What is Sous Vide Cooking? How is it Different from Slow Cooking in a Pot?
Holiday season is just around the corner. Let's not stress about how to treat your guest at your holiday dinner table. Learn about sous vide cooking and you will make restaurant quality recipe easily at home!
What is Sous Vide Cooking?
Sous Vide is a cooking technique that utilizes precise temperature control to deliver consistent, restaurant-quality results. High-end restaurants have been using sous vide cooking for years to cook food to the exact level of doneness desired, every time. The technique recently became popular for home cooks with the availability of affordable and easy-to-use sous vide precision cooking equipment.
Sous vide means “under vacuum” in French, which refers to the process of vacuum-sealing food in a bag, then cooking it to a very precise temperature in a water bath. This technique produces results that are impossible to achieve through any other cooking method.
How Do I Start Sous Vide Cooking?
Sous vide cooking is much easier than you might think, and usually involved three simple steps:
1. Attach your precision cooker to a pot of water and set the time and temperature according to your desired level of doneness.
2. Put your food in a sealable bag and clip it to the side of the pot.
3. Finish by searing, grilling, or broiling the food to add a crispy, golden exterior layer.
Benefits of Sous Vide Cooking
Sous vide cooking utilizes precise temperature control with circulation to produce results that you can’t achieve through any other cooking technique. The reason–when using traditional methods of cooking, you don’t have control over heat and temperature. Consequently, it’s very difficult and time consuming to consistently cook great food. Food ends up overcooked on the outside, with only a small portion in the center that is cooked to the temperature you want. Food loses flavor, overcooks easily, and ends up with a dry, chewy texture.
Consistency. Because you cook your food to a precise temperature for a precise amount of time, you can expect very consistent results.
Taste. Food cooks in its juices. This ensures that the food is moist, juicy and tender.
Waste reduction. Traditionally prepared food dries out and results in waste. For example, on average, traditionally cooked steak loses up to 40% of its volume due to drying out. Steak cooked via precision cooking, loses none of its volume.
Flexibility. Traditional cooking can require your constant attention. Precision cooking brings food to an exact temperature and holds it. There is no worry about overcooking.
What Supplies Do I Need for Sous Vide Cooking?
1. Sealable Bags & Vacuum packing machine
You have to make sure that ingredients are sealed and the air needs to be removed to preserve the flavor as well as to control the temperature precisely. Some experienced chefs might use a regular sealable bags and remove the air inside manually. However, we highly recommend you use vacuum bags and packing machine, especially if you are a beginner who's looking to achieve the perfect result.
2. Sous vide thermal circulator
As the demand for domestic sous vide cooking supplies grows, now we can easily achieve the professional quality result with bare minimum investment. Our recommended equipment, Atmovac Sous-Vide Thermal Circulator SV-96. The best part of it is that no direct contact occurs with air or water. Heat is evenly distributed throughout the food during cooking, preserving the vibrant colors and flavors of your food.
What Kind of Dish is Recommended for Sous Vide Cooking?
Sous Vide is perfect for any recipes that require slow cooking and temperature control. Roasted beef and duck confit will be a perfect addition to your special dinner table. For everyday use, you can also make delicious soup that melts in your mouth.
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