Take a look around you. Where are you reading this? What time of day is it? Are you alone in your kitchen, or stuffed on a crowded commuter train, dreaming of what you’ll make for dinner? Point is—you’re going to want to remember this moment. Because this is the moment you began a journey that will fundamentally change the way you cook. This is the moment you discovered sous vide.

You’ve no doubt heard of sous vide, a cooking method in which food is cooked at a consistent temperature in a water bath, often first wrapped in plastic and, afterward, quickly seared on the stove or grill. And maybe you associate it with high-end restaurants, high-concept food, and high-priced equipment originally designed for a chemistry lab. But as home cooks around the world have begun to discover, this remarkable technique—which yields perfectly cooked food, predictably, with very little oversight—is no longer the exclusive domain of bold-named chefs and mega-rich mega-geeks. And while cooks who regularly use sous vide often opt to invest in equipment such as immersion circulators and SousVide Supreme baths, in the last few years, a number of affordable models have emerged for home use.

But forget the gadgets for a minute. For this class, you’ll need a pot, a stove, a digital thermometer, some plastic bags, and an open mind. Yup, with nothing more than those basic tools, you’ll cook the best steak you’ve ever eaten, fork-tender salmon with a bright pea purée, and a juicy pork chop accompanied by an addictive romesco sauce. Once you’ve worked through the recipes, we believe you’ll be the latest convert to a cooking style that will revolutionize the way we cook food. We’ll also outline the basics on best practices for food safety and offer a list of books to consult as you continue down the road to sous vide mastery.

Remember this moment. It’s the moment you took the first step toward becoming the kickass cook you always knew you could be.