Have been SVing for 2 years.
In my limited experience, SV is best for:
1) Chefsteps pork shoulder steaks - SVing a whole free range pork shoulder over night, then slicing into steaks and searing or grilling. Tenderizes and intensifies the flavor and it's just the best pork chop . Pork shoulder is the perfect cut also as it's a good mix of fat and lean.
2) Duck confit - Just becomes ridiculously easy.
3) Tempering chocolate - Haven't perfected this yet, but really promising and I'll get it on next try. Makes process very neat and easy. Start making my own choc years back and stopped contributing to Warren Buffet's wealth (See's chocolate). Not hard, better (Valrhona feves, fresher nuts, less sweet), and ridiculously cheap even using the best chocolate.
4) Turkey winglets, thighs, legs - SV then deepfry. Excellent also. Crisp, succulent. If you drain well and air dry in ref overnight, deep frying is not life threatening.
5) Big chamber vac sealer is just incredibly useful not just for SV. Pays for itself by keeping food fresh much longer.
For steaks and roast beef - not sure it's worth the effort. Really good, but it's not too hard to approximate (reverse sear) on stove top, grill or oven and much less fuss.
What it doesn't seem to be good for - pork belly. Get's really tender but doesn't render fat much fat
Haven't tried yet for custard creams (creme brulee, flans, cheese cake) as am watching my sugar. But I can see how it would be really good.
Haven't tried on fish yet.
I have the Nathan Myrhvold and Thomas Keller books and will go through them at some point.
My current priority though is healthy (80% whole food, plant based) eating.
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