Why You Need to Sous Vide
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Are you a talented chef?
Have you mastered several culinary art forms?
Me neither.
Fortunately, we live in the 21st Century and have access to all types of gadgets, gizmos, and resources to aid us along in our culinary journey.
Bed Bath and Beyond, Williams Sonoma, and Sur La Table (to name a few) are filled with all types of tools to assist you in your kitchen. Immersion cooking, also known as sous vide, will instantly up your game without requiring a storage unit to organize your gadgets.
I was first introduced to the world of sous vide cooking by a friend from work. This friend (my old boss) is quite the foodie and a relative wizard in the kitchen. He asked: “Ever wonder how restaurants and event catering companies can churn out hundreds, if not thousands, of dishes, all relatively cooked to perfection?” This was over the Summer (wedding season), and it got me thinking. How do they do it? His answer: “They have several tricks, and one of them is Sous Vide.”
According to bonappetit.com, “At its most fundamental level, sous vide cooking is the process of sealing food in an airtight container—usually a vacuum sealed bag—and then cooking that food in temperature-controlled water.”
Image provided from Tuxton Home: https://tuxtonhome.com/collections/bestsellers/products/chef-series-sous-vide-pot-set
Here’s the magic: sous vide cooking is nearly foolproof. Ever overcooked a nice piece of meat? Have you enjoyed your backyard BBQ only kick yourself for forgetting to take the meat off the grill? Sous vide mitigates those issues by maintaining a constant temperature.
Here’s how it works:
1. Seal your food in an airtight bag or container. You may purchase a vacuum sealer or simply place your food in a zip loc bag (immerse it in water to let the excess air escape). Many recipes call for the addition of spices, oils, or garnishes prior to sealing. This locks in the flavor as your food cooks.
2. Fill a pot with water high enough for your sealed food item to remain under water during cooking. I use a pot from Tuxton Home (pictured above), as it is built for sous vide.
3. Affix your sous vide immersion cooking apparatus to your pot.
4. Set your ideal temperature and hit Start.
5. Once the food has completed its hot water bath, you can finish it off on a hot cast iron pan or grill to sear the outside. This is a quick sear at a high temperature.
Again, it’s this easy: Food-> Bag-> Hot Water-> Sear = ENJOY
Here’s the kicker: Since the sous vide unit maintains a constant temperature, you are less likely to overcook your food. Go ahead, enjoy that extra glass of (insert choice beverage here), and don’t worry about burning your food!
Immersion Cooker of Choice
I’m a big fan of the Anova Culinary Sous Vide Precision Cooker. It comes with WiFi or Bluetooth options. Wifi is cool (I like anything that gets Wifi), but I have yet to use that feature. You can save a few dollars with the Bluetooth-only option.
Their models range from 750 -1200 watts of power. This power translates to how quickly it can heat your water up to the desired cooking temperature.
The Anova Culinary cooking app is fantastic too. It is incredibly intuitive and walks you through recipes and settings to achieve your ideal food prep. The guides simplify the process and dial you in with the exact setting needed for a delicious outcome.
Photo taken from Anova Culinary https://anovaculinary.com/pages/apps
Maiden Voyage
Upon receiving my Anova sous vide, I quickly ripped open the Amazon box and got to work. I found some freezer-burned chicken in the back of our fridge and thought “At least I won’t ruin something we weren’t planning on eating”.
I installed the app and went right to the guide section titled “Poultry”. I next hit “Chicken Breast”. I was offered the ability to select the final tenderness of my meat. The app offered “Very soft and juicy”, “tender, juicy, slightly stringy,” and “Firm, juicy, stringy.” Cool. I chose “Very soft and juicy”, an option that I thought would be unachievable given the sad state of my long-forgotten chicken breasts. I bagged the chicken, included some salt, pepper, garlic, and vegetable oil then dropped it in.
The cook time was 140 degrees for 2 hours. Later that evening, my wife was hosting a GNO (Girl’s Night Out) with each of her friends each bringing an appetizer. I popped my head in to say hello and answer some questions about what the heck the “wand” was doing in our cooking pot. I explained with the same enthusiasm that my friend had first shared sous vide with me to several “non-believers”.
When the cooking was complete, I fished the chicken from its watery prison. I removed it from the plastic bag, patted the tenders dry, and sliced into them. To Anova Culinary’s credit, the chicken was in fact “Very soft and juicy”. The flavor was incredible, too! This was due in part to the fact that, while quasi-vacuum sealed, the chicken breasts absorbed the flavor of the spices (they had nowhere else to go).
I proceeded to triumphantly offer the plate of sliced-up chicken breasts to the GNO crew. The once freezer-burned chicken turned non-believers into admirers of the immersion cooking wizardry of sous vide. If this is what sous vide could do with the dregs of our refrigerator contents, then what would it do with the good stuff?
We’ve since used our Anova Culinary sous vide cooker on a multitude of dishes. TriTip is a slam dunk. You will achieve pink all the way through with the charred outer, every time. Shrimp and salmon will never come out dry or overcooked.
The best deal in town: get the beef tenderloin from Costco (yes, it will cost over $100). You will be able to cut it up 10-12 times producing filets. With your sous vide cooker paired with a grill or cast iron sear, you will achieve near-perfect results at ~$10 per steak! I’ve done this several times hosting large groups, along with roasted potatoes and some broccolini. You can wow your guests (with wine too) for an under $300 Costco run. Just avoid all of the other Costco deals to stay under the $300 mark (separate challenge altogether).
I’ve never cooked lamb because:
A. It’s pricey
B. I was intimidated because of the price and fact that I have never cooked it before…I didn’t want to screw it up.
Sous vide helped me get over that fear!
Rack of lamb right after being seared on the cast iron
Lamb was cooked perfectly! Served over a mushroom polenta, mint chutney drizzled over the top.
In Conclusion
Whether it’s to: up your backyard BBQ game, impress the “Girls Night Out” crew or simply salvage some abandoned frozen meat, you need to sous vide. Bon appetite!
Further Reading:
