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For my final project I built a sous-vide immersion cooker

fab.cba.mit.edu

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Re: For my final project I built a sous-vide immersion cooker

#121

Post by sdrothrock »

_pius wrote: post #73
blhack wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've seen you comment a lot on sous vide in the past, is there a specific machine that you recommend? (And then is there one you'd recommend if money was no object)

I own the Sansaire, but right now I'd recommend the new Anova one that comes with an app and is well-reviewed by Serious Eats. http://anovaculinary.com/products/anova-precision-cooker http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/05/new-anova-precision-cooke...

I own a Sansaire too and have heard a lot of good things about the Anova... have you had experience with both? Would you recommend the Anova as an upgrade from the Sansaire?

Re: For my final project I built a sous-vide immersion cooker

#122

Post by xasos »

arbesfeld wrote: post #56

Hi! Original poster here. I built this as part of the "How to Make Almost Anything" class at MIT ( http://fab.cba.mit.edu/classes/863.14/ ). This was more of a weekend hack for fun than a money-saving project. Thanks for all of the advice and comments!

Thanks for the write-up, this looks awesome!

Re: For my final project I built a sous-vide immersion cooker

#123

Post by ha292 »

maratd wrote: post #93
ha292 wrote: post #89

Question for sous-vide aficianados. Are you not worried about the chemicals going from plastic to your feed ? I grew up knowing that, by and large, the less manufactured stuff you put in your food the better the food is for your body. So, it seems highly dangerous to me to take natural piece of food, wrap it in a highly complex chemical compound (plastic), heat it, and then consume it.

Most of the time the food came in that very plastic. I mostly sous-vide meat that came frozen and is already vacuum sealed. One less step. You're generally heating it to 140 F or so. I don't know if that's sufficient to trigger leaching of some sort, but the plastic isn't deformed in any way and there's no aftertaste. Any experts care to weigh in?

Is there any scientific evidence for this statement on no harmful chemical transfer below 140F. Also, just because the food came in the very bag you're cooking it in doesn't mean it is safer.

Re: For my final project I built a sous-vide immersion cooker

#125

Post by ha292 »

stephen_g wrote: post #106
ha292 wrote: post #89

Question for sous-vide aficianados. Are you not worried about the chemicals going from plastic to your feed ? I grew up knowing that, by and large, the less manufactured stuff you put in your food the better the food is for your body. So, it seems highly dangerous to me to take natural piece of food, wrap it in a highly complex chemical compound (plastic), heat it, and then consume it.

You can safely microwave food in certain types of plastic - sous-vide cooking is far lower temperature. But the initial premise is unfounded. Some of the most toxic chemicals occur naturally.

I am not worried about natural toxins. Most of what I select to eat is likely free of them. What I am worried about is that there doesn't seem to be any evidence of non-transfer of chemicals even at lower temperatures. I see claims but no clear evidence. Even if the transfer rates are low the chemicals "dose" can accumulate over repeated use.

Re: For my final project I built a sous-vide immersion cooker

#126

Post by bwilliams18 »

eropple wrote: post #96
tptacek wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would anyone buy either of these? Serious question.

I have the SVS and an Anova and I use the SVS much more often. In my experience it holds to temperature better and more uniformly, the heating element spans the entire base so it's easier to cook in bulk (without worrying too much about blocking convection), I didn't have to hack a lid together, and it looks a lot better on my kitchen counter--which is important because it never leaves the counter, I use it five to s…

the SVS is accurate across the horizontal plane, but not across the vertical plane. I couldn't trust a water bath without active circulation ( I use a Sainsare at home, and at work, we use PolyScience circulators)

Re: For my final project I built a sous-vide immersion cooker

#127

Post by threeways »

ValentineC wrote: post #120
SoftwareMaven wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The flavor of my steaks shot up once I learned to put more salt on. In general, once I learned the reality of salt (eg there is no reason to limit consumption), my cooking got much better.

> In general, once I learned the reality of salt (eg there is no reason to limit consumption)… This caught my attention because I may have mild hypertension and am starting to be more conscious of my diet. Would you happen to have a source that I could start from?

My understanding was that the latest research showed that some folks are quite sensitive to salt, and that a low sodium diet is critical to their health. But that most folks are not, and there isn't a benefit to a low sodium diet for them.

I couldn't jog the citations back into my memory, but I may have another try after a bit.

Re: For my final project I built a sous-vide immersion cooker

#128

Post by analog31 »

cnvogel wrote: post #78

Hey arbesfeld, I really like that project, and the nice writeup really presents it well. But especially as people might use it for inspiration for their own temperature-controlled cooking projects, I think the lack of a proper isolation of the mains-powered parts is a little bit worrying. For the next project, or maybe as advice to the random person looking at the HN comments, here's what I normally do: Try to minimi…

I don't mean to pile-on, since I like the project too. But whenever I read about a process control project, I always have to chime in with my usual question, about fault tolerance: Can the system withstand the condition where the heaters remain fully powered, indefinitely? This could happen if:

1. The relay fails shut (which may be its typical failure mode)

2. The temperature sensor comes out of the water, or fails in some other way.

3. Software bug.

I could tell you my story of my temperature controller running away in the middle of the night and wreaking havoc on a delicate and elaborate physics experiment. But in terms of taking your project "to the next level," it's worth thinking about how you can design your system to fail safe, i.e., so it remains safe under any reasonable single fault failure mode. A more subtle failure mode might be failing to reach the set temperature, resulting in undercooked meats.

Re: For my final project I built a sous-vide immersion cooker

#129

Post by 001sky »

nappy-doo wrote: post #113
jimmaswell wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As far as I can tell, some small waterproof fans would be more than enough for sufficient circulation. Why is that a specific advantage of high-end ones?

flow is very important with the temperature gradients that can exist in fluid. When you're talking about 0.01 and 0.001 degrees, flow is really important.

Yes...the whole point of sous vide is this ....

Re: For my final project I built a sous-vide immersion cooker

#130

Post by SoftwareMaven »

ValentineC wrote: post #120
SoftwareMaven wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The flavor of my steaks shot up once I learned to put more salt on. In general, once I learned the reality of salt (eg there is no reason to limit consumption), my cooking got much better.

> In general, once I learned the reality of salt (eg there is no reason to limit consumption)… This caught my attention because I may have mild hypertension and am starting to be more conscious of my diet. Would you happen to have a source that I could start from?

This[1] is a good place for high level, but it won't help you individually. Sodium only has the ability to impact blood pressure by 2-3mmHg diastolic and 5mmHg systolic, so limiting its of very little value for most[2].

My own personal experience reducing my creeping blood pressure came not from curing salt but from curing carbs. When carbs are reduced, the kidneys begin functioning better, reducing fluid in the blood which reduces blood pressure far more successfully than curing salt. This is just one of the many positive metabolic effects of low carb, high fat diets that are very well documented in scientific literature (others include normalized blood sugars, reduced inflammation, reduced liver and visceral fat, improved blood lipids, weight regulation and improved insulin sensitivity).

1. http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2013/Sodium-Intake-in-Populations...

2. Individuals vary. This is not medical advice. See a physician. Yada yada.

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