Agreed, I think it’d be much better to invest in a joule, etc. instead.
I was thinking of a smoker after doing a few briskets, but after following the serious eats instructions for post-sous vide of putting it in the oven for a few hours at 250, I’m not in that much of a hurry - it doesn’t make me any less envious of those who do have a smoker, but it fell a few notches down.
I got an electric smoker as a gift a couple of years ago and have really liked it. I have to say the convienince of it being an electric is probably why I’ve used it so much. I know in die-hard smoker circles, electric is frowned upon, but it works amazingly well.
Smokers as a whole take a -long- time to cook. I don’t mind that, but I really hate babysitting something if it’s going to be a long cook. Sous vide allows that. To be fair, an electric smoker also allows that. But I think they work really well together. I have pics previously posted of a brisket pastrami I did a while back, finished with smoking over hickory. It was mind blowing, certainly for me, as I’d never made anything that tasty.
Agreed – I typically just use a small pot at home, but in the past I have rigged up the device inside a massive cooler to sous vide dozens of steaks at once when preparing for a cookout. A set-volume container does not appeal to me.
I like that about mine too, but for sure, a full container sous vide allows a TON of additional flexibility, in essence it’s a braising machine with extreme temp accuracy, plus baking, plus saute … that thing isn’t an Instant Pot, it’s an oven/range replacement. It is a dorm room dream come true.
- Sear/Sauté – Flexible temperature settings makes it perfect for simmering, caramelizing and sautéing vegetables, and searing meat. Temperature ranges from 250~425°F [120~220°C], you can easily adjust the time from 5 minutes to 1 hour, with a default time of 30 minutes.
- Bake – Prevents you from heating up your kitchen. Temperature ranges from 250~425°F [120~220°C], you can adjust the time from 10 minutes to 4 hour, with a default time of 1 hour.
- Slow Cooker – Two temperature settings High (H) and Low (L) with the ability to set the cooking time from 30 minutes to 24 hours for both temperature levels and a default time of 4 and 6 hours respectively.
I’m so envious. That looks amazing!
Hey, sous vide makes brisket easy-peesy for what it’s worth.
That’s some fine looking brisket.
Last year I started using the pressure cooker to make pulled pork, and it works very well, and only takes around an hour to cook a pork shoulder. With some liquid smoke, the effect is quite good.
Not as good as when I use my smoker, but that shit is an all day affair.
Yes indeed.
Now I want a pastrami sandwich. I shouldn’t have looked at those pics again.
I’m about ready to replace my ancient toaster oven with a counter-top convection oven. It looks like the latest Breville, Cuisinart and Toshiba models are the ones to look at, but some of the Amazon reviews I’ve seen make me hesitate. Plus, even the latest models don’t look all that current, judging from the Amazon listings, and my gut tells me it might be good to wait for newer models to come out.
Opinions?
I had never really looked into the InstaPot craze, so I figured they were just a crockpot that got hotter or something. Like instead of slow cooking all day you could do it in a few hours. But my kids got us one for Christmas, and I let it sit unopened or even looked at really until yesterday. Then I take a look and it’s a freaking pressure cooker thing that cooks in minutes???!!! My world just opened up! The possibilities are endless (in my mind anyway)!
I think we’re breaking it in with goulash tonight.
Yeah, Instant Pots are the bomb. Cooked an amazing Thanksgiving risotto in about ten minutes with mine.
Yup, and while it was the slow cooker function that sold me (to replace the old one), it’s the pressure cooker that I use 100x more.
Witch! Burn the witch!
Witch. What superstitious nonsense. Everyone knows there’s no such thing as a witch. Clearly he’s a Time Lord.
Well there’s always the June oven. You can watch your food cook in 1080p 30fps video on your smartphone! You can control it with Alexa! A bargain at $599.
But yeah, I’d just get the Breville.
The original plan included a turkey (using the Instant Pot, which I was excited to try), until I remembered that my daughter is a vegetarian now and would probably appreciate not having to smell it.
And the ten minutes was just the cooking time. Prep and sauteing was 5-10 additional minutes.
Have owned two brevilles (passed the first down to son) for several years and been very happy with both. Took me years to convince my wife to try a toaster oven and she really likes it.
I don’t think there’s been much change in the state of the art on these things in the last ten years or more. I guess since I got my Breville it’s added air fryer functionality or something? That seems like about it, and I got mine in early 2011.