# What do you wish you knew before your first cook? **URL:** \ **Category:** Anova Precision® Cooker\ **Created:** [July 5, 2017, 5:05pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/what-do-you-wish-you-knew-before-your-first-cook/8047 "2017-07-05T17:05:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![colewagoner](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/colewagoner/32/48_2.png) [@colewagoner](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/colewagoner)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 5:05pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/what-do-you-wish-you-knew-before-your-first-cook/8047/1 "2017-07-05T17:05:03Z")
Alright, if you had to back to your first cook with Anova, what do you wish you knew before you started that you didn’t realize until later, or maybe even still have questions about? Go! ---
**Author:** ![acs](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/acs/32/855_2.png) [@acs](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/acs)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 6:37pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/what-do-you-wish-you-knew-before-your-first-cook/8047/2 "2017-07-05T18:37:39Z")
The way to San Jose. Oh, and that I should dry the meat before searing. Had some decent but less than stellar results the first few times. ---
**Author:** ![AlyssaWOAH](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/alyssawoah/32/2946_2.png) [@AlyssaWOAH](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/AlyssaWOAH)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 6:56pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/what-do-you-wish-you-knew-before-your-first-cook/8047/3 "2017-07-05T18:56:42Z")
Yes - on the searing thing! ---
**Author:** ![john.jcb](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/john.jcb/32/7269_2.png) [@john.jcb](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/john.jcb)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 1:33pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/what-do-you-wish-you-knew-before-your-first-cook/8047/4 "2017-07-06T13:33:02Z")
For me it was also searing. I was almost paranoid about overcooking the steak. Come to find out you have a lot more flexibility with the time than I thought. @acs is right about drying the meat first; no need to boil off the moisture before the sear starts. ---
**Author:** ![Fivebig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Fivebig](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/Fivebig)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 9:08pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/what-do-you-wish-you-knew-before-your-first-cook/8047/5 "2017-07-07T21:08:44Z")
That I could put food going into a bath less than 158 F into a freezer ziplock, submerge to remove air, and clip the top to the side of the container. It is not even necessary to zip the top closed! ---
**Author:** ![AlyssaWOAH](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/alyssawoah/32/2946_2.png) [@AlyssaWOAH](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/AlyssaWOAH)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 9:27pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/what-do-you-wish-you-knew-before-your-first-cook/8047/6 "2017-07-07T21:27:07Z")
@Fivebig that’s a good one! I’ve done the same - mostly for veggies. I’ll close the bag, but leave maybe about half an inch of an open slot unsealed. ---
**Author:** ![robc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9a140/32.png) [@robc](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/robc)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 2:13pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/what-do-you-wish-you-knew-before-your-first-cook/8047/7 "2017-07-12T14:13:56Z")
I wish I’d known how easy it was and how great it worked, so I didn’t hold off of buying one for so long. ---
**Author:** ![AlyssaWOAH](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/alyssawoah/32/2946_2.png) [@AlyssaWOAH](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/AlyssaWOAH)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 2:20pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/what-do-you-wish-you-knew-before-your-first-cook/8047/8 "2017-07-12T14:20:04Z")
Yes! Did you recent buy an Anova? 🙂 @robc ---
**Author:** ![fischersd](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/fischersd/32/5594_2.png) [@fischersd](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/fischersd)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 12:01am UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/what-do-you-wish-you-knew-before-your-first-cook/8047/9 "2017-07-13T00:01:43Z")
That sandwich ziplock bags are almost a certainty of failure, as their edge seams are so thin (but, I did get lucky with several of them starting out). 🙂 Oh, and you really can’t trust manufacturer packaging (found that out with my sous vide bacon experiment) - luckily it didn’t explode until I got it to the sink! 🙂 Heh…even if you know the producer personally!!! (gonna have a chat with him…better sealing methods required!!!) 🙂