As Thanksgiving approaches, I just want to send out a friendly PSA: your steak should not taste like your great aunt’s turkey: dry, unapproachable, and an obligatory eating experience to justify a $30 expense.

Okay, I hear you, you’re the sort of person that lets your grill grates reach 450 (you even scan it with a surface probe before you begin) while religiously basting it with a butter-rosemary compote. No? Maybe you’ve mastered the reverse sear? Do you prefer the even and often almost remarkable broiler steak?’

Steaks are like Newton’s third law of physics in reverse: matter is constantly destroyed. And that matter matters: it is juiciness, the difference between a steak bite that tastes like melt in your mouth butter and one that tastes like you added too much butter in a lopsided effort to replace the fat rendered during the cooking process.

The questions at the heart of my intervention in your steak-making process are: how can we maximize juiciness, guarantee your desired cook, and put a steak worthy of a steakhouse on your dining room table?

The answer may sound familiar, it might even be dreaded, and worst of all, it might remind you of an argument you had with your grandchild about making the perfect steak.

It’s sous-vide. Say it however you like, the French might take offense, but your dinner guests will delight at your expertly cooked steaks, brilliantly poached fish, and innovative and quirky egg bites.

There was a time when sous-vide was unapproachable. The devices cost fortunes, vacuum sealers were the size of whole Philadelphia kitchens, and the entire process seemed like something you’d want to just leave to the pros. Nevertheless, innovation struck: you can own a vacuum sealer, a sous-vide wand (yes, they’re that magical), and a handful of bags for $200. Moreover, they’ll fit in your smallest kitchen cupboard. The time and price are right for sous-vide to change your culinary life. Not to mention, your vacuum sealer will perform a million different every day tasks in your kitchen. Keen on extending the shelf life and flavor of fresh herbs? Hoping to accelerate a marinade? Tired of berries spoiling before you’ve made your way through them? You need a vacuum sealer if not a set.

So. Enough talk. How will you make that perfect Steak? It is as easy as these five steps:

*a side note, I’ve been sous-viding for a while, so I have a much older wand from Frieling. I really can’t recommend the Zwilling product enough though, I tested it for the store and its a huge upgrade*

1. First and foremost, we’re going to heavily salt your cut, vacuum seal it, and leave it at room temperature for a half hour to forty minutes while you bring a pot of water to a boil. Occasionally, like the strips in the last pictures, I’ll add a dash of rosemary and butter to the bag, but frankly I prefer just salt and then a baste during the sear and rest process detailed below.

2. Then, you’re going to dunk your steak in the boiling water for about ten seconds (this doesn’t need to be precise). The goal of this step is to kill the friendly, if unpleasant tasting, bacteria that exists on the surface of any cut of meat, but that proliferates (spreading that unpleasant taste) at the temperature you may be sous-viding at.

3. Just before you dunk your steak, get another pot out and set your sous-vide wand to your desired temperature. The brilliance of sous vide is that it will never overcook. I like my steak medium rare, so I set my wand to 135.

4. Let it go for about two hours (my ribeye was a bout an inch and a half thick) and then remove it from the bag and bring a lightly canola oiled cast iron skillet to a smoking temperature or a grill to about 450 degrees.

5. Sear until you get a nice maillard reaction like the one below. Transfer to a board and let it rest in a warm area for at least 30 minutes.

Enjoy. This might just be the best steak you’ve ever made.