Sous vide immersion cookers make perfectly cooked steaks, and yogurt, turn tough beef fork-tender, and even can be used to defrost a turkey! Not only can you defrost a turkey, you can cook it with an immersion cooker, too.
Anova Sous Vide Immersion Cooker
Summary
This is the Anova Nano Sous Vide Immersion Cooker. It has both an app to remotely set it and controls on the machine. It’s small so it will fit in a drawer. Of the units tested by America’s Test Kitchen, it is also the most accurate.
Why Use an Immersion Cooker?
A sous vide immersion cooker is a kitchen appliance that has gained popularity among home cooks and professional chefs for its ability to precisely cook food to a desired level of doneness by immersing it in a water bath at a controlled temperature.
Full Review
Sous vide can be used in so many ways. When I made my beef ribs, the ribs defrosted in the sink with the immersion cooker and then spent time cooking to finally get grilled to perfection.
This is also great for making your own yogurt. You can make it as thick or thin as you like, add whatever fruit or flavorings you want.
How about a nice, juicy, tender steak? How about a filet mignon? Not into paying for a filet mignon? You don’t have to. The longer food cooks in the water bath, the more tender it gets. You can take a relatively tough piece of meat, like chuck roast, sous vide it for 48 hours and have fork-tender meat that will rival your local steakhouse.
Did you buy a frozen turkey and forget to put it in the refrigerator to thaw? You can’t use the microwave because a turkey won’t fit. Defrosting in water is difficult because the water won’t stay at a consistent temperature. Well, let me tell you, your turkey is saved! Keep the turkey in its bag, set it in water, put an immersion cooker in with it, set it to 39 F / 3.8 C, and set the time to 30 minutes per pound. If you have a 12-pound turkey, it will be thawed in about 6 hours. Keeping the water at that temperature prevents spoilage.
Recommended Accessories
Vacuum Sealer
A vacuum sealer is the preferred method for sous vide because it takes all the air out. It keeps the air out so you can fully submerge the food for even cooking. We recommend the Nesco *vacuum sealer.
Bag Holder
I recommend using a *bag holder when you only have two hands. Use your hands to hold the spoon or food. The bag holder will hold the bag.
Notes
If you want to get a good crust on a sous vide steak, it’s important to wipe as much moisture away as possible. Moisture makes the food boil at 212 F / 100 C so it never reaches a temperature to cause the Maillard reaction when food starts to char at 350 F / 165 C.
