Research on the sous vide
cooking electrical requirements.
For those wondering what sous vide
cooking is, you can
download a fairly nice explanation here. My basic understanding is, you vacuum seal portions of meat and cook them at a strictly controlled temperature (131F) for a certain time limit (between 3-48 hours, depending on type and toughness) to kill pathogens, allowing for long-term refrigerated (3wks at less than 36F) or frozen (6mths at 0F)
storage with easy on the sea preparation (reheat to 131F and flame char meat surface).
With the above in mind, I did a little
research on the SousVide Supreme Demi (brand name) cooking
electrical requirements. The Demi is the cheapest sous vide cooker (120v) I can currently find (299 on amazon). The product is made in
China and the company finally sent me their specs (below) on their two models. (Thanks goes to Doug McAfee in customer care)
The SVS09L is the Demi model I am interested in, but it looks like either model could be used on a sailboat generating its own
power.
Just a quick idea of electrical requirements for cooking at 131F for 24 hours. With an initial one hour startup draw of <30A (but could use gas heated
water instead), it looks like <192AH, or <8A/H at 12v. Which, of course, should be much less depending on the ambient temps, but certainly doable. And, using tenderizers would cut down on cooking time for the tougher meats.
Fish will be a breeze. Reheat in
water on gas
stove, remove plastic wrapper, and char the exterior with your propane/butane torch.
Happy gourmet cooking!