Sous Vide Venison, SQWIBS First

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We must have used the same instructions.  This is almost identical to mine (minus the air pump).
 
 
SSR needs to be connected to the PID with correct polarity. so hook them up correctly

Type "K" thermal couple sensor often does not tell you which way polarity is to be connected to the PID correctly. then switch the wires

Pork sous vide often at around 150F.put a lid on the machine, problem solved, the higher the temp the less cook time

Duck legs often at 170F.put a lid on the machine, problem solved, the higher the temp the less cook time

Vegetable sous vide often at 185F. put a lid on the machine, problem solved, veggies dont cook for 48 hours.

Water evaporates much quicker at those temperatures. yes it does, what about a lid?

dcarch 
Dude, I don't know if your looking for an argument or a reason to be right, But this is a DIY project, don't be scaring folks away.

Of course you should proceed with caution but that doesn't mean they cant give it a shot.

You seem well informed on this topic, how about offering up some advice for the folks that want to try this, I am sure it would be greatly appreciated.
 
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I am 1000% disagree with you. It is not that simple at all to put the whole thing together. It is very unsafe, life and death, to advise an inexperienced individual to take on a project in power wiring.

There are at least 10 pins to wire up with the controller, with polarity concerns. How does one know to evaluate if the internal relay can handle to high watt heater? If a SSR is used, which side is to the PID and which side is to power?  how to wire it in series to the power and heater ----- etc. etc.?

Sorry.

dcarch
Thats a very good point... one should definitely use a relay and from my limited experience, I would also suggest a heatsink
 
 
Dude, I don't know if your looking for an argument or a reason to be right, But this is a DIY project, don't be scaring folks away.

Of course you should proceed with caution but that doesn't mean they cant give it a shot.

You seem well informed on this topic, how about offering up some advice for the folks that want to try this, I am sure it would be greatly appreciated.
I am in fact trying hard to scare those who have no experience in power electric work away from this so called DIY project.

There is a 500 watt to 1500 watt heating element that can burn down your house.

There is 110vac (or 220vac in many countries) power right next to water which can kill your children and wife.

I am  frankly alarmed that you feel this project can be done by anyone with no previous electrical knowledge.

Yes, this is a DIY project, but a DIY project for someone who has some degree of power electric work experience, IMHO. And there are many sous vide circulators you can buy for under $200. 

I am sorry to be disagreeable. 

dcarch

OK, you ask for advice, this is not advice, but a suggestion:

Get a high wattage hot water heater, 220VAC 4000 watts, run it at 110VAC, you will end up with a very long lasting heater at 1000 watts.

But if you are in an area that is 220VAC, then get a 2000 watt  heater and run the heater in series with a high power diode, you will have a long lasting heater at 1000 watts.
 
 
I am in fact trying hard to scare those who have no experience in power electric work away from this so called DIY project.

There is a 500 watt to 1500 watt heating element that can burn down your house.

There is 110vac (or 220vac in many countries) power right next to water which can kill your children and wife.

I am  frankly alarmed that you feel this project can be done by anyone with no previous electrical knowledge.

Yes, this is a DIY project, but a DIY project for someone who has some degree of power electric work experience, IMHO. And there are many sous vide circulators you can buy for under $200. 

I am sorry to be disagreeable. 

dcarch

OK, you ask for advice, this is not advice, but a suggestion:

Get a high wattage hot water heater, 220VAC 4000 watts, run it at 110VAC, you will end up with a very long lasting heater at 1000 watts.

But if you are in an area that is 220VAC, then get a 2000 watt  heater and run the heater in series with a high power diode, you will have a long lasting heater at 1000 watts.
No not disagreeable, I thought so at first but you seem pretty passionate about this, I can see where your coming from and this is a healthy discussion and everyone's entitled to an opinion and I respect yours and I also agree that folks need to have some sort of experience in wiring but I am confused as to what you consider electrical knowledge, I am sure there are many folks that have change outlets either because they were bad or they were adding GFI's does that warrant "Electrical Knowledge"?

Tanks for the tip on the water heater.
 
 
I am  frankly alarmed that you feel this project can be done by anyone with no previous electrical knowledge.
That is not what I said so just to be clear I said this was a DIY project, I did not put a level of electrical knowledge to this statement.
 
I agree that there are definitely some very serious safety issues here....especially for those who know little or nothing about working with electricity and water.
Something else that hasn't been mentioned...accuracy and precision of the controller...it's a VERY wise move to calibrate the controller with a reliable reference thermometer....especially when cooking at the low end on the safe sous vide temperature range.
Surface heat treatment of the meat is also recommended when sous viding at the low end of the safe temperature scale as extra insurance against the growth of patogenic and spoilage organisms.

I'm all for DIY and I think PID controllers are a great thing (I've assembled some for other projects) but when it came to sous vide....I opted to spend a bit more and get a commercially available controller that's both very precise and very accurate which is essential for safety as well as repeatable results.

Does anyone know of a good sous vide PID assembly tutorial put together by a professioonal electrician?

Stay safe!

~Martin
 
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I agree that there are definitely some very serious safety issues here....especially for those who know little or nothing about working with electricity and water.
Something else that hasn't been mentioned...accuracy and precision of the controller...it's a VERY wise move to calibrate the controller with a reliable reference thermometer....especially when cooking at the low end on the safe sous vide temperature range.
Surface heat treatment of the meat is also recommended when sous viding at the low end of the safe temperature scale as extra insurance against the growth of patogenic and spoilage organisms.

I'm all for DIY and I think PID controllers are a great thing (I've assembled some for other projects) but when it came to sous vide....I opted to spend a bit more and get a commercially available controller that's both very precise and very accurate which is essential for safety as well as repeatable results.

Does anyone know of a good sous vide PID assembly tutorial put together by a professioonal electrician?

Stay safe!

~Martin
X2
 
Martin brings up a very good point.
Sous viding can be a dangerous method if your controller is not calibrated and is off a few degrees. Especially with LhLt cooks. I would advise anyone that plans to cook this way, to really do your homework!


Although this was not supposed to turn into a DIY , sous Vide Safety, debate. Everyone has brought up some valid points, and I urge everyone that ventures into Sous Vide... to do your homework and be safe!
 
Big fan of using Sous Vide myself and cook with it often. I am sure you will continue to be impressed with it and I highly recommend trying out a batch of 72 hour short ribs! Also give Douglas Baldwin's a pratical guide to Sous Vide cooking a read. It's free on the web and invaluable for food safety information.
Last year I researched the hell out of different machines available as well as DIY builds. Make has a pretty inexpensive and safe diy build guide that is available. However I came to the conclusion that while I felt comfortable building a DIY version, I wouldn't want to leave it running for long cooks with only the dog at home to watch over it. So I ended up with a Sous Vide magic pid controller and a comercial 1200 watt. My set up has done a great job and has been very safe and reliable. That said if you are in the market for a machine I highly recommend picking up an Anova immersion circulator for $200. Great reviews and easy to use, just wish it was around when I was shopping and will probably grab one over the next few months.
 
So I ended up with a Sous Vide magic pid controller and a comercial 1200 watt. My set up has done a great job and has been very safe and reliable. That said if you are in the market for a machine I highly recommend picking up an Anova immersion circulator for $200. .


Yep, I have both the Sous Vide Magic and the Anova.
I'm looking to buy another Anova.




~Martin
 
Hello all.

This thread seems to have turned into a Sous Vide Discussion and that's great, however I would like to see all this info in one place, I think it would benefit folks to have one area to access Sous Vide related information, so if folks don't mind following the link below for General Sous Vide information, hopefully we can gather much useful info over there that everyone can benefit from.

Anyone that has any experience with this cooking method, please pop in over at the thread and post some advice on Safety Guidelines, machines, equipment, methods, recipes, and how you use Sous Vide cooking with Smoking/Pitcooking/Grilling etc... to get the thread started.

Hope to see you there!

Thanks

SQWIB

New Thread "Sous Vide" Discussion
 
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