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I have two Anova machines, one bluetooth and one wifi. I have had one of them almost 3 years. They are a big name and certainly worth a look. Can usually find the bluetooth on sale but under $100 if not in a rush
I think everyone should own a vacuum sealer. not required for sous vide, though it makes easier. but I use regularly for things unrelated to sous vide. see a big sale on meat at the grocery store? vacuum sealer. want to buy a 1/4 or 1/2 cow? vacuum sealer. have a great day fishing? vacuum sealer
I have been using the food saver v2224 (I think that is the model number) for just under 3 years and it died just a few days ago. I ordered the 5860 as a replacement and should have soon. one day I'll splurge for a chamber sealer haha
if you opt for a sous vide then I recommend checking out serious eat's website and the sous vide everything channel on youtube. a lot of good info
I have the Victorinox knife as my backup knife for when I send my main knives off to be sharpened. it is a good knife. why I asked his budget because if it was a lower budget that was going to be what I recommended too.
I love to cook. whether in the kitchen or on the grill
my wife and I rarely go out to eat and we never do frozen meals in the oven like stoufers (sp?). we cook a full dinner every night. I love kitchen toys but I am quick to get rid of something that does not work for me or that I don't use. so things that work for me, like a sous vide, might not work for you. and you might love an instant pot while I have zero use for one
I do love getting good stuff and then using the he!! out of it. and I love an excuse to try something new. so hopefully people post some of their favorite toys too
Steaks before their sous vide bath...
Steak after an 800 degree reverse sear on a kamado...
I couldn't agree more with the Sous Vide advocates on this thread. The ability to cook protein to the proper temperature, and then using fire to "reverse sear" it for the Maillard Reaction is outstanding! Also, IMO, a vacuum sealer is imperative to achieving desired results.
That said, a good internal meat temperature thermometer, like a Thermapen, is the most invaluable aid to cooking meat properly. I've found that regardless of cooking temp, high or low, if you cook the meat to the proper internal temperature for your doneness, it comes out great. This has liberated me from chasing temps on a grill, or worrying about the proper temp in an oven or cast iron skillet.
Finally, for a budget conscious knife, you CAN'T beat the Victorinox!
Best of luck in your culinary pursuits...
everything in this post is 100% accurate, including no butter and just herbs in the bag with the steaks!
Good call. I have always kinda wanted a vacuum sealer but really hadn't looked at them in a long time. Looking at some reviews I hadn't realized that the price, selection, and quality had gotten so much better. Think I'm going to pick one up today.
Anova was one of the brands I had looked at.
I feel like chili is one of those things that everybody has a cool secret ingredient in their recipe. As long as it's not overboard like that Cincinnati style stuff. I had some Skyline Chili one time and it tasted strongly of cinnamon..just weird.
As far as specialty appliances go I have an Instantpot.
I was gifted the Instantpot. It has its uses but it's like any other fad in that people will try to tell you that you can cook any number of things in it. You CAN, but just like the crockpot craze before it, just because you can doesn't mean you should.
The pros are that it's just a high tech pressure cooker and a pressure cooker has its uses. For cooking a braised cut of meat like a pot roast or pork roast it works quite well and can majorly cut down on your cooking time. Like by hours. It's also great for stews/soups and making broth/stock. I've never owned a dedicated rice cooker but it does a pretty good job at cooking a lot of rice with minimal effort.
I've never used it for a lot of its supposed uses and outside of obvious one pot meals like a stew it's rarely my only thing used to cook something: I might pressure cook some meat with stock/aromatics to get it tender and then add further stuff on the stove after to make a sauce/finish the dish. It's also a pressure cooker, meaning it works on steam pressure so you need a certain amount of liquid and it can't be too thick. I tried making my long simmered spaghetti sauce in it thinking it would speed it up but it was too thick and scorched before it produced enough steam to seal the pressure gauge.
It does take up a lot of space too. But, as I said, a pressure cooker is useful and I certainly never would have bought one of the old fashioned manual ones. So I enjoy it as a niche item but it certainly hasn't changed my life..but I'm a single guy with no kids so maybe I'm not the target demo lol.
@scooterdawg
I love using mine for beans. Buy a bag of frozen or dried beans (use a ton of water if it's dried), toss in some salt, pepper, and garlic cloves and it's an awesome side dish.
Good call..I made some hoppin john in mine for new years this year. I hate blackeyed peas with a passion that will never be tamed but my mom has me brainwashed into the luck thing. I threw some dried ones in the Instantpot with a ham hock and such and cooked the eff out of them and they were able to be choked down..which is a plus!
Mixed canned (sorry) blackeyed peas with rice as a side. Delish! Both cooked separately then mixed on the plate (small bowl, actually). Ratio of ~ 25% peas to the rice, by volume. Rice is one of my comfort foods. I'm not Asian, but ate rice as a kid often.
I hear ya man. I've always been a rice eater. In my family we always had white rice where I guess a lot of people had mashed potatoes.
As an adult my mother would make me a panned fried steak with rice and a veg. Used pan drippings for the rice. That is fully a comfort meal for me.
If you want to spend a lot of money on knives because they look nice in your hand, then fine. Nothing wrong with that. I have expensive shotguns and buy pretty pocketknives because of the appearance of both - not enhanced function. We have knives older than 5 years at the restaurant that were neither terribly expensive nor attractive. They have **** molded handles. None were anywhere close to $200.
All of the stuff about metallurgy and hardness is for gear heads. It’s similar to buying designer fishing hooks instead of the cheap eagle claws for redfish and specks. The reason a knive lasts “forever” in your home is because you don’t actually use it compared to professionals.
You can get quality steel without breaking the bank. Learn how to sharpen a blade. Expensive knives are expensive for the handles and scales, as much as anything.
So, say I'm going hunting for doves or other small game. I could buy probably spend what? A couple hundred on a decent Remington 20 gauge? You'll forgive me if my #s are off as I don't remember the last time I priced guns. Or I could spend into the 1000s for a Benelli? Or I could look in the closet for the probably 1940s era Mossberg .410 that my grandfather used to keep stuff out of my grandmother's garden.
All 3 can fire birdshot that will kill a bird. Obviously there could be range and effectiveness differences between the guns but are all three not capable of killing a bird in the right conditions? Idk about y'all but I'm thinking I'd probably want at least the Remington(a $20-30 knife) or even a Benelli(German Knives) if I can afford it over an old crappy varmint gun(stamped Walmart Chinese knife) if I'm gonna be doing lots of shooting but that's just me.
I'm also wondering why they are so many gun manufacturers since all guns shoot and can kill I'd think all hunters who aren't amateur posers would just use the cheapest gun they could find. Wonder why they bother decorating them too. That wood in the stock is just wasted really with all the composites available now.
What do y'all think? Should we fold this thread and give away our cooking gear now that Bankwalker has weighed in to let us know what's up and how misguided we are? 😂
you don't pm for approval for all your culinary purchases?
we should also all drive 1994 honda accords, anything else is a waste of money. live in small houses, watch small screen TVs, etc. why have anything beyond the bare necessity and commercial use?!?
Terrible comparisons. Knives do not vary in performance to the degree of a recoil driven SA, inertia driven SA, and a single shot. You actually don't strike me as someone who would own a gun or support gun rights, so I am not surprised at all you would go for the semi-auto instead of the double barrel,. I would definitely peg you as a Remington or Mossberg man. A Stoeger if you ever owned a double.
I was just adding my two cents. I was just a little amused at starting a thread where you give cooking tips that include using a cooking gadget that does all the work and thinking for the chef, and for a really hot tip you suggest using a QUALITY THERMOMETER. LOL. Here are a few more - use a sharp knife for safety, salt your food to enhance the flavor, and use high heat to boil water. All 5 star cooking tips, right?
You really should start a food blog!
The interesting thing is that you don't actually know eff all about me. You just assume things...but I think you're just making an ass out of yourself...not me. :)
You really must be a bore to have to deal with on a regular basis. Always convinced you're right and anyone who doesn't like what you like is dumb. So tell me? Are you currently posting via satellite from a cabin in the woods? Do you not have access to grocery stores? Because otherwise...hunting is kind of pointless and a waste of time by your logic. Only pretentious douches spend $1000s and hours hiding in a blind to get meat that they could just buy by your logic right?
Like the taste of wild game better? Well, don't you think you're special? Protein is protein so eating Soylent is much more intelligent right? And again, are you using a bow you crafted yourself? Why a fancy compound?A nice rifle with scope? Don't need it if you're REALLY a great hunter...
Again, going by your logic or lack thereof. But, let's be honest Bank: If YOU don't like something it's dumb right? Particularly if people you don't like like it...
LMAO. Goodness. I guess I was right about the Stoeger. Reading and comprehension. There’s a good bit of irony involved when you start discussing logic.
Levander’s Logic, redux
Let’s get back to the cooking tips, shall we?