I have a Nu-Wave induction cooker and the normal pans, and I want to try to use it as a sous vide cooker for steaks. I plan to get it going with the steaks and then move on to everything else, finishing with searing the steaks at the very end, right before serving.
The nu wave has a digital control that goes up or down by 10 degree increments (farenheit). from other experience I have found that it maintains the temperature very consistently and accurately.
Since I will not be using a more pricey rig, I know I will have to make sure to occasionally stir the water bath. I'm not going to try to rely on convection.
Before I plunk down the cash for some good steaks, will this work and what things am I overlooking?
Any advice to prevent me botching this would be greatly appreciated.
Best Answer
Make sure to clip the bags away from the bottom of the cooker, where it heats from. If a bag ends up flat against the heating surface, without water between, then it could heat up far past the water temperature and melt the bag.
Beyond that, if you're willing to stir reasonably frequently and it really does maintain the water temperature well, then you'll end up with a good replica of what happens in a normal sous vide bath.
That said, 10 degree increments are really large, especially for steak. See for example The Food Lab's sous vide steak guide - rare 120°F, medium-rare 129°F, medium 135°F, medium-well 145°F. You won't really have any ability to tune for exactly where you like it, though you'll be able to avoid overcooking.
So... does this work? Well, it depends. A few of the big benefits of sous vide:
You're getting some of the temperature precision, and the avoiding drying out, but it's not hands-off and the timing isn't really flexible since you're not going to want to keep stirring longer than you have to. To me, this sounds like a good idea to try sous vide, and see how you like the results. But it doesn't sound like a replacement. The convenience is a huge deal.