New Toy - Sous Vide "Water Oven"

When we were thinking about anniversary gifts, Phil wanted to give me a sous vide water bath cooker. I said no because I was getting him the camera lens, and two expensive gifts seemed a bit much. He reminded me I had a birthday coming up, and I said that was his call (hint, hint).

The conversation came to mind when I got an email from the Sous Vide Supreme company announcing a special plus free shipping. Nobody is likely to buy me an extravagant birthday gift this year unless I do it myself. So, with a huge hat tip to Phil, I took the plunge and did it. The magic fairy elves (AKA FedEx home, which has the irritating habit of dropping things off at 11 pm) came and left it at my doorstep one morning last week. It was all I could do to wait through a long day at my client to unbox it.

A box within a box within a box. The machine itself is a thin (and easily fingerprinted) stainless steel insulated box with a control panel, recessed handles in opposite corners to help balance the load when you're moving it full or dumping the water out, a thin stainless cover an a removable insulating foam blanket that sits on the top of the cover during cooking. Inside there is a rack with a lifter, and a second rack that can be configured in several orientations to keep food pouches apart if you are cooking more than one or two at a time.

The company makes various spices and rubs, and included a sampling that I'll try to use up. They also included an instructional DVD I'll almost certainly never watch, and a brief instruction book.

I tested it out on some duck breast, which I will blog separately. The unit was easy to set up, although it's quite heavy when filled with water. You are not supposed to put the food pouches in until the water reaches temperature. For the duck, this was 63C (about 145F), and it took nearly a half hour for the water to get that warm. Fortunately, I started it early enough. I wanted to use the timer but somehow messed that up, so I'll check the instruction book next time before doing it. The unit appears to allow an approximate .3C bandwidth before cycling on and off; it reports the actual water temperature, not just the set, which is a nice feature. I didn't see it dip below 62.7 or above 63.2.

The results? Well, I'll refer to the duck breast, which will post tomorrow. All I'll say here is that I'm almost certain this is one appliance that will soon have a name.