it can be worth it. i have done quite a bit of sous vide over the last couple of years and there is definitely a temptation to overuse it before you know its limits. it REALLY helps when working with a lot of product. i stopped using it for things like steak or fish though, at least when cooking for myself. it's just more satisfying and sometimes even subjectively a better result to do it in a pan.

fucking 48-72 hour short ribs though dude. gotta try them at least once.

>>7063745
So would I be right in thinking there's probably not much benefit in it if I usually only cook for myself?

>>7063767

it depends what you cook, but yes i would say realistically unless you have an enthusiastic interest in this kind of stuff it is not that useful.

in terms of cooking meat, sous vide can do two things: achieve a very precise *traditional* result or a completely *novel* result.

the *traditional* results are very precise but not substantively better than cooking *traditionally* - assuming you know what you're doing.

the completely *novel* results generally take a very long time, and potentially some troubleshooting. they're a significant investment in time, counter space and electricity.

there are some things i really love it for. octopus and squid are both amazing sous vide. i do love sous vide fish, but i also love it pan roasted. anything you want to eat uniformly pink, like a veal roast or something, is great. i use it for things like tempered chocolate, custards, other gelatinised pastry components. it saves on fuckloads of oil when doing confits of any kind.

there are big advantages to it if you're an enthusiast. and if you can work out the logistics you could probably save yourself some time on your weekday meals - but the amount of everyday planning that takes is beyond me, and i like to cook on a whim. you might be different. it's not a huge investment so if you can afford it give it a try, but these are my experiences.

>>7063793
Cool, thanks for the advice. I read about a way to rig a slow cooker into a makeshift temp-controlled cooker, but it sounds like the biggest gains are in the kind of foods I wouldn't normally make anyway (I'm not a devoted enthusiast at this point). Awesome steaks and fish might not be worth the effort when I don't have anyone to impress.

Eating at your house sounds pretty damn good though.

>>7063736
I was thinking about getting the new anova to cook stuff for the holidays but was worried about not using it enough after that. I live alone so it's probably not worth it for me.

Sous vide can produce a lot better results than other traditional methods because water is inherently a better heat conductor than air. The food will be cooked more evenly all throughout, which make certain meals and products better.

It is certainly very very time consuming, but if you have the resources to do it, experiment!

Pro-tip: Search for an Youtube channel called Chef Steps. They cook a lot of stuff sous vide and have some pretty great guides and videos.

>>7063736
Bumping this shit

on this, "cooking" board people joke about sriracha and bacon being a meme
Sous vide is the true meme. i don't see the point in it.

>>7066025
How is sous vide a meme? It's a cooking method that makes it very easy to produce excellent results.

Why don't you go back to heating frozen chicken and canned soups in your trash bag lined slow cooker?

I'm a poorfag but I've been able to replicate sous vide cooking with decent success with just an large pan of water, a good oven and some ziplock bags. Just put your foodstuffs in a ziplock bag, then fill a sink with water and lower the open bag into the water so that the water pushes the air out, then close the bag. This is basically a ghetto vacuum sealer. Not as effective as a real one, but satisfactory. Ideally you'd have a little bit of oil or something in the bag to conduct heat, otherwise there may be small air pockets. You likely won't be able to use this for any high heat cooking, since when the temperature gets to around 80-90 C or more the evaporating water in the food creates enough pressure to burst the bag open.

Then just fill a large vessel with water, put it in the oven and heat it to your desired temperature. A thermometer is vital here. I'm lucky enough to have a very accurate oven, so when I set it to 60 C it will indeed be a steady 57-63 C. You won't get the same kind of resolution as with a proper circulator, but for most applications your oven is probably accurate enough. You might also need a weight on top of the bag so it doesn't float.