Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Baked potatoes with cheese sauce, broccoli, and ham cubes were a standard weeknight dinner in my house growing up. Mmmm...

@Nick, you definitely don't to use a fine, aged balsamic in lieu of black vinegar, but a decent mass marketed brand will give you enough complexity and sweetness (perhaps a touch more than you want) to replicate the flavor of black vinegar. Regular rice vinegar is sharper than black vinegar and wouldn't blend as well.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/6430858/Fat-Duck-food-poisoning-Heston-Blumenthal-will-face-no-action.html

''A health report last month concluded that oysters tainted with sewage and poor staff hygiene led to guests falling ill after eating at the restaurant in Bray, Berks.

However, environmental health officials have now decided not to prosecute the 43-year-old chef over alleged breaches of food safety legislation at the eatery, which is one of only three in Britain to hold three Michelin stars. ''

If Heston Blumenthal can make people sick by not having adequate sanitation, then what is he trying to do getting home cooks to breed bacteria in a bag?

I was at this demo, and I have to agree, every bite was amazing.

Regarding the discontinued reynold's bags, their vacuum machine works just fine with the vacuum bags sold by ziploc; I've found they do a better job sucking out the air when there's a lot of liquid in the bag than the hand pump device ziploc provides.

One thing not really emphasized during the sous-vide demo is how great a combination this kind of tool is with a really good grill, like , say, a big green egg. You can sous-vide your pork chops, your steaks, your chicken, toss them on the grill to finish them off to absolute perfection. And if you like grass-fed steaks, but dont like how tough they usually are, sous-viding completely solves the problem.

I don't know...call me a Luddite, but.there is something about the smell of food simmering, sizzling, and roasting that makes my mouth water and my stomach growl. A kitchen without these delicious aromas wafting through the air seems rather unappetizing. Or maybe, ala elBulli, we can spritz the air with the scent of roasted pork while we gum the sous-vide version.

@Hannekin: 140°F is potentially safe for cooking chicken, based on the science behind the growth of microorganisms. When dealing with food safety, one must also consider the time held at a certain temperature. While salmonella does not die instantly at 140°F, it will die if held long enough at that temperature. (More precisely, enough will die to no longer be considered a health hazard). The USDA temperature recommendations are total bs. It's more to cover their own ass.
But yes, proper cooking is a huge issue when dealing with low temperature cooking. I hope this equipment comes with the proper food safety documentation detailing temperatures and times. If you're interested in low temp cooking, you really should read Douglas Baldwin's highly informative (and science-based) sous-vide site: http://amath.colorado.edu/~baldwind/sous-vide.html

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I have a homemade sous-vide setup that was constructed for under $100 using an ebayed Auber Instruments temperature controller, a hot plate and a stock pot. It's just a precise water bath, and is one of the most versatile cooking equipments that I have. If Ron Popeil were selling this, it would go something like this: But wait! It's not just a Sous-Vide Supreme, it's also a yogurt maker, dough proofer, slow-cooker crockpot, grain masher, red wine fermenter, perfect creme-brulee cooker, egg hatcher....

Unfortunately, the Sous-Vide Supreme does not allow you to cook exactly like they do in Michelin-starred restaurants. You still need a $5000 chamber vacuum sealer to be able to do make some of the things that require compression or liquids that shouldn't be frozen beforehand.

Chef Blumenthal is helping to bring this form of cooking to the current public palate, but I remember writing about similar methods back in the 70s...It is already being used on such long distance railroad lines as Amtrak.
Apparently it must be done under highly controlled conditions so that it does not cause health issues, hence the expensive equipment.

@J. Kenji - I have always wondered why I have never come across a burger cooked sous-vide and then quickly seared for the crust. I'm looking forward to reading about your results.

@J.Kenji Dude, if they can do steaks in these, imagine how good a burger might be?
Slow cook it for a little while, then take it out and brown it up...or it could be a huge fail. Probably hugely dependant on the blend(s) of meat in the burger patty.

Most restaurants using sous vide techniques are most likely violating county health codes. As stated before, C. botulinum growth will be stimulated under modified atmospheric pressure. Variences are needed, and they are not easy to obtain. A chef a Johnson & Wales University received his varience in sous vide cooking and he showed what was a textbook of information required to be learned, reguarding health deparment regulationss and operating every aspect of the machine. Anyone know if this is still banned in NYC?

The SousVide website offers an option to buy a Reynolds Handi-Vac, however, they should also note that the Handi-Vac has been discontinued by Reynolds.

I guess tasting is probably believing, but I think this would just take out all the fun of cooking. I mean, the challenge of getting something 'perfect' is what keeps me going, even if it's not attainable.