Saucy bags?

Grant's Instagram feed is a better resource than ChefSteps these days. Sad! What happened? Anyway, I wonder how much of a real commitment they're making with these saucy bags. They've done some crossovery food stuff before... They sold ChefSteps rub once upon a time, and partnered with Snake River Farms once or twice... I can't imagine that they banked a bunch of revenue from those, or that they expect to bank much from the sauces. But I'd rather they put down the sauce and start producing some goddamn content. Their YouTube page is a ghost town, to say nothing of the main ChefSteps site. What's the last new tehcnique you learned from CS? How many years has it been since the last Premium course? Even this forum is still in a bizzaro beta format that everyone seems to hate compared to the trusty old forum. Remember that one? When you could ask questions and Grant or Chris might chime in? Good times.

Know what's not cheffy? Pre-made sauces.

Know what's not cheffy? Serving sauce and protein straight out the bag.

THE WORKFLOW YOU SUGGEST DOESN'T EVEN INVOLVE SEARING! SWEET JESUS!

"Pick a protein, pop it in a bag with our sauce, cook with Joule, and plate away!" Barbaric.
At least Chris seared his chicken tikka masala on Instagram. But when I think of "ChefSteps" and "tikka masala," I hope for an update of Heston's ISOP recipe. But instead we got this.

Sad!

If the full horror of this isn't apparent, I invite you to go to the CS sauce page and watch their promotional video. It features UNSEARED STEAK that is served as steak au poivre. See the sauce in action. Prepare to be shocked.

😂

dancurren

This community has been excellent at keeping politics out of the discussion... but given how abandoned we have been by ChefSteps, I am going to pull the pin in that gernade and hold the door shut whilst still in the room....

Is this another 'MAGA' movement? Instead of the 50s and Swanson, we have the late teens and Bagged Water Food.

Tounge-in-cheek criticism aside, think about it CS: One of the most revered, sophisticated and elegant sources of information on new aged cooking and an arrdent advocate of sous-vide cooking for its unparrelled precision has descended into a charicture. I used to fume when I heard unelightened and uniniated food critics mock sous vide as some sort of gimic used by Chefs too lazy or lacking the skill to cook over fire (i.e the 'real' way to cook). These fools had no idea what they were talking about...but maybe they were just prophetic rather than foolish.

Don’t know about the need of politicization but agree with your last paragraph.

Like Gregor, I don't think the political metaphors are especially apt in this instance. The real issue is that they radically shifted their purpose after monetizing, but kept the name and look of the site the same. Where before the focus was on culinary education, ChefSteps now describes themselves as "a smart kitchen product company building tools to help people cook more, have more fun cooking, and get incredible results, every time." That's an admirable goal, but it's not what they built their brand on.

There are two eras of ChefSteps: Before the Joule Era (BJE) and the Joule Era (JE). In both eras, ChefSteps was making an effort to democratize sous vide cooking, but the goal in the BJE was to spread the technique by spreading knowledge and information in a unique and highly-digestible format. But now in the JE, knowledge seems to be regarded as dispensable -- just scan the QR code and your dinner will be ready after the beep. "Set it and forget it!" In some ways, the extent to which they've been able to dumb down a daunting technique is remarkable. The Joule app is phenomenal. It's a big part of why I recommend the Joule to know-nothings just getting into SV. (I've helped sell a lot of Joules, people.) But it doesn't teach people to become better cooks the way that ChefSteps content did in the BJE. Back then, reading ChefSteps really felt like you were taking steps to become more like a culinary professional than a talented home cook. It was truly special for those of us curious and bold enough to accept the challenge that the content represented. I felt like I was "leveling up" every other week.

But the BJE version of the site is gone -- at least in spirit. There is no ChefSteps -- there is only Joule. (That's a Ghostbusters reference, btw.) I guess it was inevitable, as there was no way that the old BJE ChefSteps could generate a profit. (Was there?) I recall frequently wondering how ChefSteps was even possible. I'm starting to think that it wasn't.

I'm so grateful and thankful for the content ChefSteps provided in the past. I love this site and the people behind it, which is part of why I'm still here on the forum after so many have left over the years. The BJE ChefSteps was truly astonishing, and the fact that almost all of it was free still boggles my mind. But that era is gone, though its relics remain. In the Joule era, ChefSteps is now focused on "smart kitchen products" rather than making us smarter in the kitchen. They're really good at it too, which is no surprise given how talented and hardworking the team seems to be. It's just a shame that the opportunity costs appear to have been so high. If I had to choose between ChefSteps and Joule, there's no question which one I would have chosen. But I don't think such a choice is necessary, which is why I'm so sad to see the site stagnate.

whenric

Brandon, do you have any other places you turn to now? Ideas in food has toned down a lot, Serious Eats is fine, eGullet is just a technologically kinda crappy website. I keep hoping I can find a 'new' BJE site, but can't...

I’m partial to BonApetit - not quite as cheffy but definitely not ‘tasty’(the site/content) their food is tasty

Bah... I responded to this yesterday, but it has disappeared. The short answer is "no," and I've mostly turned to books lately. Serious Eats puts out the most reliable content, and it's okay... America's Test Kitchen also seems to be stepping up their game. But nothing compares to the BJE experience.

What books have you been looking at?

What’s a book?

I've been going through the old Time Life Good Cook books, which are just great. But most of my culinary energies over the past year have been aimed at better understanding Japanese cuisine. I've been diggin' on Matt Abergel's Chicken and Charcoal as the first/best English language guide to yakitori. I have several other books on Japanese grilling, and it's the best (though also the most limited in focus, as it's basically just chicken). Silla Bjerum's "Robata" is pretty good and is more general in scope, but Chicken and Charcoal is the book I've been waiting for. I've also enjoyed reading the Japanese Culinary Academy's books, but those are more reference than cookbooks. The Mukoita volumes are fantastic if you do fish butchery. If you want to see how to break down a turtle in 30 pages of painstakingly documented photos, those might be the books for you. If mammals are more your thing, Whole Beast Butchery is a great reference book.

My next dive is going to be pasta related, which is why I keep hoping Grant's Instragram (which is pasta-heavy) ends up in a Premium pasta course. Or something. Anyway, I enjoyed reading through Takashi's Noodles and Mastering Pasta, which should both serve up some good noodliness over the coming cold months. I'm also a big fan of Liquid Intelligence. ChefSteps should do a Premium course on the Spinzall. Looking forward to checking out The Aviary's cocktail book, but I doubt it will be as science and technique driven as Liquid Intelligence is (though it looks simply stunning).

I attempted to make this point in the Joule facebook group. Didn’t go over very well hahahahaha

I made the point over there, and it seemed to go well until Nancy Byrd (no relation) got defensive and locked the thread. Oh well.

Hahaha. I gotta find that thread.

Yep I just checked the thread I was commenting on. She got super offended and locked the thread.

Oh I see! The different Avatars totally threw me. You’re the same person haha. Glad to see I’m not the only one over there!