[weeksie]

This is the only way to cook meat. (Aside from special purpose stuff.) I thought I'd end up using my sous vide maybe once per month and I probably use it three times per week. It's perfect for fish, pork, duck, and of course steak. The best thing is that you can cook chef cuts (like hangar and such) that would otherwise be really tricky to get right.

I generally finish in a cast iron skillet, and haven't seen any need to cool the meat off before the transfer. That's usually a good idea if you aren't going to sear right away, as it prevents bacteria growth from going into overdrive, but isn't strictly necessary to cooking if you're doing everything at once. Then again, I'm not an expert.

I really want to get a good torch though, since skillets are a lousy way to finish bone-in meat since the meat contracts away from the bone.

[dunham]

I'm still using a skillet to finish, and then making a pan sauce. (I did a hanger last night, with a morel mushroom/cream sauce, crazy good.)

If you want to do the torch thing, you should look into the "searzall" attachment.

[weeksie]

Awesome. Thanks for the tip!

One in return: I've found that vacuum sealing meat when it's somewhat frozen helps maintain its shape.

[ciclista]

For an affordable yet great torch, try the Benzomatic TS8000, easily found at Home Depot, etc. for around $40.

[2bit]

The Benzomatic takes a long time to develop a good sear. It's fun but not terribly effective in my experience. I should point out that I'm using it with the Searzall.