Introduction to Sous-vide Cooking

Have you ever eaten a perfectly medium rare filet at a large catered event and wondered how they were able to achieve that type of consistency for 200 or more people? The answer is usually that they probably have a Sous-vide machine.

Sous-vide is a method of cooking food sealed in airtight plastic bags in a temperature-controlled water bath. Cooking times can be as little as only a few minutes for fish to as much as 72 hours or longer for brisket, lamb shanks, or short ribs. 

Sous-vide cooking temperatures are much lower than other cooking methods. The use of temperatures much lower than for conventional cooking is an essential feature of sous-vide, at these lower temperatures, cell walls in the food do not burst.

By placing the food in a water bath, with the temperature having been set at the desired final cooking temperature of the food, overcooking can be avoided, because the food cannot get hotter than the bath it is in. Temperatures typically range from 120°F for 160°F. 

The goal of Sous-vide is to cook the food evenly, ensuring that the inside is properly cooked without overcooking the outside while retaining moisture. Browning (Maillard Reactions) doesn't happen during the Sous-vide cooking process. The crispy seasoned texture is developed by briefly grilling the item in an extremely hot cast iron pan or grill.

Sous-vide circulators used to run a thousand dollars or more which made it prohibitive for the average home based chef. The emergence of lower cost emersion circulators in the two hundred range over the past year has opened the door for everyone to experiment with this game changing kitchen appliance.

Why should you try sous-vide?

• Because the food is cooked inside a sealed bag, all the flavor and juices stay inside.
• The food is cooked evenly, it is equally cooked from the outside to the inside.
• A taste, and especially a texture and juicyness can be reached that cannot be achieved by other methods of cooking.
• Foolproof: meat and fish always come out exactly the way you like it (medium rare, medium, etc.)
• Less stress at dinner parties because there is a wide range of cooking times in which the food comes out ‘perfect’ and in many cases you can just cut open the bag and serve.
• Also less stress at dinner parties because you can cook a large number of single person portions at the same time and all of them will be cooked exactly right.