Beer Cooler is way easier, more consistent and needs no monitoring and works 100 percent of the time.
Your water temperature fluctuated, you just didn`t realize it since you didn`t monitor it (something you do not have to do with a Beer Cooler). Your meat looks a bit overcooked to me based on your picture. I was dead on the money regarding the fatty, flabby mess you had on your hands to which you admit to.
You do not need two different thermometers with a Beer Cooler. Only one and that is to check the water only ONE time when you get it to proper temperature. After that, you put the meat in and you are done.
There is no benefit of Pre-Searing, especially regarding Sous Vide. That is just retarded.
Keep making it more difficult for yourself and keep failing.
I do not care.
As for your brother, he obviously wanted to brag when he sent you the pictures and then you tried to duplicate it using an alternate method. You took a picture of it too, which I assumed you took to send to your brother. You DID NOT take it for me or to post on this forum. You made it yesterday and took the picture yesterday and then shared it with your brother. You WANTED to Pwn him, but it just didn`t pan out.
Now tell me I am wrong. (I`m not)
yep, once again you are wrong
It's ridiculous how arrogant you are
my brother are I are great friends and he wasn't bragging AT ALL
his wife gave him a SV machine for Christmas and I asked him to let me know how it worked out
people can share pics and information without bragging
in fact he was a bit disappointed with some of the items he made so basically the exact opposite of bragging
Maybe that is confusing to you because you're constantly bragging
Regard the temperature I actually used two thermometers (didn't trust the cheap one to be accurate - though it turned out to be fine) and I set the alarm on the digital one if it went over 135 which it never did and I doubt it dropped much because I tested the water temp quite a bit before I started. I needed to figure out what setting and which burner I would need to keep it at ~ 130. I did this BEFORE I put in the meat so I didn't need to babysit it. I also glanced at it a few times when I went into the kitchen to get a beer while watching the game but I certainly didn't stand there.
I also made sure that the water didn't cool down too much when the meat went it. I put it in and watched if for the first few minutes and the temp remained very steady. When I checked (the couple of times that I did) I check the temp at the top of the water and the bottom of the pot and it only varied by 2 degrees
Again, there are benefits to pre-searing
here they are again
read them and then if you want to refute these
specific benefits with specific reasons why you don't agree
Again, these are not my ideas or opinions and I did not claim to be an expert
I followed the direction of an actual former professional chef
that seems to make more sense that taking the advice of an arrogant idiot on a message board who
http://www.chefsteps.com/activities/presearing-for-sous-videImprove Flavor
The Maillard reaction begins as a simple reaction between amino acids and sugars found in all protein-rich foods but quickly becomes elaborate: molecules keep reacting in ever more complex ways to generate hundreds of new aromatic molecules that make food smell delicious. These aromas are responsible for the characteristic smells of roasting meat, baking bread, grilling fish, and so on.
Presearing meats, seafood, or other high-protein content foods quickly dehydrates and raises the surface temperature well above 265 °F / 130 °C, which triggers the Maillard reaction. The aromas that result will continue to develop during the low-temperature sous vide cooking step. Often this simple extra step yields a richer flavor than if you only seared the food after sous vide cooking, when there is less time for the flavor to develop.
Minimize Overcooking
By doing the bulk of the searing prior to cooking, when the food is cold, you do the least possible overcooking of the flesh beneath the surface. This enhances the evenness of the cooking—a hallmark of the sous vide process.