“Sous vide” is a French term which literally means “under vacuum.” It refers to cooking vacuum-sealed food in a pot of warm water. The water is kept at a precise temperature and is constantly circulated to ensure even coverage over the food. Cooking is done over a longer period of time at a lower temperature.
Sous vide cooking has seen an explosion of popularity recently. Here are four things you should know if you want to get started.
For the last few years, the term “sous vide” has been showing up more and more often in the mainstream. While in the past only professional chefs or hard-core cooking hobbyists even knew the term, sous vide has become the trendy new way to cook. We noticed this year that sous vide machines were ubiquitous at the Chicago housewares trade show, so we decided to check it out for ourselves.
sous vide 1
What is sous vide?
SVC100 Sous vide circulator 3
What are the benefits of sous vide cooking?
The main benefit is that food is cooked gently but thoroughly. If you grill a steak, the center will be less cooked than the parts closer to the surface. Sous-vide cooking cooks the entire steak evenly over a long period of time and has makes food very tender. Another benefit is that the cooking is basically automatic. The circulator ensures that the water stays at the proper temperature, and automatically shuts off when finished. Keep in mind that most cuts of meat will need to be quickly seared in a hot pan to give it a nice color and crust, although some foods like eggs and vegetables don’t need this. A definite benefit is that the vacuum sealed food can be prepared beforehand and stored in the fridge. When it is time to eat, it can be removed from the bag and put on a hot pan or grill for a minute or two and be ready to eat.
SVC100 Sous vide circulator 5
What foods are suitable?
Sous vide cooking is widely known for excellent results with beef and pork, since they are marinating in their bag while cooking. It is also suitable for firm vegetables like carrots or onions, eggs, denser fish like salmon, chicken breasts, and custard-based desserts like crème brulee or pumpkin pie filling.
sous vide kit
What equipment do you need?
Sous vide cooking can be done in large self-contained sous-vide cookers, or more commonly by sous vide circulators which attach to your own pot. Although some people use zip-seal plastic bags with as much of the air removed, a far better solution is to use a vacuum sealer to ensure the best contact with the water, eliminate floating bags, and prevent water from leaking into the bag. We offer a special value-priced sous-vide kit consisting of the Status automatic sous-vide circulator and the Vidia vacuum sealer. It includes a starter set of vacuum bags as well as a roll which lets you make customer size bags for sealing.