Sous vide skepticism faded after one perfect steak dinner

I spent years thinking sous vide was just another gadget for people with too much money. A buddy brought his Anova over last month and we tried it on a $15 sirloin from Aldi. Cooked it at 130F for 2 hours then seared it in a cast iron pan. The texture was better than any steakhouse I've been to in Detroit. Do you guys use sous vide for anything besides meat or is that pretty much it?

2 comments

2 Comments

ivan52210h ago

wait til you try it on vegetables, seriously. I read somewhere that carrots cooked sous vide with a little butter and salt taste almost as sweet as candy because the low heat keeps all the natural sugars locked in. tried it myself after that and it's kinda mind blowing how good they come out. also heard people use it for things like egg bites and even cheesecake, though I haven't gotten that fancy yet. cheaper cuts of meat work way better than I expected too, like that sirloin you mentioned.

lee_ward547h ago

Huh. Now that you mention the carrots, it makes me wonder if anyone has tried sous vide for something like a whole head of garlic. I'd bet the low heat would turn it into this mellow, almost nutty spread without the hour of roasting. Another thing I never see brought up is using it for infusing spirits. Drop some bourbon and vanilla bean in a bag for a few hours, you get a flavored liquor without any harsh alcohol taste. Might be worth a shot if you're already messing around with the machine.