POLITICS Inflation /General Finance Insanity

I'm sold.

 

I’m pretty sure the hardest part of sous vide is vacuum sealing whatever you are cooking

Also you can do things like cook chicken breast to a temp of 140, and hold it there until it’s pasteurized, then boom, actual juicy chicken breast.

 

Can you do multiple steaks at a time if your setup is big enough? Didn't know if it would mess the temp up too much to have multiple at a time going.

 

I don't mind Ruth Chris. My mom likes to go there and if she's paying it's fine with me. I've never had an issue with the filet.

 

Actually heard a lady from the Fed speak this morning. Nothing really earth shattering from it other than there is at least conversations about American digital currency. That somewhat surprised me to hear someone admit it. She said it would be a while but conversations were happening.

She also noted that retirement age is starting to creep back to normal for the three decades before 2008 meltdown, which I thought was interesting.

Edit - she also said she didn't think we'd have a recession in 24. Maybe not as booming growth, but not recession either.

 

Yeah, I think most of those circulators out there will do the job provided you have the time to let the water get to temp. Obviously a bigger water bath is going to take longer to heat initially, but you could get a covered 5 gallon (or even bigger) container and so long as you let it get to temp first, and the food fits, it should get back to temp and cook just fine.

I know the Anova circulators in particular claim to be capable of heating larger baths than would even be practical for home cooking. I have an older version of the Breville Joule but don’t think I’ve ever tried to heat more that 2-3 gallons.

 

Is there any charts available to tell you how long to leave a steak in based on like weight and thickness?

 

The Anova app will tell you.

 

I got massively into my Anova during Covid, as there wasn’t shit else to do obviously. I addition to just regular stuff like steak and chicken, I did everything from ribs to pork loin to Boston butts. I never had a bag big enough for a brisket, but I’d try it if I did. Even did burgers a few times.

Some of those cook times were absolutely wild. I believe the butts were over 30 hours and I had to periodically check for evaporation and do a few other things, mostly just to make sure I insulated the container I was using. I rotated between finishing them in the oven and the smoker, usually about an hour give or take. I did find they barked up better in the smoker, and yeah, I often contemplated why I wasn’t just using the smoker for the whole cook if I had to get it out anyway. Usually, though, that thought quickly went away because dropping it in a bath and leaving it for hours at a time without so much and peaking at it was WAY easier.

The easiest way to vacuum seal is to use an actually vacuum sealer (duh) and I was lucky enough to have one. You can still use heavy duty ziplocks and there is a technique for that which I don’t know, but there’s approximately 1 trillion YouTube videos on it. I think you basically let the water push the air out of the bag as you lower it in.

The app is great. It has recipes and instructions for how to sous vide everything you can think of. The wife did eggs one time.

 

I’ll eat anywhere if somebody else is picking up the tab.

 

We went for my bday. It was really good. I’ve had average meals there but this time it was legitimately good. Even commented to my wife that it was better than normal.

There is one connected to the hotel I stay at in Chattanooga and I’ll sometimes I’ll order a burger and fries room service from there. Burgers are very good.

 

Yeah, what Dooz said regarding the apps. I think all the immersion circulators worth buying have apps that take most of the guess work out of it.

Then if you want a little more in depth look at it, Kenji at Serious Eats has a few articles, here’s the one on steak

https://www.seriouseats.com/food-lab-complete-guide-to-sous-vide-steak

 

https://x.com/bruce_arthur/status/1773438619090375117?s=46&t=QWMOZgf3inppeJodtJqHtQ

Good read, but sad. It may be an extreme case but this is the norm in our country now, not the exception. Willful and well planned destruction to make a quick buck.

 

Yep. Perverse incentives.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/31/success/home-affordability-median-price-income/index.html

Tennessee is ranked 3rd highest in increase in necessary income to buy a median home since 2020. 70.1% increase.

"Compared to 2020, income needs jumped the most in Montana (up 77.7%); Utah (up 70.3%); Tennessee (up 70.1%), South Carolina (up 67.3%) and Arizona (up 65.3%)."

Well, boys [my two sons], guess you are [uck fay]ed.

 

It really really really sucks for young people.

 

I had to move because there were no good opportunities for me in East Tennessee. I am not alone, Millennials are far more transient than previous generations. This is only going to continue. You find your line of work and then you move accordingly to pursue the opportunities. The days of working at the local [blank] are winding down or over. You can't expect to find the job to buy the house in the place you want. You have to find the job and then live there.

I think this is ultimately a consequence of the internet. There are no local job markets anymore.

 

The loss of community sucks. I don't want my kids to HAVE to move to Timbuktu just to work if they still want to live near their parents.

 

"You have to find the job and then live there."

From my life time perspective it has been that way for quite some time, especially depending on what career you choose.

At least it was for my Dad (1950s) and me (1970s). Very few people I worked with were from the "local" community. I had to leave Tennessee to find the "best" job and locale for my family.

Most of Dad's colleagues were not from the "local" community. But he was lucky to find a job and locale in Tennessee that they felt were best for their family.

The wife and I made our choices based on what we thought was best for our family. I turned down a CHQ job in NY because of COL, real estate and other regional benefits we thought were more conducive to our family. We chose family over career and money. And are glad we did.

If staying close to family is #1 on your choice matrix, then choose a job that will keep you close to home and make the sacrifices accordingly.

My grandparents stayed close to home because of Depression. And one great grandparent was a RR train engineer, one was in the military and teacher in auto/diesel mechanics and another did odd jobs and his wife sold pies in downtown Nashville. Multigenerational living accommodations were a necessity.

If anything, the internet has given recent generations alot more job flexibility than my Dad, me or past generations. Yes, single family home ownership is a big challenge today.

Life is not always easy and made up of choices that are not always ideal (at least for most of us). It is your choice what you choose.

 

Ya, it probably isn't new. But when people talk about living in the same town for generations, I always wonder "HOW?" Because it wasn't an option for my family ever in living memory.