would likely make for a greater area of the chicken being caramelized.

What’s the Zuni method?

[scamhi]

I did two side by side roast chickens (Mary’s Heritage birds) the other day using the Zuni method. Sous Vide for about 2.5 hours @150 followed by browning for about 15 minutes at 482. I’d say they were the best roast chickens ever. The juiciness of the chicken while eating was like wringing out a wet sponge it was that juicy.

Spatchcocking the chicken in the future would likely make for a greater area of the chicken being caramelized.

What’s the Zuni method?

the Zuni method is a dry brine- kosher salt and leave unwrapped in a refrigerator for 2-3 days before roasting.
Full recipe here Zuni Roast Chicken with Bread Salad Recipe | Epicurious

[Joe_Chanley]

I did two side by side roast chickens (Mary’s Heritage birds) the other day using the Zuni method. Sous Vide for about 2.5 hours @150 followed by browning for about 15 minutes at 482. I’d say they were the best roast chickens ever. The juiciness of the chicken while eating was like wringing out a wet sponge it was that juicy.

Spatchcocking the chicken in the future would likely make for a greater area of the chicken being caramelized.

What’s the Zuni method?

the Zuni method is a dry brine- kosher salt and leave unwrapped in a refrigerator for 2-3 days before roasting.
Full recipe here Zuni Roast Chicken with Bread Salad Recipe | Epicurious

Right, but how does that translate to SV? I’d love to know more details.

[gene_keenan]

What’s the Zuni method?

the Zuni method is a dry brine- kosher salt and leave unwrapped in a refrigerator for 2-3 days before roasting.
Full recipe here Zuni Roast Chicken with Bread Salad Recipe | Epicurious

Right, but how does that translate to SV? I’d love to know more details.

For the oven it is a “dry sous vide” meaning the chicken is not in a bag. It cooks slowly and the skin stays dry which it wouldn’t using the traditional water bath sous vide method. At the end of the sous vide time the chickens skin is very taut and dry so when you switch to browning the skin comes out shatteringly crisp. So you get the benefit of sous vide without the meat bathing in its own juices as it loses water thus maintaining a dry skin.

[Joe_Chanley]

the Zuni method is a dry brine- kosher salt and leave unwrapped in a refrigerator for 2-3 days before roasting.
Full recipe here Zuni Roast Chicken with Bread Salad Recipe | Epicurious

Right, but how does that translate to SV? I’d love to know more details.

For the oven it is a “dry sous vide” meaning the chicken is not in a bag. It cooks slowly and the skin stays dry which it wouldn’t using the traditional water bath sous vide method. At the end of the sous vide time the chickens skin is very taut and dry so when you switch to browning the skin comes out shatteringly crisp. So you get the benefit of sous vide without the meat bathing in its own juices as it loses water thus maintaining a dry skin.

gracias

[Robert_M_yers]

Thanks for the pan info Kevin.

[gene_keenan]

I did two side by side roast chickens (Mary’s Heritage birds) the other day using the Zuni method. Sous Vide for about 2.5 hours @150 followed by browning for about 15 minutes at 482. I’d say they were the best roast chickens ever. The juiciness of the chicken while eating was like wringing out a wet sponge it was that juicy.

Spatchcocking the chicken in the future would likely make for a greater area of the chicken being caramelized.

What’s the Zuni method?

the Zuni method is a dry brine- kosher salt and leave unwrapped in a refrigerator for 2-3 days before roasting.
Full recipe here Zuni Roast Chicken with Bread Salad Recipe | Epicurious

Unless you are going with a very small bird (e.g. less than 3 pounds) I’d highly recommend 2 days of dry brine for optimal results.

[L_e_e_H_olland]

Got my oven in last week. No connectivity issues, but mine does make loud vibration noises occasionally.

Agree with the Gene that roasted chicken comes out with the a firm, but very tender and juicy texture. Probably the best thing I have made.

The salmon with crispy skin recipe on the app works really well too. Think this will do a much better job of not concentrating unpleasant flavors in seafood than traditional sous vide.

Finished some tacos at 375 and 25% steam for about 5 minutes, which really gave the corn tortillas a nice texture.