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Let’s get this out of the way: Cooking sous vide (say “soo-veed”) is not about cooking with plastic. Cooking sous vide is about heating food just enough to make it taste really freaking great. It’s about predictable results, and it’s about achieving success after success, easily and cleanly, with little fuss. Sous vide is about eating well, and eating well is about living well. Therefore, without getting too grandiose about it, we believe that sous vide makes your life better. And for us, that’s what it’s all about. Often, however, when you prepare food sous vide you’re packaging the food in plastic. (Often but not always. <a href="the-egg-calculator">Eggs</a> come in their own wrappers—their shells—and we can sous vide foods that set as they cook, like <a href="creme-brulee">custard</a>, yogurt, and chicken liver pâté, in glass canning jars.) Here at ChefSteps, we get asked lots of questions about cooking with plastic. Questions like: Do I need a vacuum sealer? (No, though we do recommend one for vegetables.) And, when will a ziplock-style bag do? (A great deal of the time.) Can I use any sandwich baggie I have on hand, or do I need a special kind? (You’ll want a food-grade, freezer-style bag.) Oh, and hey, you guys, is cooking with plastic even safe? (We believe it is, which is why we cook this way with our families on the daily. Much more on that below.)Here, we’re going to go ahead and answer these questions in more detail and help you choose what you need to start cooking sous vide this very evening. If we’ve done our jobs correctly, this article will contain everything you ever wanted to know about sous vide cooking and plastic, and you’ll make yourself a <a href="simple-sous-vide-steak-with-red-wine-sauce">truly amazing steak</a> or <a href="sous-vide-salmon--2">salmon filet</a> posthaste. But if you don’t find the answer you’re looking for, fire off a question in the comments. We can always update this article, because it’s on the internet. Don’t you just love technological innovation?