Wow! Thank you for those. Excellent descriptions. My wife LOVES prime rib. I really need to try this!
That "Serious Eats" website is a great place to start for folks new to Sous Vide. They really describe the theory well, and go into food safety issues extensively as well as lots of recipes and how-to descriptions for various foods.
As for microwave ovens, I couldn't agree more.
A magnetron is an interesting device. We studied them back in that microwave class I had in about 1977. I always had it in my mind that to get them to oscillate, you might have to start and run them at full power. And that explained why microwave ovens only cycle them full-on and full-off when you adjust the duty cycle with the knob, slider, or keypad. You can hear the system switch on and off, and usually see the lights in the oven dim when the tube is actually fired up and irradiating the food.
And that's less than ideal. What you'd really like to have is a way to actually adjust the power output of the tube continuously, so you'd get more even power. That would be gentler.
And now I see "inverter" type microwave ovens on the market, and reading up a bit, I see that they are, indeed, adjusting the power output of the magentron!
That should be a lot nicer than hitting the food with full power for 15 seconds, then switching it off for 15 seconds over and over. The next microwave oven I get will certainly be one with the inverter technology. I also insist on a rotating turntable as well.
The first person I ever knew who got a microwave oven was a friend's folks. His dad was a doctor, and they had money! This would have been in the early '70s, or perhaps late '60s.
I remember that we just had to experiment with it.
We put a bar of his mom's fancy soap in the oven, and it appeared to do nothing... for a while! Then it suddenly expelled its insides out through a hole, and left a shell of soap. We just put that back where we found it. ;)
Next, we put a raw egg in the oven. We turned it on, and waited.
After the time expired (I think it was 30 seconds or a minute), his dad walked in. He looked at the egg, felt it, and said that it wasn't done yet, so HE put it back in and set the timer again and walked out of the kitchen. About the time he exited the room: BOOM! Covered the inside of the oven with scrambled egg! We were so glad it was he that had put it back in the oven! :)
I do find having a microwave oven indispensable. But you do have to think about what's going on, and adjust the power to something that matches the size and impedance of the load as well as its ability to absorb the radiation.
I often read the instructions on a frozen meal and then modify it. I don't like being bothered to cook it on high, then open and stir and then replace it and hit it hard again. Instead, I adjust the power level to something that I figure will integrate to the same total power delivered, and then cook it all in one step at that lower power. I'd rather wait longer than have to do the stirring.
But I also appreciate how stirring something occasionally is often the only way to get it done evenly.
I do eggs sometimes. I just crack the eggs into a Corel bowl, add a bit of milk and a bit of butter, and stir/whip them. Then I put them in the nuke, and give them full power while watching. When the surface starts to cook, I open the oven and stir well. Then back in for another 10 to 15 seconds, then another stir. I repeat that until I get the stiffness of scrambled egg that I want.
I wonder if one of the inverter type units would make that better.
And I've done brownie mix in a coffee mug. You just have to watch it and stir it once. It's not like a normal brownie, but it's not bad. Some ice cream on top, and a spoon, and you're set!
Cookie dough works the same way. Just do a single serving, and watch it, giving it short bursts. Again, I wonder if an inverter microwave oven might allow this to be done more evenly and better.
Crud! Now I NEED to get me a new microwave oven with the inverter! ;)
