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Wow, I am really glad I grabbed it. I still think it is worth $300...but that would make it a much harder purchase to justify.

I also put Ikea cabinets into my kitchen because basically, the remodel was supposed to be a somewhat temporary (6-7 year) solution. I am perfectly happy with them -- The stock hardware from IKEA is as nice as some of the higher end cabinets I have seen (soft close drawers, etc) at a fraction of the price. I think in the end, the cabinets cost roughly 1/8 of what the custom cabinets would have cost. I think they were 1/4 of the price of the Home Depot box cabinets. The nice thing is that if you damage a door or drawer, for less than $50 you can go to IKEA and buy a new one.

Speaking of which...if someone is looking for a project.... http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/bfs/4269794168.html After I read gfweb's post above, I did a search on craig's list...looks like after work this would come in right around 2k after repairs and installation...

So I ran my tank for 120 minutes and I would say that the tank was probably 2/3 full when the cycle was done. You can only run the machine for a maximum of 120 minute before you re-up the countdown, so I don't see there being an issue with pulling the tank and refilling when need be.

I have a quick question for everyone -- I have again run into some sort of snag with my MVS-31X -- previously, the pump had gone out because some water had gotten into it -- it was cleaned out in October and was working fine through the holidays. This week, it has once again began to refuse to pull a 99.9% vacuum -- it gets all the way to 97.5% and then just sits there. I know that for sous vide cooking 97.5 vs 99.9 is irrelevant, but I ask because clearly there is something up with it -- has anyone else had a problem similar to this? Thanks. The only thing I can think of is that some cassoulet I packaged up for freezing may have been too hot...seems unlikely to kill a commercial machine though....

My wife is going to be making bread this week -- I will have a full report. Also, my next venture is going to be something akin to the steamed cheeseburgers from Ted's in Meriden, CT -- I have never been there, just heard that they are amazing. Here is a youtube link to the cheeseburgers... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8YouisYQtE

Wait...I just price checked...the Dualit was more expensive....by $40.

I definitely think it toasts better than my Dualit toaster -- my main issue with that has always been that the single toast function kind of sucks for some reason. To think that the Dualit was roughly the same price. I think rotuts was talking elsewhere about fancy kitchen items....sounds like my dualit fits right in to be honest.

@weinoo -- I have to agree. I was not at all expecting the results I got last night. I think pork chops could really benefit from this as well. Frankly, for the cost, I am pretty amazed at the consistency of my unit.

I think the full sized range with 1 combi oven is probably in the near future -- the problem is that for the first 5 years, it will be outrageously expensive -- especially if it comes from Wolf/Viking etc. That doesn't mean I won't want one, I just won't be getting one when the price tag is in the 15k range...which is where it inevitably will be.

So....the ribeyes. I have to say that this steamer continues to wow me at home. I have never been a huge fan of the sous vide ribeye -- I have always thought that the pan cooked ribeye, when done perfectly, has a better texture. The sous vide ribeye's texture was just too tender for a ribeye -- maybe that makes sense to some, and not to others, but now let us discover the steamed ribeye. This steak was the perfect marriage of pan seared and sous vide -- I did both steaks for 120 minutes at 140 and then seared them for about 45 seconds a side in a scorching hot mineral pan with some clarified butter. The results, as you can see, speak for themselves. This steak was probably the best steak I have cooked at home in a long, long while. The fat was meltingly delicious and the meat was absurdly juicy -- more juicy than the sous vide steaks I have done in the past. For whatever reason, they lost a lot less juice than the sous vide steaks I have prepared. Either way, the photos are below. To answer the previous question -- 2 ribeyes were probably the max...that is unless you could create a layered level in the unit -- something that stacks perhaps, but leaves room for air. To top things off, I steamed 2 sunny side up eggs this morning at 160-170 for about and hour and then served them on a 3 day old baguette -- which after it was sliced and toasted (following the steam cycle) was revitalized to something crispy and chewy, as if it had come out of the oven say, 6 hours ago, as opposed to 72 hours. The eggs were perfect -- nice yolks (with no run) and the whites were perfectly set to sustain a sandwich -- not messy, but not at all rubbery.

So, I happened upon the "Steamboy" at my local Sur la Table this weekend and with their 1 year return policy, I figured it was worth it -- same price as amazon (with tax a bit more, but technically, here in Illinois, I am supposed to be paying taxes on my amazon purchases too). The unboxing was pretty much as described in previous posts -- it is a tiny bit small, but I am not entirely concerned about that. The first step was to de-bone a chicken, fill it with prosciutto, fig spread, thyme, butter and fontina - brushed with duck fat and used the "steam bake" option at 400. I also did an identical ballontine in the oven (a bit of different filling, but same size -- and away we went. I don't have a picture of the finished product (hungry people, bourbon, etc.) but I can say that it won out over the traditionally cooked. It was much more juicier and the skin was nicely browned, although a bit charred in a few areas, but no complaints. First test, wonderful. Next, I ran it through some remedial tasks -- such as re-warming some home made egg rolls a friend had brought over. I did it on steam/bake again, and I must say that they crisped up nicely and resembled something more from the fryer than the oven. Yesterday, during a brief break from cleaning up Christmas decorations, I attempted an egg steam -- unfortunately, I got distracted by something else and forgot the set the steam at 170 -- It sat at 210 for 30 minutes and the eggs were basically hard boiled where they stood -- nice flavor, just not what I was looking for. This morning, to go along with the -17 degrees it was outside, I decided to retry the eggs -- this time attempt the steam version of the sous vide scrambled eggs. I buttered a ramekin, added three eggs, 1/8 cup of cream, a nice bit of cheddar and set it in the machine at 170 for about 45 minutes -- The end result was sublime -- To this I toasted some english muffins (the toast option works really well -- I think it was a nice addition to use the toast setting directly after steaming -- the muffins were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, something even my Dualit has not accomplished). The egg sandwiches were fantastic. The cleaning of the machine is not a problem at all -- they suggest a 30 minute steam cycle after heavy use -- I did this after the duck fat spit all over the oven and it wiped away when I was done -- no problem at all. Tonight, I am going to do some Ribeyes at 140 (or 130...can't decide) for 2 hours and then sear off -- I will gladly provide my thoughts on that. For $220 -- this is a no brainer so far. The eggs sealed it for me -- I never need to cook scrambled eggs sous vide again as far as I am concerned -- and I love sous vide scrambled eggs.

Well, I made the Gnudi for Xmas Eve dinner but changed the filling to be potato, pumpkin and cheese (Parm and ricotta) and a touch of Nocello-- then we made a tomato and butter sauce to go with them and garnished them with T Keller's Parsley Chips -- The only time I had a chance for a pic was when they went into the bowl. They were pretty incredible, and played nicely with our themed Italian/Scandinavian Xmas Eve. Swedish Meatballs, Gnudi, Potato Sausage with cabbage, fresh made apple sauce. Strange, but it definitely worked -- We accomplished what we set out to do -- make a pasta that could sit next to Swedish food and still have a semblance of Italian in it. I would say that the gnudi were significantly more filling than the spinach and ricotta, but the tomato butter sauce really helped keep them from being too rich. We also used the butter from the Swedish meatballs and deglazed the pan with some pino grigio to add to the tomatoes before the sauce hit the vitamix. Worked really well.

Wow, I think this may have just beat out the Breville for my purposes. I think am going to grab one today or tomorrow and will report on the usage...

Back in March of 2013 when I first got my MVS-31X, I made all sorts of fun stuff -- Some of them are on page 13 in this thread. Since then, I have also made pickles pretty frequently, and also found that a thai style cucumber salad made with shallots instead of red onion turns out magnificently if held at a nice vacuum for sometime -- I simply followed a standard recipe for the salad and ran it through at 99.9 + 30 seconds a few times. The old fashion clementines are simply -- make and old fashion, dump it in the bag and then add a few sectioned clementines -- 99.9 + 30 however many times you want and then drink the old fashion, and keep the clementines for a kick in your old fashion. Delicious.

I would say that I use mine for the same things, and as Chris said, for even more I can't remember. Do I need to make Old Fashion infused Clementines to put into my Old Fashions? Definitely a "Vrroom" -- but an awesome one. I could sit here and tell you it pays for itself in what I save by freezing...but I suppose the counter is that a clamp will do that as well. I think my favorite part is that when we are done with dinner, if we don't plan on eating the leftovers within 12-24 hours, I package them up and 99.9% them, and put them into hibernation in the deep freeze. Everything from fried rice to pot roast has been brought back to temp in the sous vide and just as good as the night it was served.....I love that. But honestly, what I really love are the clementines.

I totally understand that some people need to have a healthy alternative to dessert -- diabetics in my family come to mind -- There definitely needs to be an alternative to the fatty, sugary, regular version. That being said, I will rarely touch it -- only from the standpoint that I treat dessert like a treat -- I rarely have it, and when I do, I don't want to scale it down or even consider whether it is a healthy alternative. I remember when my uncle was booed for bringing sugar free ice cream to a birthday party...17 years later and we still give him a hard time. I am not really a fan of vegan baked goods -- this vegan bashing ends there though -- plenty of awesome stuff out there that is vegan. As far as EVOO, I buy the standard OO for cooking. Whether or not that is right, I could really care less -- it saves some money and when I do cook with OO, you cannot tell the difference. Organic vegetables are nice, but I am not beholden to them, Beans in a Brownie might be good, I am not ready to condemn it, as long as they are not subbing for the sugar and chocolate. Lastly, raisins belong in the hands of the young (< 3 years old) and nowhere else. Especially not in lasagna.

I am not sure it is possible to get that low -- It would need to be assembled from such an array of cheap materials that it would hardly seem dependable enough -- plus they would need to develop a reliable vacuum pump that would significantly less expensive than the ones out there now. I think Chamber Sealers are a limited product as well -- they are not an a-typical home product, nor do I see them going there -- In order to be useful, they have to be big and most people don't have, or don't want to make room for them.

This thread is bound to cost me some money as I try and finalize all of my appliances in and out of the kitchen. I already have a Dualit 2 Slice toaster that I adore, and from what I have read, the Breville won't toast at that caliber...that being said, I am more interested in the non-toast options for the Breville -- It seems like everyone who bought the BOV800XL (the big boy) has been really happy with it. I have 2 questions -- how hot does this unit get (top and sides) and also, I already have a "smaller" oven on my range (small side oven on a Bluestar) -- is this going to be redundant, or do you think it will, in fact compliment that oven -- I use that oven for my main re-heating, but it takes a bit to come to temp. I ask about the temp, because I am curious if it is possible to secure it inside of a cabinet -- sounds unlikely, I know.

So, despite the doubts I had initially, these turned out absolutely amazing. They were not so uniform, or very pretty, but the end result was fantastic. These are not the greatest pics in the world, but I can say that the end result was a tender and flavorful skin which just so delicately held the filling at bay. Next time I will probably chop the spinach finer but besides that I don't think I would have any changes. Thanks again to everyone for their assist on this one. --Dan

Ok, sounds good. I pulled one from the flour to check this morning (after about 36 hours in there) and it was pretty delicate. I am wondering if I didn't squeeze enough water out of the spinach. I think so, but we shall only know at 7 tonight...I am wondering if pulling them early from the flour and chilling them on a baking sheet would do any good. Only time will tell! Thanks again. Dan

Yuengling is by far my favorite beer. Unfortunately, it isn't available in Chicago...which maybe is ok...keeps it fresh and exciting when I can have it.

So this morning, in prep for my dinner tonight decided to investigate the progress on the pasta -- my ultimate question is something I should have asked originally -- what is the consistency of the gnudi when you pull them from the flour? I assume that it is slightly more firm that when it went in, but not hard or crumbly...I am forming a back-up plan in the event they all disintegrate in the water....Thanks! BTW -- my pasta forming technique was pretty questionable...the sizes were, let's say slightly uniform..

My grandfather taught me the wonders of eating peas out of a can, with a bit of salt and pepper. I think I ate that for lunch a thousand times in college. Such a distinct flavor...nothing like fresh or even frozen peas - a treat all its own..I love it. My grandmother also used them in her chicken cacciatore growing up...It would make sense though from the diner perspective, since they owned a small family type (in that checkered table cloth way) Italian restaurant that served the basics and pizza. Kind of like a diner....anyway, just seeing them made me smile.

Ok, I am set to go on these -- I opted for semolina, but I assume that will be fine - and for this first round I am going to with Franci's recipe above -- just to run the test run. Bury them tonight, eat them on Friday. I will report back then....Thanks! -Dan