So I've been doing some research. The temperature that it's cooked in is less than the temperature that plastic is considered hazardous. On the other hand, there is some transference merely by contact. On the other other hand, as much as I try to avoid plastic, I can't entirely. Every block of cheese, every bag of frozen fruit, every package of supermarket meet, comes wrapped in plastic. I do try to look for glass bottles, but they're becoming more and more rare. So am I significantly adding to my plastic exposure by getting a sous-vide? Or just slightly adding to it?
And apparently, there's nothing intrinsically wrong with plastic itself, it's actually the additives used in producing it. According to Stuart Yaniger, author of a study in" Environmental Health Perspectives", July 2011, pp 989-996, it's actually easy to produce plastic and silicon without BPA and EA-leeching chemicals, it's just that manufacturers won't do it unless consumers demand it.
(someone needs to organize an unruly mob, brandishing their sous-vide infusion heaters instead of pitchforks, to converge on their local manufacturer, chanting the following catchy refrain: "What do we want?" "Plastics with no estrogen-inducing chemicals!" "When do we want it?" "Well, the sooner the better.")
In other news, I tried the Cook's Illustrated recipe that aninkling posted. The texture wasn't exactly melt-in-your-mouth, but it was pretty good. And the flavour was one of my best tries yet. No marinade, just pure unadulterated grass-fed beef flavour, Yum.
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Melkor and Ungoliant in need of some relationship counselling.