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Bluetooth

Cooking With a Sous Vide Helps Make Meat Much Better

January 25, 2018 by Michele Neylon 3 Comments

One of the things that some people wrongly assume is that dieting equates with boring food. If you’re watching what you eat then you will often end up restricting the range of things you can eat. I do it with my lunch in the staff canteen. Almost every single day I’ll have the same thing: grilled chicken with salad. Why? Because it’s simple and I don’t have to think about it.

But when I get home in the evening and if I’m not travelling over the weekend I like to cook. I don’t cook simply to feed myself, but because I enjoy experimenting with different foods. Sure, I don’t like complicated and messy recipes. If I want something very elaborate I’ll wait until I’m eating out or visiting someone who has more patience than I do. However I enjoy cooking and I like good food.

Enter the sous vide.

Up until a couple of years ago sous vide cooking was one of those things that you only heard gourmet chefs doing.

In the last few years, however, that has changed with companies now offering sous vide equipment for “normal” cooks at affordable prices.

Several of my friends have been doing sous vide cooking over the last couple of years, but it wasn’t something that I thought I’d have the patience to do. While grilling a steak might only take a few minutes when you move into the realm of sous vide cooking everything takes a lot longer. That’s not a bad thing, in fact it’s a very good thing.

Sous vide cooking relies on much lower temperatures than what you might be used to. So pork chops get cooked at 54 degrees centigrade for about an hour, rather than the usual 5 to 10 minutes in a much hotter pan (or grill). The end result with the lower temperature and longer cooking time is that the meat is cooked consistently throughout and is very tender. You just need to finish it off (if you want) to give it that kind of seared effect you’d be used to.

I picked up an Anova precision cooker.

Anova precision wifi cooker

Being the gadget nut that I am I opted for the model that has both wifi and bluetooth. (I got a discount code when I visited their stand at CES a couple of weeks ago!) While US users can also connect their Anova to Alexa and control it using their voice that isn’t an option if you’re in Europe, which is rather annoying. The gadget has a set of easy to use controls directly on it, but you can also manage most of it very easily from their mobile app where you can set temperature, timer and more while also searching for recipes.

The Anova is very easy to use. Simply clamp it to the side of a large saucepan or other pot and you’re good to go. With sous vide you’re cooking at quite low temperatures, which makes for some very interesting results.

I’ve experimented this week with pork chops, chicken breast and lamb chops. They all came out very tender and I was very impressed with the overall experience.

To cook any meat you’ll need to put it in some kind of bag that you can seal properly. While you can get bags that come with vacuum pumps you can also use zip lock style bags or even normal freezer bags. The key thing is to get as much air as possible out of the bag and make sure it’s got a good clean seal. Submerging the bag as you’re sealing it can help push the excess air out, just make sure that you don’t let any water get in.

To add flavour to the meat you can add seasoning to it before you put it in the bag.

I did tonight’s lamb in some olive oil with some herbs and a bit of hot sauce. The end result after about 2 hours was very tender and full of juicy flavour.

The only downside to cooking food using this method is that it won’t have any sear unless you finish the meat off with a pan or in the oven (depending on what you’re cooking). However you quickly get used to this and finishing off your meat with a quick sear isn’t time consuming.

The end result will be worth it!

 

Filed Under: cooking, equipment Tagged With: alexa, anova, Bluetooth, Chef, Cooking, sous vide, wifi

Fitbit Flex Now Shipping (In US)

May 6, 2013 by Michele Neylon 2 Comments

The much awaited Fitbit Flex is now shipping for US orders.

The US site and online shop is now offering a “buy now” option, though there appears to be a two week backlog.

If you’re based in Europe, however, you’ll have to wait another few weeks.

The new device should prove popular with a lot of users, as it is wearable on your wrist, so you’re less likely to lose it and more likely to wear it at all times.

The Fitbit Flex can do pretty much everything the Fitbit One does, with the exception of tracking stairs climbed:

Fitbit device versions compared

Fitbit device versions compared

It’s a pretty slick looking device:

fitbit-flex-colours

 

The Fitbit Flex retails for USD$99.95 / UK79.99 (though some sites are listing it for lower)

Filed Under: dieting apps and services, equipment, shopping Tagged With: Bluetooth, Fitbit, Fitbit Flex, Fitbit One, Flex, Hardware, Wearable, Wristband

Setting Up The Fitbit One

February 13, 2013 by Michele Neylon Leave a Comment

The Fitbit One shown compared to a coin

The Fitbit One shown compared to a coin

The replacement for my Fitbit arrived this morning, so I spent a few minutes setting it up. I had been using a Fitbit Ultra, but they’re not longer being made (even though you can still get them via Amazon and a few other online retailers). I opted for the Fitbit One, as it has a number of features that I really like from the Ultra and I didn’t want to live without them.

To say that setting it up was easy would be an understatement. It was incredibly easy! 🙂

Once you’ve unpacked the Fitbit One you’ll probably want to charge it, as it will probably arrive with an empty, or near empty, battery.

The box contains both a charging cable and a wifi sync dongle. Both connect via USB. You’ll also get a “sleep wristband” which you can use in bed for tracking your sleep. (As a side-note, I hope they sell spare charging cables and wifi sync dongles, as I can easily see them getting misplaced!)

Unlike the Ultra, the Fitbit One does not have a built-in clip, so you need to put it in the provided “clip” that ships with it in order to attach it to your clothing. Of course if you’re just going to shove it in your pocket you might not need it, but the clip also acts as a protective case, so using it probably isn’t a bad idea.

If you’ve got an iPhone 4s (or higher)  you can actually ignore the wifi sync dongle, though it might be a small bit easier to use during the initial setup.

The Fitbit One will sync using blue-tooth with a number of devices including:

  • iPhone 4S
  • iPhone 5
  • iPod Touch (5th generation and higher)
  • iPad 3 (and I assume iPad mini, though I haven’t tried it yet)
  • Samsung Galaxy S III
  • Samsung Galaxy Note II

You’ll need to download the desktop software, which is available for both OSX and Windows. Just go to: http://www.fitbit.com/start/one and follow the onscreen instructions.

The entire process only takes a couple of minutes and is, as I said, incredibly easy.

NB: If, like me, you’re upgrading / replacing a Fitbit Ultra you will need to download the software. The Fitbit One’s software is quite different to that provided for the Fitbit Ultra.

If you want to use the “silent alarm” feature you can set it up either using the mobile app or via the web interface and then sync with the device. I’ve set mine up and will hopefully be woken gently by it tomorrow morning .. though I sleep quite deeply, so it might not work!

 

Filed Under: equipment, exercise Tagged With: Android, Bluetooth, Fitbit, Fitbit One, fitbitone, IPad, iPhone, IPod, Samsung Galaxy Note, Samsung Galaxy S, USB

Fitbit To Offer Wristband Tracker

February 10, 2013 by Michele Neylon 4 Comments

Fitbit Flex is available in a variety of colours

Fitbit Flex is available in a variety of colours

I’ve been using a Fitbit for the last few months and absolutely love it.

The only problem with the normal trackers is that you have to attach them to your clothing somehow. And if you forget to take the tracker with you then you don’t track your activity.

Of course having a Fitbit hanging off your trousers can also lead to accidents, like what happened to me coming back from the US last week. I lost the device somewhere between Las Vegas and Los Angeles and by the time I’d noticed it was too late for me to do anything about it.

The new Fitbit Flex, however, would solve this issue, as it’s a wristband tracker, so you wear it like your watch.

Fitbit are currently accepting pre-orders and I expect they’ll start shipping them in the next few weeks. And yes, I probably will get one.

What’s it got?

Pretty much everything that you could want in a tracker:

  • Know your stats: Tracks steps, distance, calories burned, and active minutes
  • Tracks quality of sleep (# of hours, how many times you wake up, sleep efficiency index) and uses a silent alarm that vibrates to wake you up gently
  • Sync to select mobile devices via Bluetooth 4.0 (first all-day wristband tracker to offer this capability). It also syncs wirelessly and automatically to your computer.
  • Multi-platform: Syncs to select iPhone and, now, select Android devices
  • With you all the time: Comfortable enough to wear all day. Water-resistant. Wear it in the shower.
  • Match your mood or personality: Flexible, interchangeable tracker with a variety of colorful wristbands (Black, Slate, Teal, Tangerine, Navy)
  • Rich mobile and online offerings: iPhone and Android App and Online tools – shows activity charts, leaderboards and more. Set goals, view progress and earn badges.
  • Social motivation: Connect with friends and family for support or friendly competition
  • Even more health and fitness tools: Log food, weight and more on Fitbit’s website or apps

You can read more about the Fitbit Flex on their site.

 

Filed Under: dieting apps and services, equipment Tagged With: Android, Bluetooth, Fitbit, Fitbit Flex, Flex, IOS, iPhone, Physical fitness, Wristband

Fitbit Ultra Is Go

November 2, 2012 by Michele Neylon Leave a Comment

Fitbit ultraSince I got a wifi scale (the Withings) I’ve been weighing myself almost every morning. The scales sends the data to the online service and then I’m able to access it on my iPhone or via the web interface.

But what about burning calories?

Or sleep?

Sure, you can track walks and other specific exercises / activities using a number of apps. But you have to explicitly decide that you are now “doing” exercise.

As for sleep .. the more I read about healthy lifestyles the more I realise that “sleep” is an important part of it.

Of course anyone who knows me well knows that I don’t sleep a lot. I tend to stay up quite late and get very little sleep. Last night for example I got about 5.5 hours. That’s probably not enough, but what might be more important than the number of hours I’m sleeping is the actual “quality” of sleep

So the Fitbit Ultra seemed like an attractive idea. Several of my friends have got them over the last year and they all love them. I wasn’t sure if it was really for me, but the price dropped a bit and so I decided I’d give it a go.

I only got it yesterday so at this stage I don’t have much data to go by, but so far I’m impressed with the device’s functionality.

It’s small. You can clip it onto your belt, shirt or some other part of your body or garments.

It’s light. You won’t notice it’s there – my one worry being that I’ll drop the damn thing and not realise it.

It can work with the Withings, so the two devices can share data about my overall “progress” or complete lack of it.

Once I’ve got a bit more data I’ll have a better idea as to how well it works. Maybe I’ll love it, maybe I’ll find it completely pointless, but I need to give it a go.

Related articles
  • Fitbit Ultra Wireless Activity Plus Sleep Tracker Review (assistedlivingtoday.com)
  • Fitbit announces a few new devices, the Fitbit One and the Fitbit Zip (technologytell.com)
  • Fitbit Unveils a Smaller Ultra, Plus a New Pedometer Called Zip (mashable.com)

Filed Under: dieting apps and services, health, lifestyle Tagged With: Bluetooth, Data, Fitbit, Fitbit Ultra, Health, IOS, iPhone, Withings

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