I will preface this by saying I am extremely bad about thinking ahead and planning to post before I'm done cooking what I'm making and taking pics along the way, I apologize for the lack of pics and foresight.
I just purchased the Anova immersion circulator with Bluetooth and wifi. I've got to say this thing is awesome and well built for an at home circulator. My first cook with it was beef heart confit from our cow we bought this past summer. I already had a Foodsaver in the cupboard begging to be used so the progression was, obviously 😉, to eventually get a circulator.
I read many reviews about sous vide beef heart and that they didn't like it as much as grilled beef heart. I've had beef heart skewered and grilled to rare before as many people say they prefer it, this was by far much better than that. I also enjoy chicken hearts as the flavor is intensely "chicken" like dark meat on steroids.
I rubbed the heart with cumin, oregano, chili powder, salt, onion powder and garlic powder and let it dry brine for 24 hours in the fridge. I then put it in a vacuum bag with some fresh thyme and some tallow from the renderings from the same cow. I set the circulator up and set the time and temperature to 24 hours at 145 degrees F (all of which can be done on my phone with the Anova app from anywhere by connecting the circulator to our home's wifi). The app sent me a notification telling me that the water was up to temp and the timer started to count down..
I pulled it off this morning, after 24 hours, before leaving to do some errands. I covered it in ice in the same Tupperware I used to cook it in, then set it to cool in the fridge.
Cooking at 145 rendered the heart pink throughout and nice and tender. I sliced it this afternoon once it was cool after coming home from running errands. I added it back to the juices that accumulated in the cooking bag with some Bragg's apple cider vinegar, to add in some acid, and a couple scoops of my home made habanero hot sauce.
I love it so much more than quickly grilled beef heart. The flavor is intensely "beefy" without any offal flavor that can be off putting. The fat (I left it on and didn't trim it off) was not gamey like the fat on the steaks has been (think grass flavored and gamey lamb). The texture is firm but not "crunchy" like heart can be and at the same time tender from the long cooking time.
We sous vide at work nearly everyday and being able to properly do it at home now is a game changer for me. With minimal prep work, cheap cuts of meat, and time you can easily have really great meals made for you while you work or play.
