how many of you are using a sous vide before any of your grilling?

[hawgheaven]

Well, being who I am, I repurposed an old Igloo cooler:



Notched out one corner of the lid to clear the unit...



The Anova unit you see there is an early model that is still rockin' after many years of use. Love this setup, it is a workhorse!

[CurtP]

I don't like the texture or the lack of flavor of sous vide.  It ends up tasting like whatever you put in the bag.  Reminds me of the Banquet cooking bag dinners of the 1970s.

[powermatt99]

I don't like the texture or the lack of flavor of sous vide.  It ends up tasting like whatever you put in the bag.  Reminds me of the Banquet cooking bag dinners of the 1970s.

Texture is tricky for sure. That is a function of cooking time. I had some flank steak virtually turn into pot roast even at medium temps. There's some good time guides out there that will help.

As for flavor, I hear you. The plastic bag becomes a closed environment so everything in the bag becomes part of the flavor of your meal, for better or worse. If you season the same way you do for traditional cooking, you'll probably be over seasoning. This is where instructions and many sous vide youtube vids come up short. Say you grill a 12oz ribeye. You may season with a tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp pepper per side. Once it hits the grill, you lose some of the salt and pepper to gravity. Some of the pepper burns away and most of the salt becomes part of the delicious seared crust, never making its way to the inner parts of the steak. In the bag, however, anything soluble will make its way inside the steak. So, if you throw three cloves of garlic and a sprig of rosemary in there, its gonna taste like three cloves of garlic and a sprig of rosemary (actually three cloves of garlic and a christmas tree).

Personally, I like the challenges sous vide cooking poses, much like the challenges of grilling and BBQ. I've definitely screwed some stuff up in the sous vide, but I've screwed up hundreds of dollars of meet on a weber too. I've also made some meals that my guests still talk about several years later. It's part of the artistry and science of this hobby.

[blksabbath]

I made my sous vide with a cheap temp controller and crock pot.  It works perfectly, although there's no circulation.  I could add an aquarium pump to move the water I guess.

I did a brisket a few weeks ago...24hrs in the pot the 6 hrs on my WSM.  The family and friends were very impressed.


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[Bob BQ]

I made my sous vide with a cheap temp controller and crock pot.  It works perfectly, although there's no circulation.  I could add an aquarium pump to move the water I guess.

I did a brisket a few weeks ago...24hrs in the pot the 6 hrs on my WSM.  The family and friends were very impressed.

@Dan, where did you pick up the temp controller?

[blksabbath]

@Bob BQ
https://www.amazon.com/bayite-Fahrenheit-Digital-Temperature-Controller/dp/B011VGASLW/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=temp+controller&qid=1560866926&s=gateway&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1

The only thing I've encountered is that the one I used has 150*F as the max temp, unless there is a parameter I need to change.  The one in the link lists 220*F which is the max you can use for sous vide anyways....since water boils around 212*F. 
Aside from the controller you need a cord, outlet, and an electrical box to house it.  I got the box from Lowes.

You can borrow mine if you want to take it for a test drive.  Maybe do a rump roast at 136*F for 36-48hrs with just salt and pepper, then a quick sear.  You'll want one.

[dogman]

I do the po-man's Sue Veed since I'm batching it.

I cook a bunch of rosemary garlic potatos and a pot of beans. I vacuum seal everything into serving size portions and freeze it. Tonight I had a leftover salmon filet with basmati rice, and while I was reheating the salmon in the oven I took a bag of potatos and a bag of beans out of the freezer chest and put them both in a wide pan of simmering water and just let it go on simmer for about 30 minutes. Had a nice meal with minimal effort. Of course there was effort, but the thing with this is I can cook more when I have time and enjoy it when I have less time.

[crizpynutz]

I have never sous vide before but it sounds like another tool in the cooking tool belt that would be worth a try.  I'm still a beginner at smoking and grilling with charcoal so I'm happy to keep working on that.  I did see a video that does sort-of sous vide by cooking the steak in a dishwasher (in vac sealed bag of course).  That was....interesting.