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Comment by sowbug | Hacker News Reader

A sous vide machine. It's just a fancy stick that circulates water at a precise temperature, but it makes the most delicious and tender chicken and fish that you'll ever make at home. You can start it in the morning and leave it going while you're out. Then dump the contents into a frying pan for a minute or two to sear the outside, and lunch/dinner is ready.

You do need a vacuum sealer, but the total investment is less than $150, which you can easily recoup when you find that you don't crave restaurant or takeout food as much as you used to.

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> You do need a vacuum sealer,

No, you don't, zip-top bags with the excess air pushed out by water pressure and sealing after most of the bag is submerged work quite well.

Yes, it can be done. That's what I did for this year's Thanksgiving turkey.

My workflow these days is to buy a bunch of meat from Costco, then repackage it into portions with seasoning and throw it all in the freezer for later. In that case, removing all the air helps not just with buoyancy, but also with freezer burn.

mmm, delicious zip lock plastic cooked to perfection.

As opposed to the same plastic vacuum sealed and heated the same way?

You don't cook at temperatures where this is a problem.

Been considering buying one but I am worried if plastic staying in contact with food while hot. Is this something you researched?

I did not research it. The hottest temperature I use is 145F for chicken or pork ribs. Salmon is only 109F. If you have already looked into the use of plastic when cooking, which I haven't, and you know which temperature range is considered dangerous, then those numbers might help you.

America's Test Kitchen looked into it and it's just not a problem at the temperatures used in sous vide.

There are no issues in terms of taste or plastic leaching or anything of the sort, though if you're really paranoid you can always use Mason jars or silicon bags.

I use reusable food grade silicone bags I bought from Amazon. They are not vacuum sealed but I don't think that matters at all. As long as the portion of the bag containing the food is completely submerged the water pressure is sufficient to seal the bag around the food and ensure even heating in my experience.

how do you deal with seeping your proteins in plastic next to hot water?

See response to sibling comment. I haven't considered it.

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