Cookaholics Bulletin Board

http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/06/baki ... rived.html

Pretty $$$ IMO but thought it was worth a share.

Wow -- in addition to the sticker shock It's 25 pounds! . I've been on-and-off coveting a Baking Steel but have wondered if the 16" round model at 14 pounds might be too unwieldy for me to routinely take in and out of my ovens. So this one would definitely be off the table based on the weight along with the price. Beautiful steaks, though...

Emilie

I did preorder this (but didn't realize it was 25 lbs). I've been wanting a good griddle for my induction stove top. Deb

If I want one, I think I'll make one. It's just a big steel plate, with a groove.

I can't justify it personally (I'm on a streak of items purchased and not used - anova and vitamix being the last two - vitamix may go back as it's not even been out of the box yet) and have the regular baking steel, which I love.
25 pounds. yikes.

Jean, I've been eying the Anova on Amazon to possibly finally take the plunge into Sous Vide (especially as I overcooked steaks yet again recently). Any particular reason why you're not using it? And also, the regular baking steel you have -- can you handle it no problem? I'm not a wimpy girl by any means, but haven't been able to decide whether it will be unwieldy to the point of my keeping it in the closet instead of pulling it in and out of the oven like I currently do with my traditional baking stone as well as an Emile Henry one.

Thanks!

Emilie

Emilie and Jean, do try the Anova for steaks. They come out great with little effort. So far, the only think I did not prefer sous vide, was pork tenderloin. Probably because the stove top/oven recipes I use are either marinated for a long time or rubbed and I did neither when I sous vided it. Plus I they've come out perfect using the old method and are not time consuming. We go in spurts, sous vide a lot, then don't use it for a while.

As to the Vitamix I don't use ours often, but Steve uses it at least once a day. I use if to hummus, to make cracker crumbs and curds. But then I don't grind my own flours or puree a lot.

Thanks for the enablement, Alina. More than likely I'll take the sous vide plunge when my birthday rolls around, if not before. The Vitamix is actually one of the few things I've instinctively known I probably wouldn't get enough use out of, because I don't use my KA blender all that much. And although DD uses it for smoothies, she goes in phases as to how often she makes those. So for once I haven't had to battle the kitchen equipment monster (me) on that one. I admire them when I pass them in the store, and momentarily think about how cool it would be to have one and I could do so many things with it, but fortunately the yearning ends there. At least for that moment. The Baking Steel, however, is another matter....

Emilie

Emilie, from another point of view; my Anova is in the box, in the pantry. I used it about a month ago once for carrots which was a failure and haven't used it since. I don't cook a whole lot of the big proteins and I think that's why.
The door's still open, though, if I find a recipe that really tempts me to pull it out again.
I sort of knew beforehand that I wouldn't get full use of it but I got enabled.
Knowing what I know now, I would not have bought it.
I wonder if there's anyone else here who regrets that purchase. (?)

My experience is similar to Linda's but with sweet potatoes. A ton of frustration for very questionable results, although I do admit I did not prepare/research as well as I should have. I do want to try it for steaks though. kenji's latest post on sous vide and steak will be my guide.
And I'm having the same issue with the VM. I have wanted one just because but hubby kept talking about how I don't use the blender we've had for 20 years other than for summer drinks. I thought the kids might use it for smoothies but they've not had any interest in breaking it out of the box. I got it at Costco so can return at any time, and the $600 or so could be spent on quite a few other things!