- FOOD DEHYDRATOR
- SOUS VIDE
- THERMOMIX
- THERMOMETER / FOAM TAPE
- FINE DIGITAL SCALE
- MANDOLIN
- ICE CREAM MACHINE
- PASTRY CUTTERS
- VACUUM MACHINE
- WISHLIST
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1. EXCALIBUR FOOD DEHYDRATOR
I’ve searched the internet for food dehydrators and came across the one from Excalibur. They suppose to have an ingenious system where the air is blown from the back of the machine over the different layers inside the machine. I have the STARTER model.
2. SOUS VIDE (Auberins Sous Vide Cooking Controller & Commercial Rice Cooker)
Immersion circulators or water baths are extremely expensive. While browsing through the eG Forums I came across a home solution to sous vide. Someone on the forum linked to an article on the website of Wired of Nathan Myhrvold adventures with sous vide. From this article I was directed to the website of Auberins. They have a Cooking Controller (other models can also be used for smokers, coffee machines and more) which, in combination with a rice cooker, replicates a water bath. You plug the power cable of a rice cooker into the controller and add the thermometer (from the controller) in the water of the rice cooker. The Cooking Controller will monitor and regulate the temperature of the water in the rice cooker by supplying it with pockets of electricity. Any sudden changes in the temperature of the water will automatically be corrected by the controller to match the value you entered in the machine. I’ve used it for some time now and must say the temperature control is outstanding. I have a large commercial rice cooker, the recommendation of Auberins. Check their recommended setup here (make sure you don’t by a rice cooker that is electronically controlled, it has to have a mechanical switch).
3. VORWERK THERMOMIX TM21
A thermomix is a high quality, professional blender with the ability to regulate the temperature in the range of 40°C-100°C. This gives the possibility to create custards, soups, sabayons, gels, butters without any effort. Besides the blender aspect, the Vorwerk Thermomix comes with different components (called Varoma, not in the pictures) to steam food and a lot of other applications. In the second picture you can see the mixing knife and the butterfly attachment used for stirring or whipping ingredients. I’ve bought the older model, the TM21 (from 2001), second hand from an online auction website, because the new model, the TM31, is quite expensive and does not differ significantly from the new model.
4. THERMOWORKS THERMOMETER THS-181 / FOAM TAPE
This is a high quality thermometer with a thin needle end. This is especially handy when piercing meat, because the damage when poking into it is minimal and for checking the temperature of food in sous vide bags, in combination with foam tape, without losing the vacuum. The back of the thermometer is magnetic and it has a 1m cable, so it can be positioned for example on the oven while giving you control to insert the needle into your desired content (that sounds so wrong).
Foam tape is an isolation agent used in housing. You can attach it to sous vide bags and pierce the plastic with a thermometer without loosing the vacuum. There are different varieties. I went with the ones pictured below, because it looked similar to the one I saw used in a video on sous vide cooking.
5. SALTER 1250 ULTRA FINE DIGITAL SCALE
A must have piece of equipment when cooking the recipes from the book. This Salter scale has a range of 0,1g-250g and is accurate to 0,1g. Everything in the book is given in weight, even the smallest amount of salt. It is especially useful for specialty ingredients, like sodium citrate, gellan, citric acid, and more, because the slightest weight variation can give an entirely different end product. The scale is not that expensive, so I recommend purchasing one.
6. BENRINER MANDOLIN
A lovely Japanese mandolin by Benriner for all the utlra fine slicing. Only worry about not cutting your finger tips off like the guy on Hell’s Kitchen.
7. NEMOX GELATISSIMO ICE CREAM MACHINE
This is a domestic ice cream machine from Nemox with a freezing element, so there is no need to put a part of the machine in the freezer for 24 hours before making ice cream. The problem is that the machine slowly turns the content and not breaks it up enough with large ice crystals as a consequence. This is not helped by the fact that when the ice cream cools is clings on the mixture element and is not mixed, it just spins in circles. Not recommended, but it’s all I have.
8. PASTRY CUTTERS.
They are used to cut out perfect circles from 2 to 12 cm. I did not had them for the cauliflower risotto, but couldn’t resist purchasing them for the grapefruit lollies. They double quite nicely for regular ring molds used for the presentation of food.
9. HENKELMAN JUMBO PLUS
This is one of the best kitchen appliances there is. It is used throughout the book for sous vide, breaking down cell walls (compress food) and dry ingredients. You can also cook vegetables under vacuum to excellent results. They keep all their color, flavor and don’t loose their bite. Besides cooking, a vacuum machine is handy for storing food, especially if you are gonna freeze it. I have a professional Henkelman compact machine, type Jumbo Plus.
10. WISHLIST
– pH-meter
– Professional compact electric slicer
– Professional/Home ice cream maker
Hi there
Excellent site and very inspirational. I have the same cookbook and I have yet to try any of the dishes. Just a quick question really on your equipment, and specifically the sous vide temp controller from Auberins. May I ask where you bought this from?
Cheers
Gary
He Gary, I got mine from Auberins.com.
http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=13&zenid=4e8bf202cfe2fa7c53ea372b7de13ba7.
I’m happy with their service. You have multiple controllers, I bought the ‘Sous Vide Cooking Controller’.
How important is the Thermomix? I live in the US and the company does not sell nor does it support their products here. It seems that it is a useful composite of many appliances but (and here is my question) does it do anything special that you could not do with individual appliances?
Thanks for keeping up your blog it is very useful and inspirational!
Miguel
It is mostly used with Gellan. Off the top of my head I know the black pudding (pigeon dish) and a langoustine oil ask for constant stirring at an exact temperature.
Of the equipment I don’t think it is the most important, it just is extremely convenient. One major factor in buying it was that I needed a strong blender/food processor and those are expensive and the second hand thermomix was about the same price as an ok food processor, but it is (a couple of times) more powerful and has all kinds of other functionalities.
In short, it is mostly a luxury item and if you have not got it that is not a problem.
Hi, first of all; great blog!
I have a question about your sous-vide setup; can you elaborate on how that temperature controller works exactly?
From what I read it looks like you only use that to keep an eye on the temperate. no? But that would mean you have to constantly be around, so cooking some meat for two days on low temp isn’t an option, or have I understood it wrong? (which I hope)
Thanks!
Hi Harmen,
I can’t explain the exact technical specifics, but it monitors AND controls the temperature.
The setup boils down to this: you connect the power cable of a rice cooker to the Cooking Controller, plunge the thermometer of the Cooking Controller in the water of the rice cooker and connect the power cable of the Cooking Controller to your electricity network.
So, the rice cooker is not directly powered, but is supplied with electricity by the Cooking Controller. The controller sends out pockets of electricity and in combination with the thermometer regulates the temperature of the water. You can enter a temperature into the Cooking Controller and it will heat or let the water cool to the desired temperature. If the temperature drops, due to, for instance, a big piece of cold meat, the Cooking Controller will automatically bring back the temperature to what you entered in the machine. There is no need to hang around your sous-vide setup.
I will change the info to give a more detailed description.
Thanks for your the detailed information.
That’s good to know! What a great device then 🙂
I have to get me one of those things. And a Henkelman Jumbo thingy and I’m all set 🙂
Thanks again!
Have you seen or tried the SousVide Supreme? It is a bit more expensive (about 30%) than the setup you use, but appears more convenient — and aesthetically pleasing.
Anyone tried it?
Thanks and keep up the blog!
M
I’ve seen it on Ruhlman’s blog, and it looks good. It looks more like the water baths, Roner and Grant, common in Europe (immersion circulators are far more rare over here).
http://www.cookingconcepts.co.uk/ronerbath.htm
http://www.grantsousvide.com/Pages/home.aspx (Fat Duck uses them)
However the setup I use is less expensive: 140 for the controller and about 100 (variable) for a rice cooker, while I read the supreme is about 500.
Miguel, do you think the rice cooker setup is more expensive or is the supreme less expensive?
Hey! I was thinking of buying the same thermometer.
could you please give me some info on the following (the info displayed on their page doesnt include this:
Can you use it in the oven with high temp?
I dont think it has a timer, but please confirm…
ah! and I think it has an auto shut off system, so you cannot leave it and wait till it reaches the desired temp, right?
And last, can you set the alarm to let you know when it reaches the temperature you are aiming to get?
Thanks a lot. Cheers,
Íñigo (Umami Madrid’s)
hullo,
If you want a thermometer that has an alarm function,I use this very cheap one,it was only 6 pounds.
The temp can be set and when it is reached it beeps loudly, it also has a timer built in.
doris
Nope, it doesn’t do any of that stuff. I’ve always wanted a thermometer with the functions you describe, but they are horrendously expensive. The one from Thermoworks does not have any of the functions you mention.
Thanks!
First of all, great site!
I just want to ask you how big, or how many litres your rice cooker can contain. It looks big to me 🙂
Anders
Yep, it is quite large. I think you need it (especially when cooking multiple items), because the dimensions of a rice cooker are far from perfect for a water bath, so if you want something to work with a large rice cooker is a necessity.
I have a 4,2 liter or 24 cup model. Note that with rice cookers this is not the maximum water content, but has something to do with the number of uncooked cups of rice.
The next time I use it I’ll check how much water it will take.
Great blog. I ran across it by accident while searching for a recipe. I’ve worked at Jean-Georges, Aureole, and Esca here in New York City, and have gotten very interested in sous-vide as a result. I, like you, was discouraged to see how expensive the equipment is. I’m very impressed by your Henkelman Jumbo Plus. How much did you have to spend on it? Do you know of any good resources for used or discounted chamber vacuum packers?
Hey Dan, I am in NYC too (Union Square). any interest on cooperatively purchasing some of the equipment?
I was very surprised by your offer! I am interested, yes, but just now I am not able to take you up on it. I’m involved with the opening of Ai Fiori (chef Michael White), and business is still building. Hit me up in three to six months and maybe I’ll have a different answer. By the way, I’m a Captain there, so if you’re interested in dining there, ask for me when making a reservation and I’ll be happy to serve you. It’s sure to be one of the biggest openings of the year and one of the hottest new restaurants for 2011.
He Dan, I bought it in a store near me, so not sure about other retailers. What I can say is that vacuum packers don’t significantly loose their value, especially since the are often sold refurbished.
The one I got from Henkelman was not that in expensive IN COMPARISON to other brands, especially, from what I’ve seen, American brands. Koch Ultravac for instance, pictured in Under Pressure from Thomas Keller, is a few times more expensive. Henkelman is an European brand, so they may not be readily available outside of Europe or more expensive.
The real disadvantage of a Henkelman, at least on the basic models, is that you can’t enter the pressure manually. More expensive models have the option, but with mine you can’t set it to low/medium/high or enter the desired Bar level (mbar).
The pacojet is great as is ignite sorbet, I love gellan.
try 500ml vodka
200ml sweet lemon juice (I used mayer lemons)
Gellan
Freeze and pacojet.
Do you think it would be OK to use a temperature relay device normally reserved for greenhouses / aquariums etc provided the control temperature range is sufficient for the sous vide setup? I was thinking of something like this:
http://www.forttex.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_7_15&products_id=78
Temperature range: -40C to 120C. The only disadvantage is that you’d either have to wire a socket to it (e.g. by cutting the plug off an extension cable) or wire the rice cooker directly into it.
I would check online, maybe Egullet. I think I’ve read about it years ago, but there could be some disadvantages to certain controllers out there: accuracy and responsiveness. Though I’m far from handy from this type of homebrew stuff and just went with the Cooking Controller to save on possible frustrations.
Hi Auldo,
After reading your brilliant blog and experimenting a bit with sous vide using lava vacuum packer I have decided to go for a chamber machine, I was thinking of Henkelman Jumbo Plus first. The machine, however, does not have a soft air function and no percentage based vacuum control as far as I can see. You have been using the Jumbo Plus, so I was wondering if you ever really regretted not having the functions? The machines go up in price quite steeply so not sure if getting say a boxer 35 (which has both functions) for an extra 600 pounds would be worth the money. I also heard that on some machines it is possible to fit an air constricting device – have you ever heard of it? Would you recommend the jumbo plus? Sorry for so many questions! Your advice would be much appreciated!
HI Anna, great investments you’ve made and are going to make! Of all my equipment I love, love, love, my vacuum machine the most. Also everyone who cooks in my kitchen is incredible jealous. I started vacuum packing everything, so when I show up somewhere with another plastic bag it always results in some chuckles.
Back to business. I’ve read about soft air, but never regarding anything other than storing fragile foods for commercial purposes (pre-cut lettuce for instance). It is really cool though and you could be the envy of everyone you’ll meet. Don’t know about any cooking appliances for the soft air function.
I never regretted having no vacuum control, because at the time buying a professional machine seemed incredible nuts to me, and, as you said, the price for machines with these functions easily doubles. So not regretting it, I did miss the vacuum control function or wish I had it. The amount of vacuum is incredible important (did you read the Cooking Issues link on the subject?) and being able to set it is a very, very handy feature. If you want a cheaper option a barometer also works.
I would recommend buying Modernist Cuisine or take a look at the book at a bookstore. I befriended an owner of a bookstore and went through some of Modernist Cuisine one afternoon and read up on vacuum packing. My view is that certain things are greatly overlooked when telling home cooks to cook sous vide. What temperature should your products be? What plastic to use? Vacuum pack at what pressure? What functions are out there for vacuum machines? I’ve gotten shitty results with meat, probably due to the meat not being cold enough when vacuum packing in combination with vacuum packing at full pressure (which should be ok for beef, when properly cooled).
I don’t recall it precisely, but I think they mention a sort of ‘air attachment’, which they say is nice to have. Although they also write a double seal bar is something to look for, so they are probably geared towards the professional.
My opinion, if you have the cash, go for Boxer 35 or something similar. I’ve found the basic models of Henkelman to be much cheaper than other brands in the Netherlands. The Boxer 35 puts you in another price category and other brands could be something to look at.
Hi Auldo, still haggering with myself over the Jumbo Plus versus Boxer 35 (by the time you add all the options you’d like the price really doubles):)
I have read part of the Modernist Cuisine – (great book, just got through the first volume in detail) – it seems that H2O sensor and being able to set exact amount of vacuum are very important. It just seems very difficult to define what is important in the home kitchen setting. And what would be an overkill. All my friends are already thinking I am going mad, when I talk about cooking in plastic bags. Mind you, they enjoy the results.
And you are right – there is not much information aimed at home cooks. I found Egullet forum, however, was very useful.
There’s one big plus: you can’t make a bad decision. It depends what you’re budget is. If you can easily miss the money I would go for the Boxer. If not, a cheaper model will be a very good option. As I said a barometer works ok, especially after I read some of Modernist Cuisine and have a better understanding of vacuum packing.
If it was my choice I would sooner go for a water bath (or immersion circulator) with the money you ‘save’ with the Jumbo Plus or do you already have one? Or buy a Vita-Prep or KitchenAid with a range of attachments instead of the Boxer.
Hi Auldo, you were right. I went for the Boxer35 and am not regretting it a single minute:) I am really using it a lot: starting with doing simple vacuum packing through to compressing and marinading. It really is a great machine. My freezer has “doubled” in size due to more economical packaging. Freezing sauces and stocks is of great help. Thanks a lot for the advice!
Super jealous! A proper vaccum machine is so freaking handy, glad you like it. Did you do any Fat Duck stuff with it?
Yep, tried the rhubarb desert, dover sole veronique, also hake from Joan Roca and tried infusing all sorts of things (Apricots with fennel,cream with bacon).
Hi, Great Blog. Was wondering about the foam tape you use, does the stuff you brought work just as well as the “proper” sous vide stuff?? if so what are the spec’s you looked for when buying it?
Nope, the stuff I got didn’t work out. Maybe visit a cookware shop, not a hardware store.
Can you specify which rice cooker you used for your sous-vide setup. I checked the auberins suggestions but all of theses cookers dont work with german 230 V electricity. The controller does though so Im trying to find a fitting cooker 🙂
Indeed, the Auberins website is geared towards North-America, 110-120V.
My rice cooker looks almost identical to the one on the Auberins website. My guess is they come from the same factory, with a different brand on the front. Mine is from ‘Tulip’. It is a ‘commercial electric rice cooker/warmer’ (mechanical switch), model CFXB-100A-AP. If I were you I would visit some Chinese stores and you should strike gold in no time. Good luck.
Hi,
I have been inspired by your efforts and am also relatively crazy enough to attempt all recipes from the cookbook but may regret it as I have not yet started…
How did you measure the pH – and what did you use. It is the one peice of equipment that seems to be expensive wherever I go?
Also, do you have any recommendations on how to source the powders cheaply: how did you go about obtaining any samples?
Many thanks.
Hi,
If you’re still wondering. 🙂
I never bought a pH meter, it always seemed too expensive in combination with all the other costs (in hindsight not the case), so I did without. That said, you can buy one without breaking the bank. A lot of options online.
A refractometer on the other hand is way more expensive. I could definitely have used it, but never wanted to purchase one (with the limited uses after the blog in mind).
Here’s some info (rest is scattered throughout the blog) where I got the ingredients: https://thebigfatundertaking.wordpress.com/2009/11/03/small-update/.
Hope this helps.