
Can Cinder, the World's Most Precise Griddle, Replace Sous-Vide? - Doubleguitars
http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/10/worlds-most-precise-griddle-replace-sous-vide.html
======
CoolGuySteve
Sous-vide is amazing but I can't believe how expensive they typically are.

Because I couldn't believe it, I built my own for $45 using weird things from
amazon. It didn't even take any electrical work or programming and can be
setup in about a minute:

Cheap fish tank pump:
[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EWENKXO](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EWENKXO)

Cheap hot plate:
[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005T0SN0K](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005T0SN0K)

And the star of the show, a temperature modulator with a standard plug:
[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V4TJR00](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V4TJR00)

Put a pot of water on the hot plate, insert fish tank pump, plug hot plate
into the Willhi. Put your meat into a regular ziplock bag, leaving it open,
dip it into the water. The pressure of the water will cause the air to leave
the bag, creating a vacuum (you can find many demonstrations of this technique
on youtube). Clip the bag to the side of the pot using some clothes pins. Bam!
DYI sous vide.

Generally it maintains the temperature within +/\- 1 degree Fahrenheit, which
is good enough for a rare steak. I had this incredibly dangerous coffee
heating element at first, which could keep the temperature within 0.1 degree,
but decided it was too dangerous to be worth it:
[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V4TJR00](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V4TJR00)

I then use a $25 Iwatani torch to char the surface:
[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BBJC1CY](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BBJC1CY)

As opposed to most butane cooking torches, this one seems to produce a large
hot flame about 20 centimeters long and the diameter of a quarter.

Not to take away from this griddle or anything, but I'm pretty psyched about
my sous vide machine and it was too easy to make just to not tell everyone
that will listen.

~~~
justifier
so simple diy setup..

some questions:

first two links:

    
    
       And the star of the show, a temperature modulator with a standard plug: http://..
    

and

    
    
         but decided it was too dangerous to be worth it: http://..
    

were the same:
[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V4TJR00](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V4TJR00)
; was this intentional?

second, does that little water pump handle the heat?

lastly, did you just bend up the heating element and place it directly in the
water?

~~~
alexhawdon
I assume he's using the hotplate as-is with a large pan of water on top and
the thermostat controlling power to the hotplate and the temperature probe in
the water.

If Steve could continue to be a Cool Guy (sorry!) and confirm that would be
wonderful because I've just been to Amazon to try and create a similar set-up.

Another implementation question: does the pump need a pipe connected to it, or
is it sufficient as-is?

For those in the UK, here's what I ordered: Pump -
[http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BVK966C](http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BVK966C)
Thermostat -
[http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BVYCZ84](http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BVYCZ84)
Hot plate -
[http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00A4DE35G](http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00A4DE35G)

Yes, it is all frighteningly cheap and I'm not going to leave it running
unattended!

~~~
CoolGuySteve
Yes that's it, the hot plate is being used as a normal hot plate, but its
power is being controlled by the thermocouple.

The pump is used as is, fully submersed in the water with no tubes. All it
does is agitate the water to make the heating more evenly dispersed.

Your setup looks good, I was going to buy a similar control unit to yours
until I found the Willhi version that just used regular outlets. The thing
with this box is you have to do a little bit of wiring work to set it up.
Turned out to be cheaper for me to buy the already assembled outlet version
than the components for it.

I think you can already find tutorials online about people connecting this
non-outlet style of thermocouple to a slow cooker to make a sous vide. That
was my original plan until I sleuthed out this cheaper design. So check those
tutorials out.

The best thing about sous vide is that you can "set it and forget it", you
should thoroughly leave it unattended because it's so amazingly convenient.

------
reverend_gonzo
J Kenji's articles on Serous Eats are phenomenal. It's what got me started
sous vide cooking, as well thinking about cooking in a whole new way.

I highly recommend anyone who hasn't read any of his stuff to do so,
regardless of whether you like to cook or not.

~~~
pen2l
Can you please link to some "highlights"? Some must-reads from seriouseats? I
like Kenji too, but I only started following him just recently.

~~~
rdw
[http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/08/the-food-lab-complete-
gui...](http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/08/the-food-lab-complete-guide-to-
sous-vide-burger.html)

[http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/02/the-best-
buffalo-...](http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/02/the-best-buffalo-
wings-oven-fried-wings-recipe.html)

This one made the news when it came out, because it's totally fun and great:

[http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/05/the-burger-
lab-h...](http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/05/the-burger-lab-how-to-
make-perfect-mcdonalds-style-french-fries.html)

------
xyzzyyy
Answer from article: No

~~~
caipre
See:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headline...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headlines)

------
bootload
_" Entering the fray next year is the Cinder, a countertop cooking device that
promises to deliver sous-vide-level precision without the bags and the water
bath."_

I've been critical before on technology solving home as opposed to commercial
cooking, this statement alone using a technical approach to avoid waste of
water and removal of plastic from cooking is fantastic.

 _" Sous-vide cooking excels at tenderizing typically tough cuts while
maintaining juiciness through prolonged, often multi-day cooks that break down
connective tissue while also conveniently storing released juices in its
bag."_

Why is a sous-vide better than a pressure cooker here?

~~~
rdw
Sous-vide is better for some dishes because the temperature is controlled, and
generally low. If you want a rare steak, the temperature should be 120 F
([http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/06/food-lab-complete-
guide-t...](http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/06/food-lab-complete-guide-to-
sous-vide-steak.html)). A pressure cooker, because it relies on steam, will
always cook above 212 F. That's awesome for a lot of dishes (chili!
[http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/pressure-
cook...](http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/pressure-cooker-chili-
recipe.html)), but for many meat preparations it's overcooking.

One dish that I have directly compared sous-vide against more traditional
techniques is pork shoulder. My "traditional" technique is oven-cooking, a
process that takes 6 hours at 325 F. In sous-vide, the shoulder takes longer,
more like 24-72 hours, but the temperature is lower, 135 F
([http://sousvidely.com/sous-vide-pulled-pork/](http://sousvidely.com/sous-
vide-pulled-pork/)). Also, it's in a bag. The sous-vide version is better in
many ways -- it's got more juice and color and tastes fresher -- and it's way
easier because I don't have to turn and baste it every 2 hours.

But yeah, I don't love the consumables of sous-vide. I reuse bags and water
whenever I can.

~~~
bootload
thanks @rdw, that is a great explanation.

------
xivzgrev
The test sounded promising vs sous vide.

I demand a Pepsi challenge.

I just can't believe this thing would end up as juicy being exposed to the air
like that.

~~~
lifekaizen
That is a good idea, I'll look into doing that!

------
grhmc
In an article all about how precision cooking is changing the world:

> That said, precision isn't really needed when searing, just high heat.

~~~
showerst
Searing is just one step in the process.

I have a pricey high tech anova sous-vide circulator which is great for
getting steaks to the perfect done-ness, then I use a decidedly low-tech $15
lodge cast iron pan to get that perfect finish.

Right tool for the job, etc etc.

~~~
pen2l
You could use a blow torch for searing-- hell lot less hassle, and so much
quicker.

~~~
rdw
Not enough new tech involved! Consider getting a Searzall to solve that
problem:
[http://www.bookeranddax.com/searzall/](http://www.bookeranddax.com/searzall/)

~~~
reverend_gonzo
I have a blowtorch and a bought a Searzall for it. While it's a really cool
device, I've found I prefer blowtorching my steaks normally as it provides a
higher temperature.

I feel the Searzall works better for things like melting cheese, lightly
toasting bread, or otherwise browning things without too much heat.

~~~
pen2l
How does the blowtorch work for things like melting cheese, toasting bread,
etc.? Or is that just not feasible?

edit: wait a minute, it seems that Searzall is basically just an addon _to_ a
normal blowtorch. So if you just take off the "Searzall" addon, you are left
with a normal blowtorch. (Or am I misunderstanding something here? Please
confirm!)

~~~
reverend_gonzo
Yeah, exactly, the Searzall attaches to a blowtorch. It reduces the heat and
spreads it out over a larger space.

For steaks, I prefer to get oil very hot in a cast iron, then put the steak in
the cast iron, while torching each side for 30-45 seconds. (Also got that off
a Kenji article.)

