Equipment
We are using a Sous Vide to reduce the time it takes to make homemade liqueurs. We have been making liqueurs for many years and some recipes call for month long or even longer, steeping times. We found that by using the sous vide, we can get the steeping time down to 2 or 3 hours.
We bought a sous vide after watching some Youtube videos on preparing steak for the BBQ. Any meat cooked using the sous vide method and then seared on the BBQ tastes absolutely amazing. Imagine our pleasure when we found out that we could use the sous vide to reduce the steeping times. Our machine is labelled Anesty and at the time was the cheapest available on Amazon.
It is very similar to any of these shown below.
Needless to say, we haven’t tried using any of the devices listed above but the principle is basically the same. All of these clamp to the side of a water bath. The sous vide heats and circulates the water using the temperature and times that you have dialed into the display at the top.
Our sous vide allows us to set Centigrade or Fahrenheit, to 0.1°, the start time can be delayed by upto 24 hours and the cooking time can be adjusted upto 24 hours. We get a beep when the water has reached the set temperature and a number of beeps when the heating cycle has completed.
The sous vide will also detect under or over filling of water.
Whilst browsing the Amazon store I did find this interesting device.
Only four more things are needed to complete the Hot Liqueur equipment setup.
- Sharp knife
- 1 l Kilner jar or similar
- A container large enough to hold the Kilner jar and sous vide, a large saucepan or stock pot would be perfect
- Funnel with strainer
Once you have all of the equipment it’s time to choose a recipe and start making homemade liqueurs.