EdipisReks

I received mine on Sunday. I'm using it with a TS8000. I definitely agree about the learning curve, but it's worked really well for the small amount of food I've had a chance to use it with, so far. I'm really looking forward to experimenting.

I recently received a PolyScience Professional CREATIVE, and I love it. I have been using Ziploc bags and a straw, and that has worked fine. Having said that, I am pestering family members for an unused food vacuum sealer, as very often I get marginally buoyant bags that I think might be better if they were evacuated more than my lungs can do (I smoked for years, and while I also quit years ago, my lungs haven't returned to normal [i am a classically trained and former semi-professional clarinetist, and while I haven't played that in years either, my normal might not be your normal]). I have, in the mean time, been using an overturned colander that fits in my water bath to keep things from floating, and that has worked great.

I've bought a lot of cheap-ish digital thermometers, over the years, and after buying a thermopen I wish I had just bought it from the get go.

The new stuff is certainly thinner than it used to be. new MC2 is a good bit thinner than MC2 from even 5 years ago. The older MC is certainly much thicker than any MC2 I've seen. The new stainless-clad All-Clad varies depending on style and size, so it's hard to say how much it has changed. The new MC2 and the stainless series all works just fine, but so does my Sur La Table tri-ply, which is much less expensive. I do love the All-Clad handles, though, and I really like the polished interiors. I own two pieces of vintage All-Clad Master Chef, two pieces of MC2, several pieces of stainless clad, along with vintage Mauviel, Matfer and Jaquotot copper, modern stainless interior Mauviel copper, modern Baumalu 2mm copper, Viking 5 or 7 layer, whatever it is, Sur La Table triply, Paderno and deBuyer carbon, Vollrath aluminum, and all kinds of cast iron. It all has it's uses, and I like even the thinner All-Clad just fine, and use it regularly. I think my tri-vent handle Vollrath aluminum is probably my favorite, though, and it's cheap!