3 ms·

That "simple process" requires equipment most people don't own or know how to operate, an oil most people don't keep in their cupboards, and is suggested in a b

That "simple process" requires equipment most people don't own or know how to operate, an oil most people don't keep in their cupboards, and is suggested in a book most people haven't heard of by a tech CTO they would not recognise the name of. Honestly this is like the Dropbox comment all over again. Everyone is missing the point, it's glorious. :) Most people cooking steaks don't care about the optimal way to cook steaks, or want to find out. Most people building software today don't care about the optimal way to build software, or want to find out. That's TFA. That's the point. That's what we're discussing. :D

danielmarkbruce 2mo ago
Corn oil is cheap and available at costco. A sous vide is a fancy french name for a $150 device from target that keeps water at a specific temperature... This "simple process" is much, much simpler than most meals one cooks at home. It's not much harder than microwaving something. You are missing the point. With a small change in the way you do something, the really good thing can be made.
- gbin 2mo ago
  I read corn oil while I expect 3 star Michelin steak. What are we talking about oO
- garbageman 2mo ago
  Sous vide are even cheaper now, $30 for a basic one, provided you've got a stock pot or something large enough to set it in.
  - puchatek 2mo ago
    You need something to vacuum seal the food. Is that included in the $30?
    - danielmarkbruce 2mo ago
      you really don't for most things. Ziplock is fine for things that take an hour or two.
    - mayoff 2mo ago
      That can be just a ziplock bag and the same water bath you're going to use for the sous vide anyway. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrZPLF0ezw8nn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrZPLF0ezw8nn
wildzzz 2mo ago
I used to sous vide steak in college with just some hot water and my roommate's six-pack cooler. Water should be no more than 5F warmer than the cook temp. For a medium rare steak, cook temp is 129F so get close that. Salt the steak no more than an hour before you start. Steak goes into a Ziploc bag, submerge it up to the zipper to let water pressure force out the air and then seal it shut. Close the lid and come back in an hour, two hours if it's a thicker steak. Take it out of the bag, blot it with a paper towel, apply some steak seasoning, and toss it on a pan at the hottest temperature you can make it. Wait 3 minutes and flip, wait another 3 minutes and serve immediately. Toss a pat of butter on top while in the pan if you're a hedonist. Only prerequisites are a cheap kitchen thermometer, a ziploc gallon bag, and a cheap cooler. Everything is available at your typical supermarket or even goodwill. This is a very hands off cooking method and requires no experimentation, just follow the recipe and you get a perfect steak every time. The key is that a cooler holds hot things just as well as cold things but without a circulator and heater to keep the water warm, you're at the mercy of the cooler's R-value. The water will eventually get too cold to effectively cook the meat so you're limited in the length of time you can sous vide. Doing a 24 hour chuck roast is simply not going to work unless you're refilling the cooler every couple hours.
- crazygringo 2mo ago
  The sous vide is not the hard part here. It's the deep frying for the sear. Not many people are willing to deep fry in their kitchens. It's messy, potentially dangerous, and not only stinks up the entire house for days but leaves a layer of oil over everything in the home that builds up and you can never really fully remove. There's a reason restaurants have massive powerful vents above the deep fryer, and that people who regularly deep-fry at home do it outdoors.
  - foobarian 2mo ago
    My problem with deep frying (besides the points you bring up) is the waste. I can't stomach the amounts of oil I end up disposing even if I get several uses.
  - danielmarkbruce 2mo ago
ErroneousBosh 2mo ago
Why wouldn't you have corn oil?
- nuxi 2mo ago
  Where I live corn was never used for producing oil. For that purpose we used rapeseed/canola, sunflowers, olives and pumpkin seeds. Corn grown here is mostly used for corn flour, cornmeal (polenta), or for animal feed.
  - ErroneousBosh 2mo ago
    Ah, we've got pretty much all of that here, although way more rapeseed is grown than corn.

danielmarkbruce 2mo ago

Corn oil is cheap and available at costco. A sous vide is a fancy french name for a $150 device from target that keeps water at a specific temperature... This "simple process" is much, much simpler than most meals one cooks at home. It's not much harder than microwaving something. You are missing the point. With a small change in the way you do something, the really good thing can be made.

gbin 2mo ago
I read corn oil while I expect 3 star Michelin steak. What are we talking about oO
garbageman 2mo ago
Sous vide are even cheaper now, $30 for a basic one, provided you've got a stock pot or something large enough to set it in.
- puchatek 2mo ago
  You need something to vacuum seal the food. Is that included in the $30?
  - danielmarkbruce 2mo ago
    you really don't for most things. Ziplock is fine for things that take an hour or two.
  - mayoff 2mo ago
    That can be just a ziplock bag and the same water bath you're going to use for the sous vide anyway. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrZPLF0ezw8nn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrZPLF0ezw8nn

wildzzz 2mo ago

I used to sous vide steak in college with just some hot water and my roommate's six-pack cooler. Water should be no more than 5F warmer than the cook temp. For a medium rare steak, cook temp is 129F so get close that. Salt the steak no more than an hour before you start. Steak goes into a Ziploc bag, submerge it up to the zipper to let water pressure force out the air and then seal it shut. Close the lid and come back in an hour, two hours if it's a thicker steak. Take it out of the bag, blot it with a paper towel, apply some steak seasoning, and toss it on a pan at the hottest temperature you can make it. Wait 3 minutes and flip, wait another 3 minutes and serve immediately. Toss a pat of butter on top while in the pan if you're a hedonist. Only prerequisites are a cheap kitchen thermometer, a ziploc gallon bag, and a cheap cooler. Everything is available at your typical supermarket or even goodwill. This is a very hands off cooking method and requires no experimentation, just follow the recipe and you get a perfect steak every time. The key is that a cooler holds hot things just as well as cold things but without a circulator and heater to keep the water warm, you're at the mercy of the cooler's R-value. The water will eventually get too cold to effectively cook the meat so you're limited in the length of time you can sous vide. Doing a 24 hour chuck roast is simply not going to work unless you're refilling the cooler every couple hours.

crazygringo 2mo ago
The sous vide is not the hard part here. It's the deep frying for the sear. Not many people are willing to deep fry in their kitchens. It's messy, potentially dangerous, and not only stinks up the entire house for days but leaves a layer of oil over everything in the home that builds up and you can never really fully remove. There's a reason restaurants have massive powerful vents above the deep fryer, and that people who regularly deep-fry at home do it outdoors.
- foobarian 2mo ago
  My problem with deep frying (besides the points you bring up) is the waste. I can't stomach the amounts of oil I end up disposing even if I get several uses.
- danielmarkbruce 2mo ago

ErroneousBosh 2mo ago

Why wouldn't you have corn oil?

nuxi 2mo ago
Where I live corn was never used for producing oil. For that purpose we used rapeseed/canola, sunflowers, olives and pumpkin seeds. Corn grown here is mostly used for corn flour, cornmeal (polenta), or for animal feed.
- ErroneousBosh 2mo ago
  Ah, we've got pretty much all of that here, although way more rapeseed is grown than corn.