My anova circulator came this morning bright and early. (Thanks for the wake up, FedEx… can’t you be on time/early any time other than Saturday morning?) First impressions… it’s actually quite a nice looking appliance and much more substantial than I was expecting. Had to go out and buy a bigger stockpot for it. Also impressed with the packaging and the manual on USB, except that my Mac refuses to recognize it. But the interface looks intuitive enough to figure out without a manual. This is a much snazzier and more design-conscious piece of equipment than I was expecting. High hopes for it.
The real test will be tonight. Attempting strip steak and some asparagus.
Spencer, those two things are going to cook at VASTLY different temps, you might be better off just steaming the asparagus. Vegetables are typically done at 185º or so, for 30-60 minutes. Add to that the time to bring your water up from whatever you want your steaks cooked at, and your steak will be cold.
Hmm… very possibly. (I could also eat the steak while waiting for the asparagus, not cooking for any fancy company.) Modernist Cuisine tells me peeled asparagus take about 15 minutes, but yes, at a much higher temperature. I was planning to cook the meat and then the asparagus while I sear the meat. But I think you’re right that it probably won’t come out all at the same time, especially with the time required to get up to temperature for the vegetables.
Or here’s another way. Cook the asparagus first at the higher temp. Remove, let cool, throw some ice cubes or add cold water to the pot to bring the temp down quickly. Cook your steaks, and after they are removed, put the asparagus back in the water just to warm it up a little.
I’d suggest doing the steak first. Since you’re going to sear it after anyways it doesn’t matter how long the meat is done cooking for. So just take the meat out, bring the water up to 180f (i found with my anova, that 179-180 might be teh best bet for asparagus opposed to what most recipes say) and do the asparagus. When the Asparagus is almost ready just sear the meat.
Less water waste this way and you don’t have to reintroduce the veggies to any repeat heat elements
I thought about the colored ones but the black’s pretty snazzy if don’t want to wait. They took three days to get mine to FedEx and then it took two to get here.
Chuck and Charlie: yeah, it seems that with one machine those are the two basic options. I threw the steak in first based only on cook time, which probably isn’t the best reason given the temperature differences… I did a test run earlier and it is really quick to get the temperature down by swapping out a few pitchers of hot water with cold water. I’m fine eating the meat and vegetables at different times tonight but I’ll give your suggestions a shot the next couple tries. I have a feeling they both accomplish pretty much the same thing from different angles, the only real question being what you want to have sit around for a bit while you cook the other.
That’s a very good point though. Avoid soggy vegetables.
Alright, here’s what I came up with last night after 40 minutes in a 145F bath:
Color and texture were awesome. I think it could have used maybe a couple more minutes. I also don’t cook much steak and especially not on the stove and didn’t want to push the sear at the risk of cooking the interior, but it definitely could have held up for more time. Next time I’ll sear it in some butter and try to give it a little glaze. Could have used that extra bit of flavor. Either way, it went well with 2010 Lytton Springs–what a wine.
As for the asparagus, MC called for peeling them, how fancy–never done that before. They were a little overcooked at 185F for 15 minutes. I like my vegetables almost undercooked anyway. Probably would do 10 minutes next time.
I own a lot of kitchen gadgets but this was probably the most fun I’ve had in the kitchen in a long time. Thanks for the push to get this tool–it’s excellent.
Time doesn’t matter for the asparagus. Like I said in a previous post I think 183 is too much temp. I’d recommend 180-181. If you want it even crunchier id do 179.
For the steak. Next time try it at 132-135 for medium rare. Then just baste in butter for a minute or two on each side.
anova came in last night, not even close to fitting in a 8qt all clad pot. Needs another two plus inches in depth. Going to get one of the poly carb tubs with the top I suppose.
I have a poly tub, but bought a 12L stockpot that I use for most applications. The poly tub takes up more space and heats up more slowly (it’s probably about twice the volume). FWIW, I’m using a Polyscience Professional circulator, not sure how its required depth compares to the Anova.
I use my 8qt stockpot most of the time, it is tall enough to handle the anova and gives it about 1/2" clearance on the bottom. I do like the large poly tub, it works well for leg of lamb and other large protein. Doing lamb chops and 2 tri-tips this weekend, poly tub is a must.
Um… I always put a piece of aluminum and towel over my Poly Tub, Pot or cooler. You lose a fair amount of water on long cook times. I know my poly tub has a specific cover, but I just foil it.
I had this same issue with my 8 quart Staub. I bought a “huge” (for home use) 5 gallon stainless steel stockpot with lid from Target for $50. It works great and now I can open a small soup kitchen in my apartment… though I don’t think the owner would appreciate it.
Hmm… was thinking about this again. If you’ve got a metal pot and are trying to get up to temperature from 145 to 179-80, you probably could just turn the gas burner on for a bit to help the circulator out, no? Anything wrong with this approach? Obviously you wouldn’t cook anything during this time and you’d give the circulator a minute or two to get things evened out once you’re at temperature.
