Posted by annie1992 "I don't like lamb in any form, so won't conjecture on the proper cooking of it. (grin) ----" Annie, I didn't use to like lamb at all, until they start charging a lot of money. Expensive = taste good ? LOL FOAS, thank you. I look forward to seeing more of your sous vide creations. Alexa, at the risk of being accused of anti Occam's Razor law, let's take a little time to chew the fat. First, the pictures might be a little misleading. I take food pictures using only the auto setting on my camera to save time. Depending on if the light is from the window (day) or from the CFL (night) or if the shot is wide-angle or close-up and the predominant color of the food item, the camera's built-in software takes charge and determines the red/white/blue balance for each picture. The colors on the first two are closer to the real thing. Rack of lamb, very expensive. If you take away the fat, and the bones, and shrinkage, it probably comes to $60.00 a pound here in NYC. Meat, bones and fat have different thermal conductivities, adding to it, the small size and the shape of a rack of lamb, it makes it very difficult to cook it perfectly unless you prefer the whole thing well-done. It is challenging to find a way to maximize perfection to every tiny morsel of this wondrous victual. At the temperature I set at 135F, it is too low to render the fat. Since I don�t eat the fat, it does not bother me just to scrape the fat off while I eat. But if I were to serve others who are not followers of the Paleolithic diet, I probably BBQ the fat a little longer and that will make the issue go away. No, you cannot make Schmaltz using a sous vide cooker. I think it needs to be emphasized that sous vide is merely a particular way of cooking with a special appliance. There is really no recipes for sous vide, no more than recipes for microwave, or cast iron frying pan, etc. It is unfortunate that the French word "sous vide" gives this concept a lot of unjustified mystique; the fact that top chefs and upscale restaurant use it makes it appearing un-approachable. It makes it seem like practitioners of this way of cooking belong to some religious cult. The truth is this: sous vide is just a water oven that can keep constant temperatures. If I were to name this appliance, I would call it "Cookware For Making Perfect Meats For Dummies" If you show a 10-year-old kid how to set the temperature, the kid can cook the meat sous vide just like a top chef. A sous vide cooker simply will not allow you to overcook or undercook, it makes no difference if your piece of meat is frozen on one half and the other half at room-temperature, thick on one end and thin on the other end. No doubt, sous vide is going to go thru similar fade as the microwave oven did. First microwave oven was scosting like $5,000 and there were many myths and fears surrounding these bizarre new electronic "radar ranges." By the seventies, more and more people were finding the benefits of microwave cooking to outweigh the supposedly risks, and none of them were dying of radiation poisoning, going blind, becoming sterile, or impotent. As fears ebbed, acceptance began pouring into the kitchens. dcarch

Artemis_ma, I had 146 written originally, but have changed it to 148 – thank you. OT: I woke up in the middle of the night last night, literally sat up, and almost said aloud “that is artemis ma’s kitchen!” Forgive me, I didn’t remember your reveal post, but I guess it’s been in my subconscious all the while… I love your kitchen (said that a while back, but worth repeating). I even remember a family member had made or found an incredible crazy-looking langolier-like (from a Stephen King book) metal creature sculpture with eating utensils which I adored! I hear you, I’m now in TN, where the humidity makes me soaked after 10 minutes outside. I loved NM, the heat so dry… but DH is here, so I am : ) Plllog, you have a good point. I was thinking if there were followers, or later someone searching, they’d like to hear a newbie’s experiences, but yes, this is a long thread now, and many might skip over some of this invaluable information accidentally. I’ll start a new thread but include reference to this one. I’m (again) saving your comments. I need to write all this out in a notebook – writing it again will help me remember without having to look up things every time. I put a towel over and around the container with my long-cook meat yesterday and had been watching the water level like a mother hen : ) Sherri, I’ll keep your comment in mind about fast sears. See? These types of learning experiences are so helpful and I feel others can also benefit! That’s what I’d read Islay! Endive with butter and ginger? Instant gratin? My brain is in joyful overload! Bragu, I’d never have thought of that combo, ever… will now! Sleeve, I think I will start a new thread.. Yes, I will put sous vide in the title : ) “In a 'part-2' thread I'd like to hear some recipes.” – Last night I was thinking the same thing! I’ll make that request and share what I’ve got thus far (which isn’t much, but it’s a start!). Ha! There’s a very happy dog at your home! Did you smile or grumble? I’d have done both! Ah, so you use it for lunches and tacos! Or were going too.. Oh my, that London broil… I hope I’m not sous vide’ing (OK, how do you say it???) the round sirloin tip roast too long… oh well, trial and error! Sleevendog, I know I sound dense, but to clarify: You had a London broil that had been sous vide earlier, then you smoked it 45 minutes at 180-200 F to finish? Because, I’m thinking I can get (even in this heat) the weber and pellet tube at 200 F… I have yet to pre-sous vide and freeze anything – because I need to get my times and temps down before doing several at once. This is so embarrassing, but it’s the only way to learn: I looked for a London broil last Tuesday - but I was also looking for Top Round (which I also couldn’t find). Now I understand London broil is Top Round or Flank Steak or the way it’s prepared??? I bought the ‘round sirloin tip roast’ because it was cheap, and have never bought one before (it’s about the same thickness I think as Sleeve’s London Broil pic). It’s my understanding the top round is more tender than the sirloin tip, but the sirloin tip has some flavor. I’ve stared at photos of cow cuts, read multiple beef articles and my brain is now sous vide! If anyone can clarify what a London broil is, I’d appreciate it!

I've started buying bacon for myself again when I am alone in Cathedral City for four weeks at a time. Here's how I've been cooking it. First of all, I only want two or three strips at a time, but I've been mostly cooking three. I use a medium sized T-Fal non-stick skillet, and I spray the pan with a small amount of water. I then cut the bacon strips with scissors into varying lengths so that I can fit them into the pan easily, and I put the bacon in the slightly wet cold pan. I then put the pan on high heat until the water has evaporated and I hear a bit of sizzle, and then I turn the heat down to medium low. I turn the bacon several times and cook it until it is slightly crisp. As I take it out of the pan, I press it with the back of a spoon so that the grease goes back into the pan, and I let it drain on a paper towel. For the small amount of bacon I cook at a time, half a paper towel is enough. This method gives me bacon the way I like it, and I also have leftover bacon fat that I can save for later use. I think that preserving the fat is very important, and I have many uses for it. I would not want to use any method that would not yield leftover bacon fat. Since I cook bacon only once or twice a week, I do not end up with much bacon fat. I have not taken any of my cast iron pans to Cathedral City because I do not have space to store them. The house came with a lot of T-Fal non-stick pans, and I've decided that I like them.

Researching 48" ranges. It seems everyone has a different combination of features, making it hard to do apples-to-apples comparisons. For the range top, everyone has grills vs griddles, but SKS really is the outlier with induction + sous vide. I LOVE the induction option, as there's no waste heat or combustion products (particulates, NO2, CO and CO2) to get rid of. My wife is dead set on gas, regardless of health effects, so I'm hoping this gets her slowly warmed up to induction cooking. However, I'm far less excited about the sous vide d/t plastic bags. (IMO there are 2 types of plastics: those linked to cancer and those that will be linked to cancer, plus fertility rates have been dropping and it's thought to be linked to plastics. Has anyone used the sous vide compartment without the vacuum bags, maybe as a steamer? But with the steam combi oven, a pure steamer seems to be wasted valuable counter space. Maybe can get a scrap piece of counter material and use it as additional landing space for cooking? Can it be replaced with another induction setup? For the small oven, I like the potential for reducing clutter by eliminating a countertop appliance. Most 48" ranges just have a small convection oven (eliminates toaster oven, possibly an air fryer), Miele has a speed oven (eliminates a MWO), Thermador and SKS have a combi-steam oven, which eliminates a separate combi-steam oven, which could save you $2500-4000. So while each small oven option eliminates a countertop appliance, the combi-steam seems to saves you the most money on the purchase of said item.