Hank Cooks Underwater--Do YOU?

An Anova device, in a clear pan just for demo

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I know I’m the last person you expect to talk about this, but I have found a wonderful new cooking method. I mean it’s not new, but it’s new to me, and it’s fantastic. 

(First, thank you thank you thank you to all of you… Debs and I have both had incredibly marvelously wonderful successful launch weeks, more fabulous than I ever could’ve hoped for THE HOUSE GUEST, and Debs' A KILLING OF INNOCENTS is unstoppable, and I know this is we are both very grateful to you all!)

Now back to our regular programming. 

Do you ever cook with sous vide? It  means “under vacuum,” and it’s a method where you put the food in a plastic bag, immerse it in a water bath, and then insert a special gizmo that circulates the water at a constant temperature for a certain amount of time.  And that’s how the food cooks.

I know it sounds weird, but there you have it, and I have to tell you, Reds and Readers, it is so remarkable and reliable for steak or chicken or salmon, or hamburgers, or pork chops or lamb chops, that I can’t even begin to tell you! It is also staggeringly successful with vegetables. 

This is the device--I have an Anova

When the food comes out of the water bath, encased in the almost airtight plastic, the meat looks terrible, because it’s not brown. But it is perfectly cooked! And then you put a cast-iron pot on the stove, put a tiny bit of olive oil in it, turn it up till it shimmers, and then throw the sous vide food onto the super-hot oil for maybe 30 seconds a side. So it sears. (I almost burned the house down the first time I tried it, so be aware.)

You know how when you cook chicken or beef in the broiler or oven, it inevitably cooks less in the thicker parts, and more in the thinner or narrower parts. That doesn’t happen in a sous vide. So a medium rare steak is medium rare from end to middle to end. The chicken breast is succulent and tender and perfect throughout. Hamburgers too. It’s amazing! I cannot sing its  praises highly enough.  (I guess you’re realizing that.)

The weird part is that it takes a while.( But you don’t have to do a thing during that time.) So a steak takes an hour. Chicken breasts take two hours. But you just turn on the water bath, let it come to temperature, put in the whatever-it- is, set the timer, and then it bings when  it’s done. You don’t have to do a thing, so it is fabulously simple. I am in love with it. All I can say. Anyone else cook with the sous vide method? 

RHYS BOWEN:  We have a sous vide( bought by gadget master John who tries everything then discards it ) this was discarded because it did indeed take too long and was bland . But I have a new cooking method to share that I tried this week. Roasting eye of round. You preheat oven to 500. Rub the roast with olive oil and herbal seasonings. Put in for five minutes a pound then simply turn the oven off and leave the roast for 2 hours. It was so tender!  And any recipe that says leave alone and it cooks itself is my kind of cooking! ( but I did make Yorkshire pudding)

HANK: Oh, yes, no, you have to put seasonings in the bag. For salmon, I put toasted sesame oil, and lemon olive oil. For steak garlic and soy sauce. For chicken, balsamic vinaigrette. The flavors infuse.  Then when you sear for 30 seconds, it all caramelizes. Amazing.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I find the idea fascinating, but I’m more of a soup/casserole/stir-fry type of cook, so I don’t think I’d get much use out of it. (My kids lovingly say all my dinners are just different flavors of glop. At least, I think that’s meant lovingly..)

I love set it and forget it dinners, though. My favorite appliance for years has been the old-fashioned Crock Pot/slow cooker. I use it at least once a week for chili, baked beans, BBQ beef and peppers, etc. I love excellent, intricate cooking, I really do, but I don’t have the patience for it. That’s what I go over to Celia’s house for!

HALLIE EPHRON: I’m fascinated by the idea of sous vide and we have a dear friend/wonderful chef who swears by it. (He’s also a bread machine baker.)But I confess I’m wary of anything that involves plastic and heat and food. Also I have a small kitchen, barely big enough for the “conveniences” I already have. Which by the way does not include a crock pot. What I wish I had is a decent waffle iron–the one I have is teflon coated and still the waffles stick. Also I swear by my immersion blender and mandolin.

LUCY BURDETTE: I believe you Hank, but it still sounds weird to me too! I’m with Julia on soups and stir frys, and Hallie, lately I’ve been yearning for a waffle iron. We don’t have a lot of counter space left either–John has become obsessed with making his own sparkling water and lots of coffee accouterments too. Plus the toaster oven, toaster, cuisinart, stand mixer. I have to draw a line somewhere! Hank, you will need to have us all over for dinner to show us the light!

HANK: I will! It’s astonishing.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Maybe we should start a soup and stir fry club… Those are our kind of meals, too. No sous vide here. Absolutely no storage room in my kitchen for another gadget. I love my Instant Pot but it is ginormous, and I'd cut off my arm before I gave up my decade old rice maker. (I know you can cook rice in the Instant Pot but I don't trust it.) 

But, Rhys, I'm so interested in your high heat roast. We thought about trying that for our Christmas rib roast, but chickened out. Next time I will ask you for tips!

JENN McKINLAY: I have never heard of this and it sounds fascinating. I absolutely love the idea of so little work involved in cooking. Since Hub is the chef in our house, I'll mention it to him and see if he wants to give it a go.

HANK: Yes I know it sounds so weird, and unlikely. But all you need is the pot you use for pasta, and an immersion thing that’s SO SMALL! About as big as an immersion blender or a curling iron.. There’s no huge equipment necessary. It’s amazing. How about you, Reds and Readers? Any sous viders?