Hello everyone! I'm a 27 years old, works for a data acquisition firm. I've been a ChefSteps lurker on Youtube for about six months or so, but only recently joined and ordered a Joule on the magical $149 day. I've always loved to cook, and now that I'm married and do 60% of it in our home I love providing for my wife of almost a year.
A few years ago I read Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food, and that really changed the way that I think about the food that I purchase and consume myself. Obviously that is somewhat limited by the job I keep, income we have, and products available to us, but it make me much more cognizant of how many more things I AM in control of than I ever though. I read Cooked right after it came out, and am loving that so many people are taking so much good away from the new Netflix series. It was the book that really got me into making braises all the time and I seek out all kinds of slow-cooking dishes with cheaper/ironically BETTER pieces of meat. I still quote to this day "Step 1: Chop an onion."
I've always loved kitchen gadgets and new things, but it wasn't until earlier this year that I got a Pressure Cooker for the first time that I ventured into something that I knew nothing about and none of my friends or family had ever talked about. It was then that I discovered the ChefSteps YouTube channel after searching pressure cooker recipes and how they make stock. I love my pressure cooker and use it about once a week. It has made braises MUCH more approachable now and actually achievable on a weeknight. Heck, I just made Chicken Noodle Soup a few days ago by cutting up a whole chicken and making stock in about an hour, and then making soup for dinner that night. Wonderful.
As I said, I watched a lot of ChefSteps stuff and saw their Joule contraption in their videos but didn't understand that it hadn't been released yet. It wasn't until recently that I just started looking into sous vide cooking and how it all worked and it seemed complicated. Typically expensive equipment, circulators usually require large tubs, vacuum sealers were an additional expense along with the bags; it all just seemed complicated. Joule seemed great, but I figured it would be something to spend Christmas or birthday money on when I have some extra cash lying around. After finding good videos to show my wife (the no-fuss Eggs Benedict video was the real winner) she said we could get it some day. Not yet, but some day. But the $149 sale was too good to pass up, and she agreed that we might save the money now, since I wanted to get it eventually (not a matter of IF, but WHEN).
So now I'm waiting on my Joule to come in at the end of September as a non-original backer, but I'm excited. I still have questions about sous vide that I hope to put on here in the future but will wait until I actually have it in my hands. Nice to meet you all!
