What is Sous Vide?
The process of cooking sous vide is high tech, precise, and oh so easy. (And in case you’re curious, it’s pronounced “soo veed”)
It uses an immersion heater to regulate a water bath at a constant temperature so that you can submerge vacuum sealed food bags. And if that process didn’t sound fancy enough, the term sous vide is actually French, translating to mean “under vacuum.”
“Sous vide sits right at the intersection of techie and foodie,” says Ry Crist of CNET. “It takes laboratory-grade science and applies it to precision cooking. Soulful or not, I think it’s downright cool.”
Yet Molly Birnbaum, executive director of science at America’s Test Kitchen, thinks that the high-tech side of it is too often hyped up. She says: “Sous vide gets a bad rap for being too tech-y and science-y, or something that you have to understand Celsius and Fahrenheit, time and temperature graphs, etcetera. But, it’s not. It’s incredibly simple. Put food in a Ziploc bag, stick it in a water bath, heat it to the precise temperature, and walk away. There’s no danger of overcooking your food.”
Why Is Sous Vide a Great Way to Cook?
There are so many benefits to cooking sous vide!
First let’s talk about the precision and control that’s possible. When using your stove on the very vague temperature setting of medium, it’s different than any other stove’s medium temperature, and likely different from the medium temperature that you set when you made breakfast. Instead, when cooking sous vide you’re able to select the exact cooking temperature, up to a tenth of a degree.
With sous vide, you’ll also get a much more even cook than if you were using a pan. The water bath is regulated at a consistent temperature and fully surrounds the food that you’re cooking. This makes it much easier than cooking with a pan that has hot spots and wondering when exactly you should flip your meat.
Sous vide is also a great way to avoid getting your kitchen messy. If you avoid cleaning as much as we do, then this clean-cooking method without any grease splatters or dirty pots and pans is sure to fit the bill.
And even though you’re using plastic, as long as you choose bags that are BPA-free, it’s a totally safe way to cook.
The Gadgets and Cooking Gear
To cook sous vide, you’ll need a sous vide immersion circulator. This is the device that will draw water up from the water bath, heat it to your set temperature, and then release it back into the water bath.
You’ll also need a heat-safe container for the water bath. This can be a large stovetop pot or a clear-plastic food-safe container. Just be sure that it’s large enough that it won’t overfill after you add your food and immersion circulator.
For plastic bags, you can use ones designed for sous vide, vacuum sealing, or even freezer safe Ziploc bags. But if you’d rather go plastic-free, you can even cook in a Mason jar
An optional piece of equipment is a stovetop skillet such as a cast iron. If you’re cooking a steak or other piece of meat, finish your sous vide cooking by searing it in a hot skillet to get a nice, rich crust.
Cooking Tips and Advice
Not Just for Meat: While sous vide is often associated with a hearty piece of meat, that’s not its limitation at all. Many chefs using this cooking method focus on meats because after shelling out the money for a nice cut of meat, you want to be sure that it’s perfectly cooked.
It’s Not Always Fast: With sous vide, you’re not going to get the cooking speeds that are possible with an Instant Pot. Since the water bath never goes past the set temperature, your meal may take much longer to cook. The tradeoff for speed is that you get precision. While a 12 oz. NY strip may take just over two hours to cook, you won’t accidentally end up with something overcooked and inedible.
What Goes Inside the Bag: Don’t wait until you’re done cooking to season your dish. Whatever you’re cooking, make sure it’s seasoned with salt, pepper, and the spices of your choosing. Add any fresh herbs like rosemary or thyme, and a dab of butter can add some richness to your meal.
Keeping the Bags Submerged: After your water comes up to temperature and you’re ready to add your bags, it can be helpful to rig up a way that keeps the bags from floating freely in the water bath. Try using a binder clip or clothes pin to clip them to the side of your water bath.
Getting Precise: To get the perfect cook, consult a cooking time and temperature chart like this one that was created by Culinary Physics.
Outside of the Kitchen: If your studio apartment has a tiny kitchen, sous vide cooking is so clean that you can even set it up on an end table in your living room.
Use Your Phone: Many sous vide devices are Internet-enabled, so you can use the mobile app to keep tabs on your dinner.
Experiment with Meat Cuts: While pork shoulder and beef chuck are typically tough, the long cook time of sous vide breaks down the large amounts of collagens in these muscular cuts. “The softened collagens act like a lubricant in your mouth,” Grant Crilly told the NYT. “The result is a beef or pork steak that tastes even juicier and more flavorful than a rib-eye or pork chop — as tender as you can imagine, but not falling apart until it hits your tongue.”
Food Safety: Foodborne disease is no joke, so follow your equipment guidelines to make sure that your food is cooked to a proper temperature. If you want more info, Douglas Baldwin has put together a comprehensive guide to sous vide food safety.
[tweetthis]Ever Use A #SousVide? Don’t Know What It Is Or How To #Cook With It? We Break It Down For You![/tweetthis]
Recipes to Get Started With Sous Vide Cooking
Medium-Rare Sous Vide Steak
(Use this sous vide steak cooking chart from Omaha Steaks to get it just how you want it)
The Best Sous Vide Chicken
Perfectly tender Sous Vide Glazed Carrots
Sous Vide Salmon Fillet with lemon and dill
Sous Vide Soft Poached Eggs served with some crusty bread
(Use this egg hardness chart to get your yolks just how you like them)
72 Hour Short Ribs with Hawaiian BBQ Sauce
Sous Vide Lobster Roll — Choose between Connecticut-style Lobster Roll with lemon and butter or a Maine-style Lobster Roll with mayo