Annova Sous Vide Cheese Making

[Owly055]

I'm fundamentally lazy.......... so I decided to use my Annova Sous Vide in cheese making today. I'm using it just as a circulator, the temp set below the temp of the milk. The nice thing about it is the temp readout, and the fact that it does a type of circulation that is top to bottom more or less. Very little stirring. The 3 gallons of milk are sitting on my Tramontina induction hot plate set at 5........ a great little toy I bought at Costco for 60 some dollars including a 1 gallon stainless steel laminated bottom cookpot with two handles. I probably walked past it a dozen times over a period of months before I bought it........... I've never looked back!
I plan to use the Annova through the process until the kefir has been thoroughly mixed in, after which I'll let the milk sit still for an hour, then add the rennet.

.............. just got through the addition of calcium chloride, lipase, and kefir. I'm pretty pleased with the convenience of the Annova. I was tempted to run it through the culturing phase, but vetoed it.

H.W.

 

[Dcpcooks]

Nicely done sir. I can’t tell you how many different uses you’ll find for that combo of equipment. You can use the induction plate to assist the circulator with holding temps on bigger batches of stuff.

You’ll want to give that unit a nice cleaning, even without using the heater coil, stuff will stick.

I’ve made butter poached lobster with a polyscience sous vide at work. Pain to clean but the consistency is hard to beat.

72 hour baby back ribs at 138 are amazing!

 

[indolent]

Putting the anova in the milk? That sounds like asking for trouble eventually. I've had good luck just putting my pot with milk in a water bath heated by the sous vide circulator.

I'm not sure that the hot plate is adding anything beneficial?

 

[Owly055]

Putting the anova in the milk? That sounds like asking for trouble eventually. I've had good luck just putting my pot with milk in a water bath heated by the sous vide circulator.

I'm not sure that the hot plate is adding anything beneficial?

I'm not heating with the Annova, just using it as a circulator............. The hot plate does the heating.

H.W.

 

[Owly055]

Nicely done sir. I can’t tell you how many different uses you’ll find for that combo of equipment. You can use the induction plate to assist the circulator with holding temps on bigger batches of stuff.

You’ll want to give that unit a nice cleaning, even without using the heater coil, stuff will stick.

I’ve made butter poached lobster with a polyscience sous vide at work. Pain to clean but the consistency is hard to beat.

72 hour baby back ribs at 138 are amazing!

What I wouldn't give to be able to actually control the hotplate with the Annova.................

H.W.

 

[indolent]

I'm not heating with the Annova, just using it as a circulator............. The hot plate does the heating.

H.W.

That was my question. What do you gain by using the hot plate to heat if the annova has the capability?

Also, running milk through the annova can't be good for it. It was designed for water. How can you be sure you're getting it absolutely clean and bacteria isn't growing inside?

 

[Owly055]

That was my question. What do you gain by using the hot plate to heat if the annova has the capability?

Also, running milk through the annova can't be good for it. It was designed for water. How can you be sure you're getting it absolutely clean and bacteria isn't growing inside?

You obviously are not familiar with these devices......... The annova consists of a removable barrel, and removable end piece, a high wattage heating element, and a stainless steel shaft with a simple impeller on the end. It's all very accessible and cleanable, and it doesn't care what liquid it's circulating. The heating element is far too high wattage to run in milk. The milk would burn onto it. There is no way to turn it down...... Sterilizing it is as simple as putting it into a pot of water, and heating it up to 180 for a spell.
It has two excellent functions. One is precision temp measurement, and the other is excellent design for circulating liquids. It heats very well and rapidly.... too rapidly.
H.W.