Unreal price on the Breville BSV600 Sous Vide Supreme! (so good I couldn't resist!)
A previous ozbargain post has listed this as a great price at $399.
Breville Australia currently lists the RRP as $499
Delivery is quite reasonable in Melbourne, $6.95, and you can pick it up too if you live near Brooklyn, Vic.
The deal is only valid until the end of this month, not sure how much stock they have.
edit: Note that it's also available at Stan Cash (cheaper shipping for WA buyers, thanks rakeem)
So boil-in-the-bag, but posh. Sweet. :D
Yep pretty much :)
Also, for those wanting one of these you may be able to save the $6.95 shipping by getting Appliances Online to price match it (free delivery), just checked their conditions and I think it qualifies. They are charging a whopping $718. I wonder how they'll feel about knocking $519 off their price? :)
http://www.appliancesonline.com.au/breville-sous-vide-bsv600…
I found a similar youtube link when I clicked the deal link too ;)
wouldn't it be cheaper to open the bag and cook whatever it is the normal way instead of spending 200 or more on this?
but you can make $5 k/g meat taste like it's $50 a kg.
Thanks OP…
Can do the same thing with a $40 slow cooker.
It wouldn't be slow cooking then.
You can buy a 30 buck slow cooker though
Which isn't even close to the same thing.
But the output is similar
Love all the expert opinions. Experience would only confuse the issue, much easier to have no clues to cloud things.
My thoughts as well, the only pro I can see is you can pop it in in the morning and have it ready and kept warm when you're home from work. Otherwise if you cook it normally, 2 hours for a steak sounds really stupid, and the no washing up BS in her video… err plates, cutlery, and also her grill pan, she had to grill it a bit as well. I don't see the point at all.
It's not a question of scheduling. Cooking it slowly at a lower temperature results in a different texture. Refer to some of the links posted by others.
Incidentally the grilling at the end is for the Maillard (browning) reactions. You can do a search for all this, or take one of those online cooking courses.
you can always use a blowtorch xd
If you have to ask…
Sure, assuming you have an oven that can cook @ 53c +/- 0.1c.
Or hold 65c for 72 hour ribs.
In other words, you are saying 'fly to NZ? can't you just get a water taxi?!'. Very different things.
A true OzBargainer does sous vide ccoking using the dishwasher:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/08/25/214799882/dishwa…
This doesn't come with a vacuum sealer, so unless you already have one, factor that into the price…
The FAQ states that, but according to the OP's link the features states:
He is using a different system and keeps the ziplock bags unsealed.
No, it's the exact same thing. Everyone who cooks SV uses ziplocs and the displacement method. It's actually more effective in some cases, like where you have liquid ingredients to seal.
But if fully submerged wouldn't it be more prone to water entering than having it vacuum sealed?
Some good butchers will vacuum seal steaks and other cuts for you, if you don't have a vacuum sealer.
WOW! I just learnt two things:
1) Sous Vide means "Under Vacuum"
and
2) Ozbargainers do pay $200 for a "pot" replacement.
Exactly, as if you can't just fill a pot with water and do the same thing once a year on the stove top, cos that's about how often this will get used
These appliances have the advantage of precise thermostatic control. But sure, you can do slow low temperature cooking in a number of ways. I did a slow cooked chicken in the oven the other day and raised the temperature at the last stage for browning. Came out very tender.
Perhaps you use it once a year, but we cook multiple meals a week with our Anova sous vide machine. Kinda like arguing about vacuum cleaners or whatever else that costs anymore than $10.
Yeah, have fun maintaining 70'C for 12 hours straight in a pot on the stove.
This is a FANTASTIC deal, I already have a Sansaire sous-vide circulator, but if I was in the market for getting into sous-vide this would be perfect. Thanks OP.
BTW a vacuum sealer is not essential for sous-vide, an ordinary ziplock bag works perfectly well if you are only cooking for say <12 hours, which is usually the case. You just dunk it underwater to squeeze the air out before sealing it. You only really need a vacuum sealer if you want to do stuff like 72 hour short ribs.
Again, AMAZING deal. This particular model is well known and well regarded in the sous-vide community
not sure how a 'standard' ziploc bag would go for many hours at elevated temperature. I guess it depends how much you can about various plasticisers/unknown chemicals leaching into your food. Breville advertise the starter bags as being B{A free at least.
I use Glad branded ziploc bags which the box claims are microwave safe and BPA free. The microwave safe part in particular makes me more comfortable with heating them
I've used bags like that as well, the danger is that sometimes they can fall apart with extended cooking.
Doesn't yours circulate?
How do you find your Sansaire? I was very much considering getting in on the next batch when they become available. Do you think its worth waiting? Or just getting this one would suffice?
Sansaire is awesome, I have the green KS edition =D
Used it for everything from poached eggs (few hours) to racks of beef ribs (2 days)… extremely happy with it
Keep in mind the supreme is limited to its basin size, whereas I've used the sansaire with 20L pots with no issues about temperature
I like the Sansaire, but if you want to get into it you may as well go for this one or for an Anova. The advantage of this one is local support. The disadvantage is no circulation (reviews suggest that this is not a significant problem with the SV supreme though, unlike cheaper devices), fixed basin size and large storage space. But the Anova and Sansaire both take up similar amounts of counter space when in use.
I think the bottom line is, you could buy any of the SV supreme, Sansaire or Anova, and do some good SV cooking
how does this compare to the sansaire? and if you dont mind me asking how much did you pay for shipping. I am tossing up between the sansaire and the Anova. Both are 199 USD plus shipping. I would love to hear your input :)
I paid whatever the international shipping rate was on Kickstarter. Unfortunately the top row of the LED display is stuck on now, I might email them about it. The Sansaire cooks well, the temperature is stable and it heats quickly. I can't fault it's performance. However, the unit is quite big physically and the circulator is very powerful. This means that even if you use it in a medium size pot, it is very prone to splashing. It really does need a large, deep pot. The clip at the back works, but it could be a little more stable. If I was doing it again, I would probably get the Anova because the reviews seem to suggest it is slightly better and also because of the price reduction - it was much more expensive than the Sansaire when the Sansaire was launched, and I would still buy the Sansaire again if the Anova price was not 199. Having not used the Sous Vide Supreme I can only go by the reviews, which suggest it is a competent, consistent cooker. The counter space taken up would be the same as when using the Sansaire, the main difference would be in storage size. The other advantage, as I alluded to at the start, is that if things break getting support for an Australian purchased SV Supreme would be much easier than getting support for a Sansaire or Anova
lol
12 hours…72 hours…electricity bill…carbon tax…environment…
I have a sansaire too, and either it or an Anova are a far better buy than this bulky, non-circulating model.
The latest fad in home cooking. I wonder how energy efficient these are. It would be a shame if you ended up spending hundreds of dollars on electricity running this thing every year.
According to this, A steak cooked for 12 hours in a sous vide used about 1.62kWH.
http://forums.egullet.org/topic/139754-the-electrical-cost-o…
Or about 40 cents.
I wouldn't exactly call this a fad. Sous vide cooking has been around for a long time, the main reason it's being used widely now (aside from experimentation by modern chefs) is that the technology has become available outside of the science lab.
…the technology has become available outside of the science lab.
What technology…hot water & vacuum bags??? Both have been freely available for quite some time now IIRC. ;)
Precise temperature control at a reasonable price :) Science lab is a bit of hyperbole though
the technology referred to would be the PID controller.
Buying all the bits (immersion heater, PID controller, thermocouple and solid state relay, water pump, power supply, wiring, case etc) from China via ebay will probably cost you $150ish.
And this is $200. No-brainer.
Don't forget with the DIY option there's also the hours put in building the thing, tuning the PID algorithm, tinkering with it when it invariably stuffs up, not to mention the danger of leaving a cheap chinese metal immersion heater plugged in to the mains in a tub of water on your kitchen bench for a few hours.
… personally I'd go for the Anova unit on kickstarter at the mo for 150usd delivered (tho i got in at 129) :)
Cooking a piece of steak for 12 hours in a plastic bag, in hot water seems like a fad to me. If people want to spend their money and time doing it this way, fine, more power to 'em. I have a thick-bottom pan I use to cook my steaks in about ~20-25 minutes which probably uses little gas and the only effort is turning the steak once or twice.
Additionally, I remember reading Sous Vide chefs/users recommending after you cook your steak for 12 hours to sear the steak in a pan. Sous Vide cooking seems like going to a lot of effort and spending a lot of money to achieve something pans are capable of doing in considerably less time.
Sounds like you haven't actually tried any food done this way, or weren't able to tell the difference. There are sound culinary reasons for the slow cooking and the final searing.
Please let us know how you managed to defeat the laws of physics so you can achieve a uniform temperature gradient throughout your steak, rather than overcooked on the outside and undercooked in the middle. Because tricking an 800c pan into only cooking your meat to 60c would be a hell of a trick.
Also, no one cooks 'a steak' for 12 hours. a 2" ribeye is more like 2 hours. Long cooks are for traditional braising cuts with a lot of connective tissue that you want to - like porjk belly, ribs or the like.
If you're cooking your meat on an 800 degree Celsius pan I can see why you can't cook a piece of steak properly. Chefs and cooks have been cooking steaks to their desired temperature in kitchens for generations without sous vide devices. I guess they all know how to defeat the laws of physics too! What a clever bunch we are.
No, they don't. They cook it until the centre is at the desired temp, which is why you get steaks with a medium rare centre, a band of medium around that, and then well done around that.
Which is the entire reason for cooking SV.
Here, look at a picture, then maybe accept that maybe it isn't for you.
http://noaddedcolors.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/sousvide-dr…
No, the best steakhouse that do not use sous vide to cook their steaks cannot possibly be cooking 'perfect steaks', which is uniformly cooked to the same temperature.
When you cook your steaks with your favourite non-sous vide method you will have a gradient of doneness. The medium of the steak would be perfectly cooked, and the edges will definitely not be same temperature. e.g. http://sansaire.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/steak-compari…
Tell me guys, I've not (knowingly) tried SV steaks…is this how Hog's Breath do their supposed 18hr slow cooked prime rib?
I've gotta tell you, I'm not a fan of that texture; I prefer my steak cooked old school med-rare; I want that red gravy! ;)
Further the benefits are particularly good for thicker cuts of meat or other proteins like eggs. You can get a huge variety of textures out of an egg by varying the temperature by a degree or less. With accurate temp control you can dial in precisely the texture you want and leave it in the water for however long you want, ready to pull out and use whenever the rest of the dish is assembled.
Secondly.. why is it taking you 25 minutes to cook a steak? Mine generally take 4 mins on a cast iron pan (plus a min or two resting). How thick are your steaks and to what doneness/internal temp are you cooking them?
Guys, if you want some ideas regarding this cooking technique - > check out…
Wow, fantastic price. Ordered.
But the true Ozbargainer just uses an Esky and a ziploc bag:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ub8OaUtiNB8
great! That's a true ozbargainer's spirit
Bought on last deal through Betta Home. They were great and included a Russell Hobbs RHVS1 in for free due to their website stating the Breville vacuum sealer was included. Fault on Brevilles part. The RHVS1 was released in April 2014 rrp $199. So real OzBargain! Now I have two sealers, bought a sunbeam vac780 last week.
nice price drop.
for those of us in WA, saw this is also at Stan Cash (same as BG but different chain ???) for $199 and only $7.92 shipping to 6056 !!!
saves another $15
http://www.stancash.com.au/breville-the-sous-vide-supremetm-…
Truly amazing price. I bought it for $399 with the vacuum sealer recently, and I thought it was a great bargain even then.
Very tempting. I've done the ghetto sous vide using an STC-1000 temp controller and a slow cooker, but an integrated device does simplify things (and allow me to do two lots of steak at different done-ness simultaneously)
I'm kind of shocked at how many people think it's perfectly okay to cook food in polyethylene bags for hours and hours in temperatures around 60 degrees and think that no contaminants or leachates will be present in their meals.
Study: Even “BPA-Free” Plastics Leach Endrocrine-Disrupting Chemicals
Study: Most plastic products trigger estrogen effect
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mindy-pennybacker/theres-no-safe-plastic-al_b_843845.html
^ TL;DR: Literally all plastic will leech some contaminants/compunds into stored food or liquids at room temperature and this is only amplified if the plastics are exposed to additional heat, light or rough handling. It's a question of when and how much; not if. Doesn't matter if it's labelled/marketed as "food-safe"/"BPA-free", etc. There is no such thing as "BPA-free" plastic.
This method of cooking might produce the most delicious tasting meat ever, but seriously reconsider using cheap plastic bags to store your food in.
You have to use the correct kind of plastic. See here:
http://modernistcuisine.com/2013/03/is-it-safe-cook-plastic/
Nathan Myhvold made a convincing argument that the approved plastics are safe. His argument? The same plastics are used in containers in chemistry labs and they do not leach there.
You could also use canning jars, as suggested in the link, if you can wait longer. No issues with glass.
Personally I wouldn't use anything other than glass, non-aluminium metals, or ceramics.
Suit yourself, the appliance doesn't require use of plastic bags.
Bit impractical without them however, as you can see from the demonstration here.
The metal rack is designed to hold meat upright and even without it there's not really a lot of room inside the cooker. This thing is designed exclusively for cooking stuff in vacuum-sealed plastic bags.
Moreover, finding air-tight glass, ceramic or stainless steel/cast iron cooking trays/dishes would be a challenge to say the least.
No sous vide for you! :P
Or buy a Codlo and use your rice cooker.
CAREFUL ABOUT EATING FOOD COOKED IN PLASTIC!!!
I had never heard of this method of cooking, but when I looked it up ALARM BELLS WENT OFF! "There must be something wrong with cooking food for hours in plastic"! I said to myself.
So myself said to me "Why don't you look it up?"
But seriously, I did and this is what I came up with in exactly 30 seconds of research:
"After reading this study, I’m feeling very uncomfortable about the idea of eating anything that comes out of a plastic bag that has been sitting in a hot water bath for several hours. This is a crushing blow, as I love cooking with the Sous Vide. But in light of the evidence that even BPA-free plastics bags leach chemicals with EA even without added stress like a hot water bath, I think erring on the side of caution is probably wise." By Chris Kresser (a former fan of sous vide cooking), see his article at:
http://chriskresser.com/how-plastic-food-containers-could-be…
Plus there were recent warnings from cancer councils about drinking water from plastic bottles (including bpa-free ones) which had been sitting in the hot car due to the plastic leeching into the water, although I have been guilty of doing it from time to time.
All I'm saying is read about it before you feed yourself and your family food which has in it cancer causing chemicals leeched from the bag.
As for myself I am still trying to wean my family of plastics, have thrown out any non-stick cookware, and am encouraging the use of stainless steel and glass as storage and cooking materials. Still not there 100% as the plastics generation had really set in…
EDIT: As I was writing and posted it Amar89's post above popped up. Sorry if I stepped on any toes :-)
So myself said to me
Speaking of alarm bells… you seem to have more than one personality up there ;)
In all seriousness though, I agree and it's good to see responsible chefs like Chris Kresser actually scrutinising the health effects of how we cook and store our food, not just the food itself.
have thrown out any non-stick cookware
That's another time-bomb most people are oblivious too. Cheap non-stick pans with polytetrafluoroetheylene coatings that turn into toxic adhesives and noxious fumes when heated up. Brought to you by DuPont, the American chemical company responsible for CFCs.
There is even a medical term for the flu-like symptoms that arise from inhaling fumes from PTFEs or other synthetic polymers: "Polymer fume fever" (a.k.a. "Teflon Flu")
Some lovely, bed-time reading about the non-stick coatings applied to metal cookwares:
PFCs have been found in nearly all Americans tested by federal public health officials. Chemicals from this family are associated with smaller birth weight and size in newborn babies, elevated cholesterol, abnormal thyroid hormone levels, liver inflammation and weakened immune defense against disease.
http://www.ewg.org/research/healthy-home-tips/tip-6-skip-non…
I've read into some sous vide options that are free of endocrine disruptors, there are specialized silicone bags sold in the USA made specifically for safe sous vide cooking.
Oh and another point about the BPA plastics, your friendly plastic companies are replacing them with Bisphenol S according to Harvard. Just as bad as BPA, but hey it's legal.
Cheap water bath for the lab?
According to Dr Karl, the BPA replacements have the potential to be as bad or worse than BPA itself, as they haven't had 30 years in circulation to prove themselves.
I don't know why people feel the need to frig with food beyond that which has already been since the dawn of fire. Oh right, because companies have to make money selling appliance for 400 bucks!
Fire is used to BBQ/grill meat, and charred meat, while delicious, is also thought to be carcinogenic. There's no escape!
I don't know why people feel the need to frig with food beyond that which has already been since the dawn of fire.
Because its fun?
I'm sure no one was making hollandaise sauce or creme patissiere in caveman days. People always look for new ways of processing edible things to achieve different textures and flavours.
Damn you OzBargain. I am trying so hard right now NOT to spend $200 on something I didn't think I needed until right now!!!
Great price for the Breville (so the deal gets a plus), but my personal favourite still is the Anova: http://anovaculinary.com/
US$199 + shipping, works out around A$300 delivered. A bit more expensive but you can use it with any vessel - pots, eskys, etc, pick the size that suits the meal. And of course it circulates which adds to the precision (0.1 degree increments!).
Thanks for the tip! So much more practical being able to use it on any vessel. Great deal on the Sunbeam, but I think I'll be ordering one of these beauties.
I am tossing up between the Anova and the sansaire, any advice/reconsiderations?
Twelve of one, a dozen of the other. Can't go wrong either way.
I have a Sansaire from Kickstarter, now that the Anova and the Sansaire are the same price I would probably go for the Anova
As to all those critics here who are scared of whatever might get from plastic into the food: do you think it is better to have a meat packed for weeks in plastic at the shop at fridge temperatures compared to a few hours in warm water? It's much of a muchness really. And of course there's the option to use canning jars for anyone seriously concerned. No reason to stay away from perfectly cooked dishes because of that.
True, food in any plastic container is unhealthy, but the main factor becomes the TEMPERATURE of the plastic. One of the studies I read says that when chilled or frozen, there is a much lower chance of the chemical leeching due to the low temperature. In addition, plastic drink bottles have been around for 40 years and there have been few warnings of dangers when those bottles are in the fridge or at room temperature, but the problems emerge when the plastic is warmed (hot car) or heated (microwave or stove/oven).
So the meat example above is less relevant, although not completely
As to all those critics here who are scared of whatever might get from plastic into the food: do you think it is better to have a meat packed for weeks in plastic at the shop at fridge temperatures compared to a few hours in warm water?
Oh dear… you really need to be walked through an explanation of the logic behind why higher temperatures accelerate the break down of plastic?
In much the same way, colder temperatures preserve food by slowing the growth of micro-organisms and enzymes that cause food to rot, they also prevent plastic leachates from actually becoming soluble enough to permeate/osmose through the chemical bonds of the plastic material and into the food they are in contact with.
Water is also a very effective medium for increasing the propagation of leachates into food.
There would probably be a lifetime's worth of health differences between consuming food wrapped in plastic kept in a fridge at or below 0C, versus food bathed in what essentially becomes a plastic "soup" for hours at high temperatures.
Ever taken a sip from a plastic bottle that was sitting in the sun for a bit? Funny taste; doesn't really resemble water. Imagine if that thing had been sitting in front of an electric heater for about 5 hours. You would be drinking something like 50g/L of plastic; the highest concentration of plastic found leached into water at 50C in this study was 250g/L after 3 days.
Combine plastic with water and temperatures over 50C and you may as well be heaping spoonfuls of industrial run-off into your mouth.
If a 1L plastic bottle weighs in the region of 10's of grams (rough guess) how in the heck can you get 250g of plastic leaching into the water. 250mg sounds more realistic.
I am afraid you read this wrong, admittedly it was not written overly clearly in the abstract: when the scientists started out with 250g of plastic per L of water they found the highest concentration of leachates after 3 days. Not surprising really - more plastic, more leaching.
Interesting to note: despite testing such high concentrations they did not find any toxicity from polypropylene, ABS and rigid PVC. So choose your bag well and you will be fine.
The study you linked to stated in the results that.
"For eleven leachates (42%) 48-h EC50s were below the highest test concentration, 250 g plastic/L.
All leachates from plasticized PVC (5/5) and epoxy (5/5) products were toxic (48-h EC50s ranging from 2 to 235 g plastic/L).
None of the leachates from polypropylene (5/5), ABS (5/5), and rigid PVC (1/1) products showed toxicity, but one of the five tested HDPE leachates was toxic (48-h EC50 17–24 g plastic/L). Toxicity Identification Evaluations indicated that mainly hydrophobic organics were causing the toxicity and that metals were the main cause for one leachate (metal release was also confirmed by chemical analysis).
So it leachates but it is non toxic. the one that was found to be toxic was because of metals and hydrophobic organics and not the plastic itself. also you are reading that 250g plastic/L as something else it is not what you think it means
CONCLUSIONS:
Toxic chemicals leached even during the short-term leaching in water, mainly from plasticized PVC and epoxy products.
but not for HDPE as you claimed.
not really well versed in this, but it seems you need to get another study that supports your claim.
"You don't need fancy equipment either. Just a ziplock style bag, a digital thermometer and a pot on the stove. It's super easy!"
http://www.chefsteps.com/activities/improvised-sous-vide-pot…
Tried and ended up getting the appliance… it was painstaking cooking chicken using your method which took 3+ hrs
Tinkerers can convert your existing appliances to thermoregulated slow cookers by making something similar to this:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/codlo/codlo-a-powerful-…
or buy one:
Though with the dropping prices of sous vide machines the incentive is decreased.
I have this (KS edition =P):
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/seattlefoodgeek/sansair…
works extremely well
Pfffff…. You call that a bargain……
Cobble one of these onto your old rice cooker and your done.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Digital-PID-Temperature-Controlle…
There you go, your next blog project waiting for you. ;)
In case I'm not the only one who didn't know what this thing is, I found a youtube review:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c40oNPDOL4E
Quick Summary: Sous Vide means "Under Vacuum" in French. This is for cooking vacuum sealed foods in heated water :)