I want to buy a water bath but I can’t find one. I have been looking online, but I haven’t found a single company that sells them in Australia, and I am not yet desperate enough to ship one from the States.
A search for sous vide returns a similarly frustrating result set. Has Australia not yet caught up? I bet no one has figured our what the perfect temeperature for cooking kangaroo is. Why shouldn’t it be my discovery? Imagine, one of the world’s healthiest meats becoming one of the tastiest. And who does the world have to thank? Moi.
My usual gripe with roo meat, as you would hear any Australian complain is that it is too hard to cook without becoming tough. Kangaroos are fit animals with hardly any intra-muscular fat, so it’s hard to keep the meat moist. Have you ever had a kangaroo steak that’s been thrown on the barbie and treated like it were a beef steak? Shudder.
But not only do I want a water bath to cook kangaroo. I want to see how vegetables behave and if I can make a ratattouille in it. I also want to try that 65C egg (at 67C).
Follow this link: http://discovermagazine.com/2006/feb/cooking-for-eggheads/article_view?b_start:int=1&-C=
22 comments
I too have been looking for a water bath for sous vide. Unfortunately I had this bright idea shortly after the dollar dropped into oblivion and importing one became a bit expensive. The only Australian supplier I have found is here http://www.johnmorris.com.au/traffic/julabo_sous-vide.html. I’ve emailed them but haven’t had any response. Also it’s an immersion heater setup which would be a bit clunky looking in the kitchen.
If I had thought about it when the Aussie dollar was almost on par with the US I would have ordered one of these: http://www.grantsousvide.com/expert_overview.asp. Sometimes importing is cheaper in the end than buying locally.
You would think that if the demand grows someone would come up with something like a domestic deep fryer with a lower range of available temperatures.
You may have found this link: http://amath.colorado.edu/~baldwind/sous-vide.pdf. An interesting article. Rather sad to read that fresh garlic is not good, and neither is extra virgin olive oil – both staples in my kitchen as both come from our garden (the olive oil with a little more effort).
I like my roo as kebabs, grilled very quickly so it’s still pink on the inside.
Further to previous comment …
I have now heard from a very nice sounding person from John Morris and I’m looking at this unit: http://www.johnmorris.com.au/ssl/store/zcust_displayproduct.asp?id=21195. Seems the immersion circulator set-up is the go.
However I’m holding off until after an overseas trip which has gone way over budget since dollar’s been in such a sad state. In the meantime I’m telling myself that it’s cheaper than my oven, it’s cheaper than the vaccuum packer and it’s tax deductible as a business expense. I’m hoping by February I’ll have convinced myself.
I’ve also bought a book by Thomas Keller called “Under Pressure – Cooking Sous Vide”. It’s available through Dymocks but much cheaper from Amazon. Ordered from Amazon a couple of weeks ago and it arrived this morning – weekend reading (I’m a cookbook-a-holic).
Maybe I’ll beat you to the roo coup!
Hi Barbara.
You’ve done some serious research there! Let me know if you get one. Did you get any prices yet?
I think Roo should be good. Sous Vide seems to be particularly suitable for protein since they set really nicely.
You are lucky to be able to make your own olive oil? Where do you get it pressed? Back in Lebanon, we used to take tonnes (literally) to the local stone press. It is the most beautiful thing you’ll ever see. Golden green and thick, unlike anything you get commercially. Check out this link for garlic as well
https://realtomato.com.au/
How come you can claim the sous vide as a tax deduction? Do you own a restaurant?
We have a small olive grove and press. Our press is a traditional mat style – a lot more hands-on than the stainless steel centrifugal presses that are more common, but you’re absolutely right, the golden green, thick oil which comes out of the mats is something else.
We press for other small growers in the Tamworth area but harvests have been very poor for the last two or three years because of the drought – next year’s will be better (if the floods don’t waterlog the trees). We have no product left from this year’s harvest so I’m hanging out for some olives myself.
So … we have a vaccuum packer for olives and olive mixes so a sous vide setup would allow us to extend our product range (and enjoy some nice meals).
The ED13 is $3,107 – quite a lot but not totally out of the question.
Thanks for the link to Patrice Newell’s site. I’m not a great fan of hers since I read her book, but that’s another story.
You must tell me when you have your next pressing. I would love to get some good quality olive oil locally. My family used to send me some every year but customs tightened down on that and now it’s been years since I last had some home grown stuff. You can check out some pictures from our trees back home here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/aineldelb/AinElDelb#
They are lovely things those trees, old and beautiful.
I haven’t tried Patrice Newell’s garlic. I was intrigued because the only garlic I would have tried is probably a cheap import. Her garlic looked nice, but I felt it was a bit over priced.
The Sous Vide is certainly more than an experimental home cook would be able to afford. I feel you’ll definetly win the Roo race.
Another way you can do it is by buying an accurate thermometer and using your oven on really low settings. If it is a good oven, you can get some stable heat out of it.
Have you tried the 65C egg yet? They’re fantastic.
Your photos are great. I lived in Greece for a while in the 70s and the old trees are so like what was everywhere over there. Our trees are more like the younger groves in your photos. Our oldest are only 10 years old – babies for olive trees!
I’ll certainly post again if I get the water bath and have a go at the sous vide. I do have a good oven but the more I read the more important the precise temperature appears to be and I don’t think my oven is that good. I’ll see if I can get a pot on the stovetop to hold at 65C long enough for the egg.
We’ll be pressing around May – will post when we have something you might like.
For you sous vide people – great article by Peter Black in Australian Gourmet Pages Newsletter
Contact Franz Scheurer – spirit@australiangormetpages.com
Ken M
km@portreevineyard.com.au
Thermoline Scientific have them. The bath heater circulators. http://www.thermoline.com.au
Sydney based Thermoline Scientific have these. See their range of uniststas or bath heater circulators.
http://www.thermoline.com.au
Have a look at the Thermoline Scientific sous-vide heater circulators and baths, from what I hear, they are some of the best in the business.
Have a look at http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=8&products_id=110
I've just bought one of these, and I'm trying it out on a converted deep fryer…..watch this space….
http://thermoline.com.au/chefsmart.html?gclid=CL-Hn-P3x50CFQMupAod4grDtA
Thermoline in Sydney
02 9604 3911
Best around.
There is a new Australian business manufacturing sous vide water bath controllers for rice cookers and slow cookers.
http://www.sousvideathome.com.au
Hi Guys,
Actually John Morris have both immersion type and bath type units. We have the very high quality german brand Julabo which is extremely temperature sensitive as well as cheaper brands similar to the thermoline mentioned above.
Don't forget that when cooking in this fashion 4 things are very important:
a) quality of ingredients
b) preparation of the food – the way it is sealed
c) duration of cooking and
d) temperature control.
Temperature control is very important because it is the gentle breakdown of proteins which maintains the natural texture of the food. The gentle and sealed cooking also seal in the flavours and nutrients.
For more information of course you can always call JMS on 1800 251 799 and yes I work for John Morris.
All the best
Andre
Hi there,
Regethermic from Sydney also sell the German Julabo sous-vide products. Regethermic are experts in catering technology and know what they are talking about. They have excellent connections in the industry and even offer sous-vide cooking classes.
http://www.regethermic.com.au/Content_Common/pg-Sous-vide.seo
http://www.regethermic.com.au
Cheers,
Tobias
You need to check out the Sous Vide Supreme. This great sous vide water bath is now available in Australia and is great for the home cook and the restaurant chef. It’s not as messy and complicated as some of the immersion circulators on the market and is very easy to use. Check it out here:
http://sous-vide-supreme.com.au/
Call Rely in Melbourne. I have bought the sous vide which I love, the irinox blast chiller, the vacuum packer and the Pacojet.
Still learning.
Also have a look clifton foodrange models
Very good quality
http://www.cliftonfoodrange.com.au
Put a thermometer into your slow cooker on low and high and measure the temp. my sunbeam slow cooker sits at 65 deg C on low and on 100 on high. does not give precise temp control but to have a play and see how things go it is a cheap way to get into sous vide!
As mentioned above by Sherly, we have a large Sous Vide range:
http://www.relyservices.com.au/commercial-kitchen-products/sous-vide-equipment/
Or you can find our contact details here:
http://relyservices.com.au/contact.php
I thought it is worth mentioning that my brother in law and I are working on putting together a immersion circulator kit (built and DIY versions) you can see an early prototype here: http://www.theroguegourmet.com/blog/2011/11/10/future-rogue-gourmet-story-highlighted-on-lifehacker.com/. The basic unit will be built for use with a eske type cooler and our goal is to keep the kit under $250. Our early models keep temperatures within 1/10 of a degree C. We are building the units to be compatible with AU, UK, and US power. We are spending a lot of time working on the user interface building in temperature settings for different food types and doneness, as well as a timer setting to assure proper pasteurization. Leave a note on the post I have linked above if you interested, and I will send a note when we have a completed kit.
Hi There,
Does anyone know of any Sous Vide courses going around that i can attend?