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Comment by tptacek | Hacker News Reader

Circulator eggs never made a whole lot of sense, because you already have a reference temperature to work from and so cooking any number of them is just a matter of setting a timer (do what the Ideas in Food people do and steam them).

I can't remember the last time I circulated a steak. But we did a rib roast for Christmas, and I did that in the circulator, in advance, "for insurance purposes", and then cooked it off in a ripping (toaster) oven on the day.

There is no better way to prepare sausages. I would replace my Anova circulator immediately if it broke, simply so I can keep going to Paulina Market, buying a couple of every sausage, circulating them all, and keeping them in the fridge/freezer for ready-to-go meals.

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I still poach eggs in the shell in my Anova Precision Oven often. The 13 minute egg is pretty unbeatable.

I think the decline in sous vide use in commercial kitchens is largely just because befuddled health regulators pushed everyone toward CVAPs, which do the same thing without the plastic.

Now that I’ve got the APO, I cook nearly everything in it. I wish I could get a regular oven-sized version.

Miele makes wall combi ovens that are standard sized. Well they lose some cooking volume for the steam components.

Thank you, those are awesome. I'm stuck with freestanding at the moment but may build a house soon and I would for sure get these!

The APO is new to me. Looks interesting. Can it really “sous vide” a steak? Does it brown it too?

I have an APO too and love it. While it’s possible to add a second phase to the cook with 0% steam, it isn’t enough to give you a crust on a steak. I still use a cast iron pan to sear it.

The main issue I have with SV, either bagged or bagless, is that the meat needs to be thoroughly dried before searing. So I normally cook it without steam but at 200F or so with a wireless thermometer telling me when it is 10F below my target doneness. A lot like sous vide and the APOs precise temp control still comes in handy.

You can just blot the meat with a paper towel really quickly. You don't want surface moisture of course, because evaporative cooling means anything with water in it basically only cooks at 100C, so basically you'll have to cook it longer to get the same sear and thus overcook more of the meat below the surface.

But you want the meat to be as moist as possible, it helps keep the seared portion shallower. Searing dries out the crust, so you want that all to happen as fast as possible, meaning you want it as hot as you can get without "torch taste". (Contrary to popular belief, torch taste comes not from torch fuel but compounds formed at too high heat, that just only happens with a torch.)

So full steam plus hit with a low power torch (Iwatani) is my daily driver and if I'm cooking for a lot of people I use the Searzall but that's like once a year. But it's fun for the whole family to finish the prime rib roast that way.

You wouldn't really brown it that way. It's basically a very large, very accurate wi-fi toaster oven. You could maybe open the door to let the steam out, put the top heating element on full, and broil it, but you'd probably end up overdone in the process. I just recommend a torch, a cast iron pan, or your oven's broiler for finishing most thiungs.

I have an APO as well, and use it extensively, but I'd note that a) they have never released an API as originally promised (and eventually scrubbed all mention of the promise) and b) as of August of last year, new purchases will be charged a subscription fee for using the mobile app, which is necessary for most of the things you'd get an APO for.

That’s good info! And a terrible business.

I also do the Paulina Noah's Ark, and it's a great move for a summer bbq, sending out one variety of sausage at a time and letting people try all that sound interesting.

Chicken breast is my favorite use for SV. I don't eat a lot of it, but my wife loves chicken salad, and it's nice for a green salad as well. Eating chicken breast that isn't dessicated is transformative. There's other ways to get there, but boy is SV easy.

Other assorted uses: pasteurizing eggs for cocktails, for the squeamish or immunocompromised; making N/A liquor replacements, in particular the Aviary's Campari replacer; Dave Arnold's mom's stuffing; not owning a smoker

How do I not know about Dave Arnold's mom's stuffing?!

It was featured on an episode of Dave Chang's recipe club podcast and it is really damn good. Forget fancy stuffing, this is what you want.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YueMZVAl9NMwORfXuxFl0iEN...

I have my notes somewhere but I think I did this in an 85C bath for an hour or something, then put it in a 13x9 in a hot oven with the turkey breast on top of it. I asked Dave on cooking issues for time and temp right before Thanksgiving last year and those about the direction he gave me.

The Parker house rolls are also really good, which is a shame because I already have a family recipe for dinner rolls and I'll have a revolt if I change it, and Dave's are easier.

is the Aviary Campari replacer from their book on non-alcoholic drinks? it's very interesting to me!

Yep! You'll need to buy half the spice shop, but it is really good. It's not quite as bitter and notably more vegetal, but it really hits the spot, especially in a spritz.

The Zero book from the Aviary is a lot more cookable than their original book, not as cookable as the summer or holiday books. The Campari replacement is really good, I've had less luck with the other liquor replacements.

There's a drink in there called the bramblin man that is probably my all time favorite N/A cocktail

>Circulator eggs never made a whole lot of sense,

They make a great deal of sense in professional kitchens. If you're expecting to do hundreds of brunch covers, or a giant breakfast buffet, poaching eggs sous vide ahead of time is a game changer

How do you poach an egg sous vide? I know how to soft-boil them, of course.

13-14 minutes at 75C (in shell), shock in ice water, crack into a slotted spoon to drain runny white. I realize this is not technically poaching, but the result is effectively a poached egg, and that's what people are referring to (afaik) when they're referring to poached sous vide eggs.

I’ve never tried sous vide eggs, but I imagine the biggest benefit is easy consistency. I have a pretty solid recipe for soft boiled eggs adapted from Heston Blumenthal but it still leaves some room for imperfections. Can you share more about the steam eggs? Tried to find the reference but no luck. Is it from their book?

Put a steamer basket in a pot, put some water in the pot, bring to a boil, put some eggs in the basket (how ever many you want to cook), set a timer for 7 minutes, cover. In 7 minutes, remove the soft-boiled eggs.

(Longer for hard boiled).

> I can't remember the last time I circulated a steak

I find the results gross. The fat does not render away completely at the sous-vide temps, and since the cooking time is so much shorter you end up with raw fat under the surface layer.

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