i have to stop looking at this forum in the mornings when i haven't had breakfast yet. all i'm thinking about is that steak and 3 med eggs. i like the kismo you have to set the water. looks easy to use. this sous vide thing is way different. i'm been watching ya'll cook and it always seems that you cook everything for 2 hours. and if i get this correct if you want to cook you protein to lets say 130 and then a little sear you set you water to 130. true?
Yes, true - a thinner cut needs less time, but anything close to 2-inches thick could use 2 hours - and yes again - 3 eggs with a steak like that would be killer! A temperature close to 130 will do medium rare, which I am becoming more fond of these days. I formerly liked blood rare, but at 130F, more of the yummy fat renders out to give the meat enhanced flavor - one of the benefits of sous vide is that the meat never dries out since you don't apply direct flame heat until the sear.
pz, I am interested in how you use the stove to help get the temp up more quickly. Which SV unit are you using? I assume as you approach the "cooking temp" you take the pan off the heat?
Because there is such a large volume of water, I just use the gas stove to preheat the water to hasten the process - I monitor with Thermoworks until the temp is about 120F, then turn off the stove and let the SV machine take over - it is just a time saver. I'm using the Anova because it is like a stick blender - so easy to use - stick it into the pot and it does all the work - keeps the temperature to within fractions of a degree, and even has a spinning blade to keep the water moving uniformly. Setting the temperature and time is a no-brainer - only a couple of buttons to press and you don't even need instructions.
The nice thing is that because the pot is on the stove, I don't get much convective heat loss
