What is Sous Vide?
Want to never worry about undercooking or overcooking food again? Tired of watching a timer? Sous vide is the answer.
It’s not really that new, but it’s not well known. Lots of professional chefs depend on it to help manage the daily circus in the kitchen. Now, the sous vide heaters have dropped enough in price that people are starting to use them in their home kitchens.
Sous vide is a way to heat food in a sealed bag with a special water heater. It’s basically a programmable heating stick. There are special containers and vacuum bags (of course), but you don’t need them. A good freezer bag and your regular kitchen pots will work fine.
How does it work? Put the food in a freezer bag, squeeze the air out and seal it, set the water temperature on the stick and walk away. The food will get to the water temperature and stay there. No more uneven cooking – the food is the same doneness all the way through, every time.
What about cooking beef or chicken? I like to season it and sear it! I hear you. All you have to do is take the frozen meat from the original packaging, season it just like you normally would, and then put it in a freezer bag. Set the temperature a little lower than your target. When it gets to temperature, throw it into a really hot pan or grill to get the sear on both sides.
Want to save time during the week? You can pre-cook your meat a few days ahead and then keep it in the refrigerator until you are ready for a final sear or heating.
Got a BIG group to feed? Julie V. was pretty enthusiastic telling us about sous vide. She also volunteers as a cook for a homeless shelter. Julie came up with the idea of buying a big cooler just to cook really large pieces of meat. Pretty clever.
Is it fast? Nope, not really, it’s not a microwave. It’s accurate and consistent though and it can free up time to do other stuff without worrying about your sous vide food. The Anova Culinary sous vide heaters that sell for around $100 are a good way to do it.
Let us know if you’ve tried it.
Happy Cows!