Great Gifts for Aspiring Sous Vide Chefs

[Photographs: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt; top photograph: Vicky Wasik]

Sous vide cooking—the technique of cooking meat and vegetables sealed in vacuum bags and cooked in a water bath held at a precisely controlled temperature—is the most important new cooking technique to arrive since the microwave. It's the most foolproof way to guarantee that your meat will come out perfectly cooked from edge to edge. And, with the price of high-quality home sous vide setups finally in the sub-$200 range, the barrier to entry is lower than ever before. Here's my guide to the tools you'll need (okay, and some of the toys you'll want) to start cooking restaurant-quality meals at home.

A sous vide circulator: You can cook a limited number of sous vide recipes in a beer cooler, but if you want to start cooking like the pros, you'll need a dedicated circulator designed to maintain the temperature of a water bath to within one degree. I prefer wand-style circulators that can be used in any pot (as opposed to stand-alone water baths) for their versatility and easy storage. At home, I cook with the Anova Precision Cooker—you can use it on its own or tie it via Bluetooth to a smartphone app featuring my time and temperature guides, which are guaranteed to produce juicy and tender results. It has an easy-to-use scroll wheel for setting the temperature and a sturdy clip for attaching it to the side of the pot, and is also available in a newer Wi-Fi-enabled model so you can monitor your long cooks from anywhere.

A good vacuum sealer: A zipper-lock bag will work for basic, short-term sous vide cooking projects, but for extended cooking and storage, you'll want to pair your sous vide circulator with a vacuum sealer. I've recently dropped my much-used FoodSaver in favor of the Oliso PRO Smart Vacuum Sealer, a clever device that allows you to seal foods in reusable zip-top bags while achieving and maintaining the same level of vacuum seal as any countertop vacuum sealer. So much less wasted plastic, so much less storage space needed.

A 4.75-gallon Cambro container: You can cook sous vide in any pot you own, but a large plastic container is a great accessory to have if you ever plan on cooking for more than a few people at a time. With a 4.75-gallon Cambro, you have ample space to cook 10 steaks or chicken breasts for a dinner party, or up to five full racks of pork ribs. Pairing it with a sliding lid will help maintain water levels (and save energy!).

A metal rack: Good circulation around all sides of your food as it sits in the circulator is important for even cooking. There are expensive specially-designed-for-sous vide (or simply cleverly-rebranded-for-sous-vide) metal racks on the market, but the most affordable and effective options are these IKEA pot lid organizers. They aren't designed for sous vide, but their accordion-style expansion design makes them ideal for the task, whether you're cooking thin salmon fillets or hefty two-inch-thick steaks.

A cast iron skillet: Once your meat's cooked, you'll want to give it a deep brown crust to add flavor and textural contrast. There's no better way to do that than with a ripping-hot cast iron skillet, and good news: They're cheap. Pair that skillet with a high-output torch head like the Iwatani Cooking Torch, and you can char your steaks in half the time (and look totally badass in the process).

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