sous vide at lakeland.

[kimgary]

Sous vide at Lakeland, half price £74.79.

[wheels]

Nice find.

Phil

[kimgary]

Thanks Phil,
Have you delved much into sous vide?
Regards
Gary.

[wheels]

I have a controller for sous-vide that an electronics engineer friend built for me which I use with either my slow-cooker, or my bain-marie. I've only done steaks so far. I intend to get an aquarium air-pump to aid water circulation for a more even temperature throughout.

Phil

[kimgary]

Thats about all I have done Phil, same set up as you, I made a digital controller with a socket set up so that I can plug any appliance, slow cooker etc into it and accurately control temps.
Regards
Gary.

[wheels]

What sort of things have you been cooking with it?

...and do you have anything to circulate the water?

Phil

[kimgary]

Hi Phil, Only steaks, same as you.
I do wonder if circulating the water is "overboard", especially with a slow cooker as the heat is well distributed across the base so should give good convection currents, when you consider the old style gravity central heating systems they worked ok on that principle.

With regards to circulating I would suggest a stirrer rather than a pump due to the heat.

I would make a simple frame to sit across the container,get hold of a microwave turntable motor, even one out of a old one from the local tip, they are 240v,high torque and very low rpm. They usually have a short "D" type shaft, extend that and put a simple stirrer on the end of the shaft, mount it to the frame and adjust the homemade shaft to the depth you require.
I would solder the wires to the motor contacts plus earthwire and encase them in silicon, just as a extra safety measure.

I may well have a go when time permits and post a series of photos.
Regards
Gary.

[wheels]

Gary

It's not a pump as such: it just bubbles air into the liquid. The only bit in the hot liquid (or anywhere near it) would be the plastic pipe that the air comes out of.

The idea is that the air 'disturbs' the water, creating currents. However, as you say, convection should already be doing this.

Phil

[kimgary]

I'm with you now, air pump and stone.

Its been a long week!

[saucisson]

I wanted one of these: http://www.iwantoneofthose.com/kitchen- ... lsrc=aw.ds

But I got it from Robert Dyas at a similar Price.

I'd never use it as a slow cooker, I wouldn't trust the non stick and to use it as a slow cooker you'd probably need to be cooking for 20

[saucisson]

With regards to circulating I would suggest a stirrer rather than a pump due to the heat.

I would make a simple frame to sit across the container,get hold of a microwave turntable motor, even one out of a old one from the local tip, they are 240v,high torque and very low rpm. They usually have a short "D" type shaft, extend that and put a simple stirrer on the end of the shaft, mount it to the frame and adjust the homemade shaft to the depth you require.
I would solder the wires to the motor contacts plus earthwire and encase them in silicon, just as a extra safety measure.

I built a "sous vide" using 1kw kettle elements a ppe? controller and a laboratory magnetic stirrer. Using a 20 liter brewing bin.

The magnetic stirrer spins a magnetic bar inside a case. You sit the bin on top and put a teflon coated magnetic bar in the bin. Leak free stirring.

It was great for doing a pigs head or a full ham, but for a couple of steaks was a bit of a faff

[wheels]

I remember that one with the stirrer, it was superb.

I'd never use it as a slow cooker, I wouldn't trust the non stick and to use it as a slow cooker you'd probably need to be cooking for 20

I don't quite get this? If you don't trust it as a slow cooker, what do you use it for?

Phil

[saucisson]

Sorry I wasn't clear, You can either fill the water bath with water and slow cook ie sous vide with your meat or whatever in vac pack bags floating in the water. Which is what I do.

Or they suggest that you can also use it as a big casserole pot and put a stew directly in the pan to use it as a "slo cooker" . That's the feature I doubt I will use, because I suspect having food in direct contact with the non-stick won't be good for it in the long term, and it's a very big pan. A small meal might get a bit lost in the bottom of it and dry out However I might use it as a bain marie to cook a meal in a smaller dish sat on the rack.

[wheels]

Dave,

That's interesting. I use a controller either for my slow cooker or for my bain marie:



For sous-vide, the bit I'm missing is some form of circulation. An air pump seems the easiest.

Pauline wouldn't contemplate the microwave turntable idea!

Any other suggestions?

Phil

[saucisson]

An air stone seems the easiest solution to me