I use one.
I am an experienced cook and use one to produce consistent, on-target results. It more often prevents over-cooking, not under-cooking.
Yes. Accurate temperatures guarantee good results. Sous vied is also wonderful for stress free prep of expensive meats.
Sous vide was a game changer for me. I don’t use mine often but break it out when I want to convince people I am not terrible at cooking.
Just wish that it wasn’t necessary to use so much plastic for it. If there was any sort of plant-based film that food could be sealed in instead, it’d be perfect.
Try the reverse sear method instead. You get sous vise like results with no plastic, no water bath, just an oven and a pan.
I use my toaster oven to do the precook while searing off vegetables in my pan or baking in the larger oven, then get the pan wicked hot and sear the steak. Fast, excellent mutlitasking. Works well for pork chops too.
Its a much better cook than sous vide imo.
I find it to basically be exactly the same, but almost no setup. No filling a pot/container with water, putting the stick heater in, ziplocking or vacuum sealing the meat, then waiting an hour+ for it to hit temperature.
Toss the steaks on a tray, preheat toaster oven in 5 min to 225f, prep and cook the rest of the meal and the sear off the steaks after 20min. Easy as fuck.
The whole benefit of sous vide is that you can completely forget about the meat—even leave it for days at a time—and it will never overcook. Just take it out anytime, slap it on the stove for a quick sear, and get a perfect medium rare every time.
As someone with extreme ADHD, this is why I always sous vide my steak. Reverse sear is slow, yes, but there’s still a chance to forget about it and let it overcook.
It’s also great for cheap beef. You can throw a tri-tip or brisket in there and run it for literal days until you have meat as tender as the deli counter, while also being med-rare throughout.
I think possibly the best steak I ever had/made was a cheap chuck steak that I gave a nice long sous vide treatment
There is a whole lot of flavor there, but it can be as tough as shoe leather, but with sous vide it came out as tender as any filet, but way beefier
We use silicon bags and magnets. You let the top of the bag drape over the side of the bucket(tub? basin?) and hold it in place with a few magnets. From what I can tell the results are the same for the steaks and meat we cook and none of the sketchiness from eating slow heated plastic.
Yes. Especially for chicken breasts. It’s easy enough to know for sure they’re done, but they’re much easier to eat as soon as they hit 155F. My immune system has never questioned my chicken, but my taste buds are very thankful for the meat thermometer.
Interesting. I heard that chicken needs to be cooked to 165F. Do you let it rest (and does that get it to eventually reach 165F?)
I just want juicy chicken that won’t give me diarrhea!
I always heard 165 too, but I looked at the chart on the meat thermometer and it said 155 for breast. I tried it out and it’s much juicer.
TIL!! Thank you
I meant to reply directly to you: https://lemmy.world/comment/17040636
Yes! There wasn’t a lot of meat prepared in my house as I was growing up, so I didn’t get any experience with it. Having a meat thermometer means I don’t need to guess. It’s good.
I’ve started cooking meat a lil cooler than recommended, in theory that it’s more tender. With a meat thermometer I know it’s still good.
Yes. It will tell you what’s happening where your eyes cannot see.
Yes, I have several of various types and use them extensively.
They are not necessary to cook, they are necessary to cook consistently.
Hell yeah, if I didn’t everything would come out of my kitchen double well done.
Perpetually, when cooking meat.
Every time.
Yes, vitally important when running a grill. I have one with 4 probes, one measures grill temp and 3 for meats.
Every time. Worth doing every time as well.
Don’t you?
Yes, but never for meat. I use it when I make toffee, bake bread and some other things.
Yes. I like meat cooked medium well and husband prefers medium rare. He’s as grossed out by overcooked as I am by undercooked. Without the thermometer he brings mine in too early.
I find that the metal ones work better and are easier to keep clean. The meat one I had just didn’t last long enough to be useful before it started to smell bad.
