Being a food journalist comes with obvious perks—getting to dine at some of the city’s most elegant spots, hearing about cool new restaurants before they’re even open, and sampling really interesting fare. But sometimes we also get try brand-new kitchen gear, like the new SousVide Supreme, which hit stores this winter. For the home cooks on our staff, it’s a blast.

Even if you haven’t heard about sous-vide—via food magazines or shows like Top Chef—you’ve probably eaten something cooked using this advanced slow-cooking method. Its name means “under vacuum,â€� and it involves cooking vacuum-sealed meats, fish, and produce in a controlled water bath at very low temperatures. Restaurants all over Boston employ the technique to produce uber-tender meats with incredible flavor and consistency. Done right, the method accomplishes all that regular cooking does–like killing off unpleasant microorganisms—and more. But it’s still not technically legal here, say several chefs (who shall remain anonymous), since health departments aren’t quite sure what to make of the low-temp technique from a food-safety perspective. You generally won’t see “sous-videâ€� written on a menu; dishes prepared this way are often called “slow-cooked,â€� several chefs-in-the-know explained to me.

So when I got a chance to try the first at-home machine for sous-vide cooking, I jumped. READ MORE