Favorite Gadgets of 2019

[Apache]

Originally Posted by leebase

You have to sear afterwards

Even with regular oven or grilling I like to cook steaks and burgers over low heat and sear after. You should also try flipping burgers every minute while cooking. You get an almost rotisserie effect and more char, which equals more flavor.
Apache

[leebase]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

Thought that was the whole idea to get a SV for perfect predictable steaks? Let cook at 165°, then sear just long enough to make burn marks and pretend it came off the grill like that. The only downside is the long time to do that.

Yep...though my steaks are more like 129°.

SV is not a technique for quick cooking but for precise temperature control. You can get everything else ready....then just finish off your steaks so it’s easier to cook the entire meal bs trying to tine your steaks perfectly.

You can also cook tougher cuts of meat for much longer times making them tender.

[leebase]

Originally Posted by Apache

Even with regular oven or grilling I like to cook steaks and burgers over low heat and sear after. You should also try flipping burgers every minute while cooking. You get an almost rotisserie effect and more char, which equals more flavor.
Apache

It’s really cold in Chicago....hard to grill. And I have no ventilation in my kitchen so searing in my kitchen is a no go. I do have a induction burner I take out to the garage with a cast iron pan....but it’s a bit of a hassle

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

Thought that was the whole idea to get a SV for perfect predictable steaks? Let cook at 165°, then sear just long enough to make burn marks and pretend it came off the grill like that. The only downside is the long time to do that.

165°?? I are trying to murder it or cook it?

130° all the way through for a couple of hours is my medium-rare from edge to edge. Then a quick sear after everything else is ready. THAT's the beauty of sous vide for me. You can't overcook the steaks (not easily anyway). They will happily stay a perfect medium-rare (or medium, medium-well) for several hours while you prepare the rest of the meal.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

165°?? I are trying to murder it or cook it?

130° all the way through for a couple of hours is my medium-rare from edge to edge. Then a quick sear after everything else is ready. THAT's the beauty of sous vide for me. You can't overcook the steaks (not easily anyway). They will happily stay a perfect medium-rare (or medium, medium-well) for several hours while you prepare the rest of the meal.

Oops, yeah, I confused rare with well done. A medium rare steak is "well done".

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

I tried that, but some times I just have to vent.

[PeterT]

My favourite gadget of the year has to be the new lens I had placed in my left eye last week to replace the cataract that had developed.

[leebase]

Originally Posted by PeterT

My favourite gadget of the year has to be the new lens I had placed in my left eye last week to replace the cataract that had developed.

Amazing, right? I developed cataracts in my 40's and had lenses put into both eyes. Wow! 20/20 eyesight for the first time in my life. Still needed glasses for reading...but no longer wearing coke bottle thick glasses.

[haertig]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

165°?? I are trying to murder it or cook it?

That would definitely be "well done" grilled to that temperature. The first time I smoked a beef brisket and the instructions said to cook to between 190 and 210 degrees, I about fainted. But that turns out to be perfect for a slow-smoked brisket. Extremely tender and moist, but you have to wrap it in foil at the stall point - about 165 - then optionally unwrap after the stall has been busted.

I wanted to try sous vide. I have looked at the equipment required many times. But I always talked myself out of it. Normally I cook my steaks on the Traeger pellet grill, but sometimes I pan fry them in a cast iron skillet. I have found that fattier cuts like ribeyes come out every bit as good in the cast iron as they do on the grill. And by the time I have the desired sear on the steak, it is cooked to my liking. So what would be the benefit of sous vide if just searing the steak cooks it plenty? I can see if you had a really thick cut of steak sous vide might help, but I like ribeyes, and those typically come fairly thin (except from Costco, where every steak must be 2 inches thick - Costco has some of the best meat around BTW, they even Prime grade).

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by haertig

I wanted to try sous vide. I have looked at the equipment required many times. But I always talked myself out of it. Normally I cook my steaks on the Traeger pellet grill, but sometimes I pan fry them in a cast iron skillet. I have found that fattier cuts like ribeyes come out every bit as good in the cast iron as they do on the grill. And by the time I have the desired sear on the steak, it is cooked to my liking. So what would be the benefit of sous vide if just searing the steak cooks it plenty? I can see if you had a really thick cut of steak sous vide might help, but I like ribeyes, and those typically come fairly thin (except from Costco, where every steak must be 2 inches thick - Costco has some of the best meat around BTW, they even Prime grade).

If pan searing works out great for you, then sous vide may be of no real benefit. Where it really helps is for those really thick cuts of steak. There is also a bit of extra tenderizing that naturally happens with 2 hour cook times. But as I mentioned above, the real benefit for me is the time that sous vide buys me. It's no longer the steak that the rest of the meal has to be prepared around so that everything comes together at that extremely short "magic" moment when the steak is perfect. That "magic moment" is now an hours long window. Sides and veggies not quite ready? No big deal. Let the steak go, it's not going to get any done-er.

I was already very happy with my own ability to prepare steaks the way I liked as well. And was leery of trying sous vide. I still bought one when it was deeply discounted and couldn't be happier. For me it's the prep and the cooking process itself that the sous vide makes much, much easier/more convenient.

Then there's the the chicken, the salmon, and the pork. Never burnt, never dry, never rubbery. Never an emergency.

[doreenjoy]

Originally Posted by leebase

Amazing, right? I developed cataracts in my 40's and had lenses put into both eyes. Wow! 20/20 eyesight for the first time in my life. Still needed glasses for reading...but no longer wearing coke bottle thick glasses.

I've had cataracts for 20 years but am putting off surgery.... I need retinal surgery first.

[PeterT]

Originally Posted by leebase

Amazing, right? I developed cataracts in my 40's and had lenses put into both eyes. Wow! 20/20 eyesight for the first time in my life. Still needed glasses for reading...but no longer wearing coke bottle thick glasses.

It is amazing but in my case 20/20 is just a pipe dream. I suffer from other eye issues (Keratoconus in both eyes) that results in bad astigmatism and us treated by rigid gas permeable (RGP) contact lenses or at some point by corneal transplants.

Yes the brightness / difference in colours us astonishing and I'm still at the less than 1 week since surgery point.

Sent from my SM-T290 using Tapatalk

[issybird]

Originally Posted by doreenjoy

I've had cataracts for 20 years but am putting off surgery.... I need retinal surgery first.

Good luck! I had four retinal surgeries in my left eye (it detached three times) and it's not fun, but it beats the alternative, as they say. Cataract surgery (I've had both eyes done) is a walk in the park in comparison and it really is miraculous.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by leebase

You have to sear afterwards

Yes, I know. That's what the George Foreman electric grill is for. It give really nice grill marks.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

Thought that was the whole idea to get a SV for perfect predictable steaks? Let cook at 165°, then sear just long enough to make burn marks and pretend it came off the grill like that. The only downside is the long time to do that.

Yes, it is. That's pretty much what I do, and IMPO, it really works well with chicken. But it just doesn't give the same taste for steak that I get on the grill. I do have a charcoal grill, which IMPO makes a big difference. For me, it's simply a taste thing. It cooks just fine.

Of course, when one starts to talk about grilling, it's a subject that some people feel very passionate about.