What did you buy today?

Vacuum sealer, Sous Vide & searing update...

Well, the Food Saver was delivered along with a healthy supply of bags/rolls, and I was able to give it a try on a variety of things. Overall it worked great, sealing everything I threw at it. However, it took me no time at all to realize that the rolls of bags wouldn't last long, and after a little math, they were costing about $.50 a bag when all was said and done. In the meantime, I was starting to use the Sous Vide more and more, and I could see where this was heading...

So... I ended up returning the Food Saver, and although it was quite an investment up front, I picked up this guy. The bags cost pennies (only $.04 for the 8x10 size I use most, $.07 for the 10x13s), and is simple to use (not that the Food Saver was difficult). It can vacuum seal without me having to worry about liquids getting sucked into machine, which is a bonus. I've probably sealed 50 bags so far, preparing quick meals for cooking in the Sous Vide (NY Strips, chicken breasts, Pork Loin Chops, etc). At the cost of the FS bags, I don't think I'd do the same with the FS. With the up-front investment behind me, I'm more apt to use it quite often, where having to buy expensive bags would probably keep me from using it as often as I might want. That's how my screwed up mind works, anyway. It'll be quite a while before it "pays for itself", but so far I'm loving the chamber vacuum sealer.

As I mentioned, I'm using the Sous Vide often, and have been using the griddle to reverse sear steaks (works great, especially with clarified butter), and tried using the Ninja Foodie's air crisper to brown the crust of some chicken breasts (this method just dried out the breast before a crust could form). So... I did pick up a SearZall and so far it's been doing great with no unwanted propane taste.

Hopefully this is the last of my purchases for a while, at least until @Uncle Bob posts again...
Thought a long time of getting a chamber vac myself, but ended up getting a 15" Commercial vacuum sealer from Cabela's.

It didn't cost me anything (spent points on it) and I just use my points from my Cabela's card to get bags for it.
 
I am new to this forum and will be ordering a Bull in the next few weeks.

Long-time BBq'r and gadget guy. I too am tired of "Food Saver" vacuum sealers that don't work well or last long. Given the prices we pay for good protien and the time effort put inot cooking, a good reliable vacuum sealer is a must. I find it tough to justify $800-$1,000 for a chamber vac.

I spent a lot of time looking for recommendations and review. My next purchase will be a TaiShi DZ-260C Oil Compressor chamber vac. If you are adventurous, they can be had for about $325. There are two models and you need to get the oil cooled compressor. They are pretty heavy and fairly bulky. Ebay has them and Alibaba has them. Yes, Chinese made but not everything from China is poorly made.

This is a great forum and a wonderful community. I will post more once I get the Bull home and start cooking on it.
 
I am new to this forum and will be ordering a Bull in the next few weeks.

Long-time BBq'r and gadget guy. I too am tired of "Food Saver" vacuum sealers that don't work well or last long. Given the prices we pay for good protien and the time effort put inot cooking, a good reliable vacuum sealer is a must. I find it tough to justify $800-$1,000 for a chamber vac.

I spent a lot of time looking for recommendations and review. My next purchase will be a TaiShi DZ-260C Oil Compressor chamber vac. If you are adventurous, they can be had for about $325. There are two models and you need to get the oil cooled compressor. They are pretty heavy and fairly bulky. Ebay has them and Alibaba has them. Yes, Chinese made but not everything from China is poorly made.

This is a great forum and a wonderful community. I will post more once I get the Bull home and start cooking on it.
Well just to set the record straight, I bought a Stampede and not a Bull. But hey!, I did buy it today:)

Debated and discussed this choice much in a different thread. The Stampede is more right-sized for our needs and cooking area (deck). Besides that, you can't go wrong with either one they say and I am taking that literally gentlemen!
 
Okay gang, here I go, taking another bullet for the team :p

This time we're playing with thermometers. I'm a big Thermoworks fan, I love my Thermapen instant read and use it just about every single cook no matter the device (for proteins mostly, but also bread). When using the RT the two factory integrated probes suffice for routine cooks where there's usually only one or two items on the grate. We've talked on this site about multi channel temp monitors like Fireboard (6 channels) or Thermoworks Signals (4 channels), and perhaps one or two others. This seems a popular tool as new stuff shows up on the market with some regularity.

Well, last week a flash sale on Amazon featured a 6 channel, wifi functional, temp device from Govee, see it here. Normally over $50, it was being offered for $35 so I took a shot. The above mentioned brands are in the vicinity of $200 normally so this pricing was very attractive...............if it works. First off, I haven't done exhaustive work evaluating this as I would normally for other things I choose to write about. But, this isn't all that demanding, and the only thing I can't measure without going for a long period of time, is life expectancy. Once I got it unpacked and loaded the app on my iPhone I set up a cold bath, followed by a boiling pot of water. It doesn't come with any clips to hold the probe in a pan so I got one of the ones I have from Thermoworks. I ended up having to do a work around as the Govee probes are larger in diameter than the T-works ones. Don't know if that's good or bad, but I suspect it implies the T-works electronics are likely a bit more "sophisticated". Each of the probes was within the 1% accuracy promised at both temps (32 - 212). The screen was easy to read and tracked with the changes in temp fairly well, though not instantaneously, with the phone screen. These are not instant read though as it took a few seconds to respond to changes. That being said, they aren't intended for instant reads, but rather temps over time, so they work as needed just fine. I didn't test to see just how far away the signal functioned with the phone as I don't think any two environments are going to replicate reliably. In your house it might work either better or worse than mine, so pointless to go for a maximum. I did continue to get a signal from 40ish feet away, and it might have gone farther, I just didn't check. Overall, no disappointments on performance. It does what it's supposed to.

You might ask, "Why would I need to monitor 6 temps at once?" Odds are you probably won't real often, but if/when you need it it's a good thing. Part of why I'm a buyer at $35 but not at $200. Thought exercise; let's say you're doing three packer briskets. It could be useful to know the difference in temp between the point and flat on each one as they will likely finish at different times no matter how similar you think they are to each other. Or, if you're doing a big, multi whole chicken cook for the family reunion, you can monitor 8 at once utilizing the two resident probes on the RT. Three chickens? Measure a breast and a thigh on each. Anyway, you're on your own to justify what toys you add to your cooking arsenal. This one gets a thumbs up though not a "must have" endorsement.
 
Went to the store and bought them.

They weren't super busy and had at least one pallet full of each type.

@Mike

Wow, one pallet of each type? Nice! I can't say that for LJ pellets here in my area. I put an order in with my local dealer 2 1/2 weeks ago and I'm still looking at mid-June to the 1st of July for my 320lbs to come in. Apparently LJ is 4-6 weeks out on any new pellet shipments to any dealer. No big deal, hopefully I don't run out till then! :ROFLMAO:
 
Gizmoholics are running rampant!. I found and ended up buying a used commercial meat slicer for about the same price as some of the really good, non-commercial ones. A deli near our house was going out of business. He was selling everthing he could including light fixtures and those cold meat cases. I knew if I came home with either of those i would be living alone. I asked about the meat slicer (he had 2) and he was up for a sale after a bit of negotiating. Makes an amazing difference when i cut bacon, meat for jerky and especially pastrami, where it can get a little sloppy by hand, Takes up a fair amount of space in the gadget closet and is somewhat a pain to clean, BUT, but it is something I wanted for a long time. ??
 
Gizmoholics are running rampant!. I found and ended up buying a used commercial meat slicer for about the same price as some of the really good, non-commercial ones. A deli near our house was going out of business. He was selling everthing he could including light fixtures and those cold meat cases. I knew if I came home with either of those i would be living alone. I asked about the meat slicer (he had 2) and he was up for a sale after a bit of negotiating. Makes an amazing difference when i cut bacon, meat for jerky and especially pastrami, where it can get a little sloppy by hand, Takes up a fair amount of space in the gadget closet and is somewhat a pain to clean, BUT, but it is something I wanted for a long time. ??
Congratulations on the meat slicer, that's pretty much how I got mine too, makes quick work out of slicing anything.
 
Ok, it was not today, but ordered from OakRidge BBQ last night

- Santa Maria Grill Seasoning (great on all things beef)
-Smoked Chili and Lime All Purpose Rub (great on chicken and pork. Have also used on beef)
-Carne Crosta Steakhouse Rub (new try for me, advertised for beef. cant wait to try it)
 
Okay, let's get the obvious comment out of the way right off the bat. In your best Australian accent; Now THAT'S a knife!
Devastator.jpg


A couple days ago I got a promo sale notice from the folks at Dalstrong. They are doing a 20% off sale on certain products, one of which was what they call "The Devastator". But then one of those annoying (though not this time) pop ups offering 10% off with a code at check out came on the screen. Usually those don't apply with other promos, but this time it did.............so close to 30% off. I'd been laying back buying one because the normal price was more than I wanted to spend, but once the discounts hit...................they reeled me in.

So I took a pic to compare it to a "normal" 8" chef knife so that the full impact of the 12.5" blade would display itself. At a pound and a half, and the bulk of the handle it might not be a friendly knife for people with small hands and arms, but I really like the feel of it. I think the first job I'll tackle is peeling some grapes........
 

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