daveb

I'm a bit of a knife junkie, Yaxell would not be my first choice. Not very familiar with Hocho other offerings. Cleancut.se (Sweden) and Japanese Natural Stones (Denmark) both serve the Euro market well. I especially like Yoshikane offerings from Cleancut and Itinomonn from JNS. Diminishing returns will vary amongst different people but I find that north of 300USD is getting into aesthetics, 250 - 300 is my sweet spot for buying performance.

I typically SV whole, sear the piece in a 500F oven, then cut it per application. Got a bottom round in right now for Sat dinner.

@Shelby I have a nice doe in the freezer and for the first time I've cut a couple roasts off. (Normally I take out the loins and turn the rest to sausage) So I'm following your results closely. I had planned a dry rub of s&p and then 8 - 12 hrs in a 131F bath. Keep posting, between us we may get there. Edit: Wonder what part the onions in the bag played in this, did they help evoke memories of liver and onions? Don't think I've ever put onions in the bag before. Just a thot.

@ Jo - I frequently do tough cuts and some not so tough cuts for the old folks home, 24 hrs @ 141F. (Tenderness is paramount) Gets very tender but not falling apart. Would think it would work well with Chuck. From the bath I then go to stir fry, stew, pot roast, sliced roast beast, etc. I can't cook at a lower temp but you could and results would be same.

That we should. Damn bridge.

Assisted living retirement. Standard joke among staff is "I'll work here till I live here " Sometimes it feels like that may be 2morrow.

Jo, The full bottom round is cheap - probably for just those reasons. Thus I have it on the menu in various forms 3 - 4 times a week. (Keeps the Anova humming) The roast is heavily seasoned (by SV standards) and bagged and tagged. 24 hrs is good, 48 is better. I use 141F to comply with Federal, State, County, Corporate, requirements. None of these entities know what SV is - I tell inspectors its an electric bain marie. And that's ok. The resultant product is then sliced thin for sandwiches, sliced as above for roast beef, cubed for beef stew, pot roast, or chunked for stir fry. It's fall apart tender and kind of tastes good. My gravy game has improved since I've been here. And by using the round I can put Tloin or PR on the menu once a month. Cmon down to Fl and I'll buy you lunch.

For my Seniors where tender is as important as flavor. Finished product - Bottom round, approx 16#, 2 days @ 141F. Seared in 500F oven for 10 min.

"Rules" are like speed limit signs - they are there for guidance. I don't want things on a plate to be fighting for attention but there's more to life than protien, starch and veg.

After the roll is stuffed, bagged and tagged, I like to roll it in a sushi mat and tie it. Preserves the cylindrical shape.

Certainly can't hurt....

Nah, I was thinking since the bag juices are going to end up in the sauce, I seasoned the bag with paprika, some dried mustard, black pepper, a little salt. My poorly worded question (I'm claiming cell phone keypads) was if anyone else intentionally seasoned the bag for flavorful bag juices?

Another day at the office. Leg of lamb (4), butterflied open, seasoned and bagged and tagged. 24 hrs @ 141f. Then cubed and made into a goulash for the retirement center. Super tender - my residents loved it. Due to recent discussions here I thought about the seasoning as I conjured it up. I was seasoning for the bag juices as much as I was the lamb. I probably season stronger than most but my sauce/gravy is usually nice. Anyone else season for the bag?

I've had a few different ones and like the Mag Bloks a lot. The blade on wood contact feels more gentle than blade on stainless. You'll quickly get the hang of putting the spine perpendicular to the rack then "rolling" the blade face onto the rack and removing the knife in reverse.

I'll beg forgiveness in advance......

Jaymer - I know that RD pretty well. Have you tried Master Purveyor for meat? I find prices comparable and quality very good.

I never did color between the lines

My latest is a "real" Kiritsuke, a 270mm Suisin from Korin. Rockers need not apply. The fun job is with a high end caterer and very precise veg and fish cuts are required. Thought I would give this a whirl. So far loving it. As with my other Japanese knife purchases there was no touchy feely before hand.

When I was shopping chamber vacs, being able to lift/move it was important to me. The 112 goes about 60lbs - this I can carry (not far mind you). The others in the VM line were closer to 100lbs. In four(?) years I've had a circuit card failure that was readily replaced, and the aux port failed. I would do the 112 again.

Nice rack!

Kewl. Talk to me in a year when you've had a chance to compare theory to reality. Meanwhile enjoy your SV experience. Hugs.

Well that's one way to fix a reliability issue.

That's a pretty strong start. Though I would rank order them JKI, Korin, EE, Yoshihiro, CKTG based on the amount of business I do with each (and a little subjective stuff). Bernal Cutlery in SF and Knifewear in the Great White North are two more in North America. Japanese Natural Stones in Denmark and Knives and Stones in AU both offer some very good product and free shipping to states if a dollar threshold is met. I've got more than a couple Jknives and a few off the shelf knives from American custom makers and I've yet to buy a knife that I was able to handle before purchase. THis game involves a lot of faith in the knifemakers and in the retailers of the knives. And can very easily get stupid fast. And then there are the sharpening stones..... I passed stupid awhile ago and am closing on absurd fast.

Kewl beans! One of those tubes goes to the external port for vacuum sealing jars, etc. My port failed and I could not get a good seal on anything in the chamber or out. The vacsealers tech support suggested I just plug the hole in the 4-way valve rather than trying to replace the external port. Apparently that's a high failure item.

The "Kasumi" knife has a kasumi or "mist" finish - all polished metal. The Hongasumi knife has a kurochi finish - the dark scale at the top of the blade is scale from the forging process. It's mostly an aesthetic difference though the kurochi finish is said to inhibit rust from forming. These are not high end or expensive knives but work quite well. My first Yani was a white Yoshihiro and there are times when I wish I still had it. The Kiritsuki cited is a double beveled knife and is more commonly referred to as a K-tip Gyuto (except by the people trying to sell knives) A traditional Kiritsuke is a single bevel knife like this one. https://www.echefknife.com/yoshihiro-hongasumi-blue-steel-kiritsuke-multipurpose-japanese-chef-knife-504.html The single bevel is a very flat knife, very good for push cutting, slicing and in-hand work. It does not suit the more western rock type cutting well at all.