www.sausagemaking.org

saucisson wrote:I did my ham on the stove the old fashioned way in the end because I discovered my vac bags weren't suitable for "boil in the bag/sous vide" I've ordered in some different ones.

Out of curiosity (and the fact that the wife and kids are visiting gramma/pa in Oz) i did a Sirloin in a deep pan of water on the stove top. Vac packed it and tried to maintain 135F. I had the time to sit around and monitor the water temps..however with my cooker i had a lot of difficulty maintaining 135F effectively. Ultimately, I ended up with a "well done" Sous vide steak. And let me say this, it wasn't the best steak I've eaten, however, it was the best "well done" steak i've ever eaten. Like i said..it was well done, but, it wasn't dry like a pan fried or grilled steak. It was juicy and flavorful, just not the texture i like in a steak.
So, as alluded to in this post....the "constant" temp is definitely the key. I've got some other sausage/salami projects planned that are taking up my time....but I will either build or buy a Sous Vide controller soon.
I think that sous vide could be done on a stove top, maybe a cooker that has finer control than mine.
I'm not giving up...even the well done steak was inspiring

Dingo,

There's some information on the web about doing short duration sous vide using a beer cooler and hot water that you pour in and stir.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/04/cook ... -hack.html

Probably easier to control than a pot on a stove top, imo.

Thanks Wunderdave....i'll give that a try soon.

You may be interested in this: I compiled some time ago what I think is one of the most comprehensive list of sous-vide resources here (guides, tables, providers, technique, recipes, tips...) The text is in Spanish, but most links are in English. I add new links regularly.

And also food-safety links here, mostly related to sous-vide safety.

I finally got round to making a SV cooker. The main parts are a 12l cool box and an element from a value kettle from Tesco, a solid state relay to switch power to the element, a tiny aquarium pump to circulate the water and the Arduino board to control the ssr and display the data on a LCD display.





The rotary encoder is used to set-up the the desired temperature and cooking time which are also data-logged on an SD card.



You can see the tempreature probe to the right of the pump and a glass thermometer at the bottom to check against the temp probe.

Now I've tested it I need to get in all wired up properly and put the electronics and a box. All in all, once I've finished it, it'll come to around £45 and will have taken me a weeks worth of evenings to build. First to be cooked is duck breasts for a Valentines meal tonight. A mate gave me one of his last pheasants of the season so that'll be done for friends coming over tomorrow.

Cheers,
Jamie

cottage industry?

I'll order!!

Awesome

Wow!!!

I got one of these for my Birthday on Monday... http://www.robertdyas.co.uk/giles-posne ... wwodgSYACA

No where near so magnificent as yours, but my first impressions on using it are favourable

48hr cooked pulled pork tonight

Cool!

Our Anova sous vide machine has just shipped, can't wait for it to arrive!