What Is Sous Vide Cooking? - By Katy Medium-- Ezine
Perfect sous vide steak | Source
What is Sous Vide Cooking?
Ever wondered how chefs of high-end restaurants can get steaks perfectly done as ordered and your steaks always turn out tough and overdone? They have something you don't: a sous vide.
Sous vide is a French phrase meaning "under vacuum," which only describes a portion of this particular cooking technique. A chef can vacuum seal food and place it in a water bath that is controlled to a precise temperature and circulated by a sous vide.
Up until recently, this precise technique was primarily reserved for commercial kitchens. But now smaller and less expensive versions are available on the market and appearing in more and more home kitchens.
Sous vide immersion circulators are starting to mean convenience and perfectly cooked meals. But how are they used and how do you get to that legendary perfectly cooked steak? Learn the basics of cooking sous vide below.
Sous vide cooking salmon | Source
Why Sous Vide is So Popular
Sous vide is becoming popular really quickly. So, what's the big deal? You won't be asking that after the first bite of perfectly cooked steak you take.
In the meantime, here's the unique ways that this technique makes cooking way better:
Automated Cooking
You can do anything you want while your food cooks. No human supervision needed.
The Anova precision cooker below has Bluetooth capability so you can set the temperature and timer via your phone from anywhere. Start dinner before you leave the office.
Cooked Evenly to the Perfect Temperature
Sous vide really makes cooking dummy proof. There is no chance the food will be under or over cooked. Expect perfection every time.
Also, meat that is cooked with sous vide is even all the way through. There is no uneven doneness as with other cooking methods.
Retains Moisture
The bag is sealed in the water bath so your food gets the juices locked in that are usually released during grilling, smoking, or frying. This makes a huge difference to the flavor and texture. Steaks are perfection and chicken is always juicy and tender.
The Sous Vide Process
So how do we do use this immersion circulator to sous vide dinner? After you get the set up going it makes dinner really easy.
Set Up the Water Bath
You need a sous vide precision cooker (like the one above) and a container full of water. Turn on the cooker to the right temperature for the food you want to cook. Search sous vide recipes to find out the temperature and cook time for your dish.
Prepare the Meat or Vegetables
Take the cut of meat or the veggies you are cooking and add spices. Salt, pepper and a bit of garlic is likely all you need if you want to let the perfect doneness of the food shine. Butter and oil are not needed but can add a great flavor.
Seal in a Bag
Add the food to a Ziploc or a vaccum seal bag. You do not need a vacuum sealing machine in order to use a sous vide but it can make the process a little easier. A Ziploc works just fine as long as you take care to evacuate all the air. The water displacement technique makes this pretty easy.
Add to the Water Bath
Throw the sealed bag into the water bath once it is pre-heated. Then go a live your life (or make the rest of dinner) while your food cooks. Most immersion circulators have a phone app that will alert you when your food is ready.
Finish the Meat
This last step is purely optional. The sous vide method is perfect for getting perfectly cooked meat every time but that means that the meat's outside looks dull and unfinished. There is usually a final step in the sous video cooking process to "finish" the meat. This means throwing it in a skillet or on the grill for just a brief duration to get a good sear on the outside. Then it is ready to plate and serve!
Sous vide steak at varying temperatures | Source
Foods to Sous Vide
Once you experience the convenience and amazing results of a sous vide you just might go through a phase where you try to cook everything this way. Most foods that can cook in a bag and have a cooking temperature below the boiling point of water can be cooked with one of these precision machines.
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