ChefSteps is a team of chefs, writers, and food lovers who develop recipes, techniques, and guides to help people cook better at home.

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Think back: What inspired you to buy a <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/joule">sous vide tool</a> in the first place? Sure, the appeal has a lot to do with predictability and convenience—everyone could use more of both in the kitchen—but sous vide also takes your cooking skills to the next level. We all know sous vide is the darling technique of the world’s best chefs, and who doesn’t want to cook more like Grant Achatz or Thomas Keller? And while the basics of low-temperature cooking with a sous vide tool are pretty easy to get your head around (put in bag, drop in water, sear, eat), things get way more fun when you’ve conquered next-level skills to create dazzling sous vide dishes for your friends and family. Because here’s the thing: learning to cook sous vide means mastering a whole new cooking environment—namely, a plastic bag in a water—that can yield results very different from those you get with traditional ovens and stovetops. With that in mind, we’ve whipped up this primer to help you achieve gorgeous, delicious dishes using your sous vide tool. Our kitchen staff has spent years tweaking their techniques and troubleshooting issues, from misshapen chicken breasts to dull-colored vegetables. We’ve also discovered some cool sous vide tricks that will make it easier for you to do things like reheat purées and shuck oysters (or any bivalve, really). Read on for our top tips for optimizing your sous vide skills, then get cooking. PSST: Want to take your sous vide skills further? Take our <a href="/classes/cooking-sous-vide-beyond-the-basics">in-depth class</a>—it’s full of great recipes, techniques, and food science.WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

Joule® Turbo Sous Vide

1-gallon Ziplock-style freezer bag(s)