Finally bitten the sous vide bullet

[Nefarious]

After muddling through with a pretty half-arsed set-up (sugar thermometer, 2ps under a crockpot on a ceramic hob) for nearly a year, I've finally bitten the bullet and ordered myself the gubbins to make a proper sous-vide set-up.

Four those interested, the necessary bits are:
PID temp controller
Thremocouple
25A Solid state relay
Aquarium pump
Analogue electric hotplate
Plus various wires, plugs and switches that I'll get from Maplin based on what I don't have lying around in the garage.

Less than £50 all in.

Obviously, you'll need a vacuum packer and a pot too, but I've already got those from the previous set-up.

Should keep me out of trouble for a couple of days over Chrimbo.

[Jobbo]

I look forward to tasting the results at some point

[dazco]

You are a clever man.

Will it be quite a small one? Is one probe enough for accuracy?


I am not questioning your brilliance, these are proper questions to learn by.

[Nefarious]

dazco said:

Will it be quite a small one? Is one probe enough for accuracy?

In theory the finished device could be fitted to a pot of any size (within reason), but I guess my pot is about 15 litres. I've got a big fish kettle too that I might use it on for bigger batches.

I'm guessing one temp probe should be fine - the aquarium pump is there to keep the water circulating and the temperature constant throughout. Plus the whole process should be pretty slow and gradual, so there shouldn't be any massive temperature gradients in the pot.

[slinky]

Might be a silly question, but what temperature are you using in the sous vide? Will the aquarium pump lifespan be depleted by running at that temperature, or is that offset by the fact that it'll have significantly less run time than in typical use?

[Melman Giraffe]

looks good. Might give this a bash in the new year

[Pete Franklin]

Please can you post up a build thread or fill this thread with details of the build?

I would love to be a able to put something similar together for £50.

Thanks

Pete

[dazco]

Pete Franklin said:

Please can you post up a build thread or fill this thread with details of the build?

I would love to be a able to put something similar together for £50.

Thanks

Pete

Me too. Thanks OP for answering my earlier questions

[tontoro]

have fin, it is a good hobby. Fish & chicken are the best in it I think. In my experience the pump isn't really needed though. My setup uses a HUGE rice cooker, with no pump, and there is no detectable temperature difference across it (to within 1F anyway)

[hairyben]

Dump the hotplate, I tried that first of all and it was hopelessly slow to respond due to the thick iron plate. You could try an induction if you can find a compatible one ie not touch control (or convert one)

[Nefarious]

slinky said:

Might be a silly question, but what temperature are you using in the sous vide? Will the aquarium pump lifespan be depleted by running at that temperature, or is that offset by the fact that it'll have significantly less run time than in typical use?

The hottest I ever do is 62 degrees (I've never been brave enough to do chicken sous vide, as the window between killing nasties and hardening the collagen is very narrow). 48 hour ribs at 62 degrees are amazing though.

Strictly the pump I've ordered is a submersible, but when it arrives I'll look at whether I can fit it with extra silicon tubes and run it 'dry'. If not, I still don't reckon the temps I'm planning are sufficiently higher than seen in tropical aquaria to cause a problem - especially, as you say, given that it's only going to be running occasionally (compared to normal use).

[tontoro]

cooking chicken properly sous vide is so much easier (and safer) than doing it a traditional way, I'm not sure what you are worried about?

http://www.douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html#Chick...

[Nefarious]

hairyben said:

Dump the hotplate, I tried that first of all and it was hopelessly slow to respond due to the thick iron plate. You could try an induction if you can find a compatible one ie not touch control (or convert one)

What was your plan b?

I'd assumed that keeping it low and slow was the way to go - insulate the pot and lid (current set-up takes 10mins to drop 1-1.5 degrees once the heat is switched off), and keep the temp setting on the hot plate on minimum.

[Nefarious]

tontoro said:

cooking chicken properly sous vide is so much easier (and safer) than doing it a traditional way, I'm not sure what you are worried about?

http://www.douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html#Chick...

I was under the impression that 63.5-64 degrees was required to kill the bugs, but any higher than 65 and you'd cooked a chicken-flavoured boot. My previous set-up just wasn't capable of that kind of accuracy.

[hairyben]

Nefarious said:

What was your plan b?

I'd assumed that keeping it low and slow was the way to go - insulate the pot and lid (current set-up takes 10mins to drop 1-1.5 degrees once the heat is switched off), and keep the temp setting on the hot plate on minimum.

Basic same grand idea as you- universal controller giving flexibility to use any pan, but without insulation on the pan.

Problem was once the 2kW element has heated through the iron plate and pan and reached the probe it goes on to peak by about 10-15c before dropping again, just too slow.

BTW the hob temp controllers thermostatic so you get 2kW on min or max. You could source or rig the hotplate to a lower power setting but I think it's a blind alley with that iron plate in the way. An induction hob heating the pan directly would be much better but like I said there's the controls issue.

I just plugged in a 6L crock pot instead which gives me +/-1c accuracy which is enough for now.

BTW I cook chicken breasts 2 hours at 63.5c, many many times without problem. Red pesto stuffed and bacon wrapped FTW.

[tontoro]

Nefarious said:

I was under the impression that 63.5-64 degrees was required to kill the bugs, but any higher than 65 and you'd cooked a chicken-flavoured boot. My previous set-up just wasn't capable of that kind of accuracy.

as you can see in my link, anything above 57 will eventually pasteurise chicken, although it takes some time. Bear in mind that cooking in a pan/oven will almost certainly NEVER pasteurise it, unless you completely destroy it through over cooking, hence you can be safer using sous vide. Personally I don't bother keeping chicken in for the full pasteurisation time, but then I'm a crazy sort of guy.

You might not like chicken at 61, it is quite different to any way you will have eaten it before. But I am sure you will like it a lot somewhere between 61 and 63. IT makes plain old chicken breast into something special. With a good sauce and crispy skin at any rate.

[Nefarious]

Good advice (both of you) - will no doubt be back with a million questions once I've had a little play

[Pferdestarke]

Interesting. Please post up some construction shots and detail other components not listed.

[Pete Franklin]

ANy update on this OP?

[jamiebae]

Very cool little project.

I think induction has to be the way to go for accuracy, the amount of heat energy stored in a traditional iron hotplate will make it completely impossible to regulate the temperature properly. I guess a halogen hotplate would be better but still not ideal.

Could you use a butchered kettle element in the pan with some mesh to shield it from the food and the aquarium pump keeping the water moving?