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What's In Your Kitchen?

For sous vide folks, if it's cold or raining out I've landed on:

Max heat, drizzle of Safflower oil (very high smoke point) on a good cast iron that's been seriously pre-heated.

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And while searing hit the exposed side and edges heavy with a SearZall - Blowtorch

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Also, while steaks out of sous vide don't need to rest, in my opinion letting them sit and cool down a bit while completely drying them helps too prior to searing. You can sear a bit longer without cooking the steak much more because of the temp drop.

While this sounds like a PITA it's really not bad, and once your skillet is nice and seasoned the cleanup is just water and a paper towel wipe down. Finish with a hunk of butter and garlic/rosemary for a minute or so if you want.

Maybe a blisteringly hot green egg with some wood in it can be better (either for sear or for entire cook) but the consistency and how tender you can get tougher without overcooking them (flat irons or denvers come out like $50+ steaks) is tough to beat.
 
I spend a lot of time In the kitchen so it’s pretty well stocked.

KitchenAid Mixer with a bunch of attachments
Anova Sous Vide
Griddler
Breadmaker
Vitamix
Immersion Blender
Cuisinart Deep Fryer

The things we have bought during the pandemic are a Breville Espresso Maker and a Wusthof sharpening stone.

We bought a Breville Espresso Maker in September. It paid for itself in less than three months (which is a depressing statement) and has single-handedly kept us sane and fueled the past six weeks. Maybe the best purchase I’ve ever made.
 
For sous vide folks, if it's cold or raining out I've landed on:

Max heat, drizzle of Safflower oil (very high smoke point) on a good cast iron that's been seriously pre-heated.

And while searing hit the exposed side and edges heavy with a SearZall - Blowtorch

Also, while steaks out of sous vide don't need to rest, in my opinion letting them sit and cool down a bit while completely drying them helps too prior to searing. You can sear a bit longer without cooking the steak much more because of the temp drop.

While this sounds like a PITA it's really not bad, and once your skillet is nice and seasoned the cleanup is just water and a paper towel wipe down. Finish with a hunk of butter and garlic/rosemary for a minute or so if you want.

Maybe a blisteringly hot green egg with some wood in it can be better (either for sear or for entire cook) but the consistency and how tender you can get tougher without overcooking them (flat irons or denvers come out like $50+ steaks) is tough to beat.



This is where I landed on the charcoal chimney. I was a firm believer in the cast iron skillet until I gave the chimney a go. A major key in getting a good crust on a sous vide steak is making sure it’s as dry as possible before searing. They come out of the bag pretty wet, so you definitely need to dry it off.

Do any of the sous vide folks use a vacuum sealer? I just use a zip lock. Have been thinking about getting a vacuum sealer but there are so many options to weed through at so many different price points.
 
Yes. You should finish almost everything you sous vide in a pan. I’ve found for steaks that the best way is to finish it over a chimney full of charcoal.

The Sous Vide Everything channel uses a blowtorch to finish their steaks.
 


This is where I landed on the charcoal chimney. I was a firm believer in the cast iron skillet until I gave the chimney a go. A major key in getting a good crust on a sous vide steak is making sure it’s as dry as possible before searing. They come out of the bag pretty wet, so you definitely need to dry it off.

Do any of the sous vide folks use a vacuum sealer? I just use a zip lock. Have been thinking about getting a vacuum sealer but there are so many options to weed through at so many different price points.


We us a foodsaver vac sealer when we sous vide. People say that using a ziplock works just as well, but I like knowing that there's no chance of water getting into the bag.
 
My vacuum sealing has been problematic. Even when I'm sure it's dry and/or I double-seal, it seems there's a 50% chance it isn't. Probably user error.

Ziploc works every time.
 
huh, we've never had a single issue with the seal holding ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
I'm a big kitchen supplies junkie and most of the things I buy for myself or gifts my wife or family give me are kitchen-related. But I think I'm just about at a point where I don't need anything else.

-2 Le Creuset Dutch ovens
-All Clad set of pots and pans
-Cheap large stock pot from Sam's for making large quantities of stock or doing big low country boils and such
-Lodge cast iron skillet
-2 Calphalon nonstick pans
-Anova Sous Vide -- wife got one of the original Kickstarter models for me, now they're ubiquitous
-Food Saver vacuum sealer, mostly for use with the above
-KitchenAid stand mixer
-Vitamix blender -- we didn't want to register for a $400 blender so registered for some $60 thing but wife's aunt showed up at the wedding with one. Love it.
-Cuisinart ice cream maker
-Cuisinart immersion blender
-Cuisinart food processor my mom gave me as a housewarming for my first post-college apartment. It needs a new bowl since it's cracked.
-Instant Pot
-Boos Block cutting board
-Wusthof Classic 8' and 6' chef knives, paring knife, bread knife
-Shun 8' left-handed chef knife

I might buy a Baking Steel for pizza making soon because that's something I've wanted to get into. Also need a boning knife for breaking down meat.
 
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What’s y’all’s go to recipes for the instant pot? I’ve got one but haven’t really done too much in it. Do a lot of rice in it but it’s too multifunctional to be an exclusive rice cooker. I’ve tried using it as a crockpot but it is not the best at that, IMO.
 
Wusthof knife block -We've got it all.
All Clad Copper Core cookware
Calphalon skillet
Grizzly Cast Iron
Magic Bullet blender
Instapot 11 in 1 with air fryer
Bananas
 
We us a foodsaver vac sealer when we sous vide. People say that using a ziplock works just as well, but I like knowing that there's no chance of water getting into the bag.

We have one that's kind of vertical and stores a roll on the top with a cutter. That's the best thing about the vacuum sealer in my opinion - any size bag, rolls last a long time, just takes a few seconds to do. Never really had any issues minus the occasional oddly sized protein that takes a few tries to seal properly.

Also I've tried blowtorch alone and it's a pain in the ass. Takes way longer than you'd imagine for large steaks and isn't as good as the combo with a cast iron.
 
What’s y’all’s go to recipes for the instant pot? I’ve got one but haven’t really done too much in it. Do a lot of rice in it but it’s too multifunctional to be an exclusive rice cooker. I’ve tried using it as a crockpot but it is not the best at that, IMO.


I actually bought it as a replacement for our ancient crockpot, which sadly developed a crack in the pot.

So far we’ve found, as you indicate, it’s great for cooking rice. We’ve also found it somewhat challenge to use as a crockpot... mostly we have to allow more time or higher heat setting.


We found a booklet/magazine from Cook’s Illustrated with tested recipes that have been very good.
 
this recipe came out excellent in my Instant Pot: https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2020/03/pressure-cooker-butter-chicken.html

you broil the chicken while the sauce cooks which means you get some nice char on the chicken

another piece of equipment we have is a cheap blade coffee grinder for spices. I actually have another of the same model I use for coffee. I know a burr grinder would be better but I don't care that much.
 
I think the only remaining items on my kitchen list are Le Crueset Dutch oven and a big ass cutting board.
 
I actually bought it as a replacement for our ancient crockpot, which sadly developed a crack in the pot.

So far we’ve found, as you indicate, it’s great for cooking rice. We’ve also found it somewhat challenge to use as a crockpot... mostly we have to allow more time or higher heat setting.


We found a booklet/magazine from Cook’s Illustrated with tested recipes that have been very good.



Here you go, if interested: https://shop.americastestkitchen.co...urcekey=CCASDZZA0&ref=new_search_experience_6
 
My current favorite thing in the kitchen is our newish stove (Ilve) that we got in January (and the accompanying outside-vented hood - night and day different from the recirculating microwave vent that we previously had). Even after a few months we're still getting used to the power of the burners since they are vastly more powerful than our old stove. But this stove fucks.

Made a big pot of red beans on Sunday for red beans and rice last night. It was sooo good. Better than Popeye's. First time I've made it, but I wanted to do something with the leftover bone from the honey baked ham we got delivered last week.
 
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