Sous Vide - Anova Precision Cooker

The best gift I got this past holiday season was the Anova Precision Cooker.  I'd been researching sous-vide since mid-summer and held off on buying.  A few experiments I conducted on the stove-top had come out well.

Over the holidays I received the Anova and immediately put it to work on a prime-rib dinner for new years eve.  Since then I've cooked a number of dishes and nearly all have been successful.

On r1's dinner blog, it details my experiences with the Anova and sous-vide.

You can access these posts here:

General:

• Essential Sous-vide Quick Tips for the Home Cook

Equipment:

• Dutch oven
• 5 gallon pail
• Cooler
• Vacuum sealer
• Instant digital thermometer

Dishes:

• London broil
• Prime rib
• Prime tip roast
• Mashed potatoes
• Green beans
• Garlic confit
• Garlic confit chicken
• Chicken pot-pie
• Sirloin Steak

This post is a work in progress, so check back weekly for updates to the post and links!

Cooking Oil Fire-starters II

The original cooking oil fire-starters I described work great, however I've found something easier and better.

Required:
1 small cardboard box (or 2 brown paper lunch bags)
Shredded paper
Used cooking oil

Make sure the cardboard box is small enough to fit under your fire place grate.

Stuff it packed full of shredded paper.

Pour a little cooking oil into the open end.  A couple tablespoons will do it, and generally wont even come out the bottom of the box if you don't overdo it.  If you are using paper bags be careful as the oil can soak through the bag quickly.

Stick in the fire place and ignite.  These fire-starters work great.  One will typically get any hardwood fire going without fail.


Where do I get my used cooking oil?  Typically from frying either chicken cutlets or used oil from the deep fryer when it is shot.

Where do I get my shredded paper?  I keep a yard waste bag full of paper from my shredder.  Comes in handy for starting fires and occasionally packing small or fragile items.