Sous Vide from cold water?

I'm looking forward to getting my Joule when they ship, and start trying sous vide. A lazy question - do you have to wait until the water is at the desired temperature to put the food into the water? Can a lazy guy like me just get everything set up at once, including the food in the water, at first and walk away?

I assume the answer is "no", but i'd be crazy to not ask.

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brian_martin2001

I recommend against it, for 2 reasons.

1. Quality of the food: if you have food in the water bath as it's heating up, the food will be heating up with the water. Once it gets about a certain temperature, the food actually starts cooking, even though it still may have a ways to go, temperature wise. While food will not get burnt, as with traditional cooking, you can still overcook food sous vide. It takes longer time: you have much more wiggle room when cooking sous vide, but texture can deteriorate, it can dry out, etc.

2. Safety of the food: While the water heats up, the food is going to be exposed to the "danger zone" of temperatures. This is the range of temperatures which most bacteria associated with food find favorable to grow in. While the bacteria themselves will be killed of once the water has gotten up to temperature, there still can be negative and potentially dangerous effects. Some bacteria produce a toxic substance when germinating, which is not killed off by the heat. Some bacteria produce spores which are incredibly resistant to harsh environments (such as the acid in your stomach) and can remain dormant until they reach your intestines. Searing the exterior of the food can eliminate some of this, but there is no way to ensure that all bacteria has been killed off, if there was bacteria.

While there is a much lesser risk of bacterial complications with most of the developed world, there is still a risk, and these are reasons why I personally wait for the bath to come up to temperature before putting the food in. Good luck!

fisher23

I agree with @brian_100903 but I would note that it doesn't take much time to get up to temp if you fill your container with hot water rather than cold.

jimplante

First, as to food quality, as long as it's a short cook, an extra half-hour or so won't hurt a pork chop or steak. That's one of the dandy things about sous vide. If folks are late for dinner, just leave the fish or steak in the bag until they arrive, then sear and serve.

Second, as to bacteria: You will *never* get rid of all bacteria unless you stick the bagged food under a serious source of gamma or x- radiation, which you do not have. If you're doing a half-dozen big steaks in a large vat of water with the Joule, the device will require some time to raise all that water to temp; you'll be in the danger zone (40-140°F) for a long enough time for bacteria to multiply, possibly to dangerous levels. So in this case, I would heat the water to full temp before beginning to cook. Or maybe I'd just pour boiling water into the bath, and dilute it with cold water to just below the target temp.

I frequently cook pork chops right out of the freezer and into the sous vide oven with only warm water into it. A ¾" chop takes about 40 minutes to come to 138*F, so toss in a couple of frozen ones when the temp is 90°, and cook for 1:15. Check the final internal temp with a probe thermometer to see if it worked. If not, give it a few more minutes.

So my answer is "Yes, you can do that. But be careful and use your head."

A_Saunders_30503

I'm going to agree with Jim, if your water gets to temp quickly enough (<30 mins) which it should, then it will make no difference for most recepies.

artstype

Unless you are cooking something that requires a very high temp, just use hot top water. If you have a decent thermometer, just monitor the water temp as you fill your pot/whatever you are cooking in, you should be able to get it close to cooking temp as you fill.

Alan_J_Steinberg_65878

I do lots of sous vide. I often put the product in the water bath when turning on my Polyscience IC. Works for me all of the time.