I did my test today. Couldn't find my fancy pounder so used a mallet. It could have been flatter, but I didn't want to make it into mush. The pieces looked so pretty on the platter, but I forgot to take the picture. I was careful to try it less than perfectly hot since that inevitably happens along the line. It was great! But I'm going to rethink the plum sauce. I don't think it did anything for the meat, and it couldn't compete with the stuffing for flavor. The stuffing is unsulphured apricots, a few medjool dates, pistachios, a crisp white wine and Spanish varietal EVOO. And matzah. Just run through the FP easy peasy. The roulades might have been prettier tied with string but I used silicone bands because they're so hugely much easier. This was 145° F for about 3.5 hrs. The meat is slightly pink, but not "IT'S RAW!" pink, and the texture is cooked. It sliced really easily with a granton edged slicer (except when I got distracted).

It's another toy. Buy one. Have fun! I haven't had mine for too long, but so far, so good! Tonight we had steak, which I put in the bath for a couple of hours before finishing it on the grill. The best part is that I don't have to worry about final timing....need an extra 30 minutes? No worries and no disasters! And I've never made such moist and tender chicken breast or pork chops as when it's done SV.

Since there seems to be some renewed interest by those who’ve yet to try sous vide, thought I’d add a few comments/observations… For me, the most wonderful thing about sous vide is the ability to take a cheap cut of meat and make it tender and tasty – and cook it to perfect mid-rare (our preference). Whether it’s Select steaks on sale for DH and I to enjoy and feel as if we’re dining on quality steak on a weeknight, or finding some cut at the grocery which I’ve no idea what it is and SV’ing, then slicing for a fantastic lunch meat or a quick dinner sandwich… it’s amazing what the SV can do with cheap cuts… Second most wonderful thing for me: Bulk SV’ing (thanks to Sleevendog). I SV and freeze several pork chops to thaw, reheat in the SV, sear and serve; chicken to make salads and sandwiches. And DH’s favorite weeknight meal: Several cheap steaks in bags of 2, mass SV’d to desired doneness. Drop in ice bath, label, then freeze. I only need to remove a couple from the freezer, pop in the SV at one degree under the temp initially cooked, it thaws and reheats in about 45 minutes, and meanwhile I whip up a quick sauce, some veggies, and finish by searing off which also helps to heat the steaks. Makes for an easy weeknight meal. Below is a Select New York Strip, little to no marbling (uber-cheap cut), with a (too thick) peppercorn sauce. It was quite good! And my embarrassing confession: I can prepare fish and seafood… but for some reason I can’t consistently make it come out perfectly cooked. Sometimes my shrimp or scallops are a wee bit on the too done side. Same with salmon (as mentioned above). Sure, should be easy for many, but for me? Eh. So SV to the rescue. I made this scallop dish last summer and while the scallops were in the SV for their 30 minutes I fried up baby kale, baked my maple glazed bacon, sliced the tomatoes and avocados, and made a sauce for BLT Scallops. Seared off the scallops for 15 seconds, sliced in half, assembled, and they were perfection. To those who scoff and say they can sear a scallop in moments, I say great for you, but I can’t and know beyond any doubt they won’t be under cooked or overcooked. With SV I can : ) fillmoe, and anyone else interested, have fun and enjoy!

First try at leftovers from the freezer the other day, a pork loin roast, worked perfectly. Nice to have hot leftovers without overcooking. Less success, again, with steaks. Figured I’d try it on my kids without them knowing anything. 1.25” strips, a bit of salt, bit of avocado oil. 132° for about an hour, pan seared. As opposed to my typical pan sear, rest, oven. My daughter immediately picked up on something being different. “The juice doesn’t taste right.” I asked my son if his was ok. “Not as good as normal but it’s fine.” That was as much descriptive as I got from them. Add them to the list, as my wife never likes it either, complains about the texture. Can’t say SV steak is idiot-proof because this idiot has yet to nail it.