Sous vide is a culinary technique that has been around for decades, but it’s been growing in popularity amongst chefs thanks to its many benefits and ease of use.
Sous vide is a sure-fire way to add more value to your restaurant and deliver dishes that are consistent in taste and quality. Here is what you need to know about sous vide and why this treasured cooking method is necessary for any restaurant kitchen.
What is sous vide?
The cooking technique of sous vide involves sealing food in a vacuum-sealed bag and slow-cooking it in a precisely controlled water bath. “Sous vide,” French for “under vacuum,” refers to this method. A sous vide machine or immersion circulator cooks the food in water at a constant low temperature.
Professional French chefs first utilized this technique in the 1970s, and it has since become popular in commercial kitchens and home cooking. The sous vide cooking method uses heated metal coils to circulate water and maintain precise temperature control, resulting in perfectly cooked food.
Do chefs use sous vide?
Yes, chefs use sous vide cooking techniques in their kitchens. It has gained popularity in commercial kitchens because it delivers perfectly cooked food with consistent results. In recent years, sous vide has become more accessible to home cooks with affordable sous vide machines.
Here are the essential steps in sous vide cooking:
Vacuum Sealing
When vacuum sealing, you place the food in an airtight container or bag. This process removes the air from the packaging, ensuring even cooking and preventing moisture loss.
Water Bath
The vacuum-sealed food is placed in a water bath using a sous vide machine. This equipment helps maintain a consistent temperature throughout the cooking process.
Precise Temperature Control
With sous vide cooking, you have precise control over temperature, often within a range of a few degrees, allowing you to achieve perfect results and avoid overcooking.
Extended Cooking Time
Sous vide is defined by longer cooking times at lower temperatures. With an extended cooking time, the food is more evenly cooked, tender, and flavorful.
Serving
Some foods, especially meats, might look unappetizing because they need browning, searing, grilling, or torching to achieve a crispy exterior before serving.
Can you store sous vide food?
You can store sous vide cooked food for later use by placing the bag in ice water to stop the cooking process, cooling it through the temperature danger zone, and refrigerating it for up to 7 days. Freezing the bags is also an option, with a storage life of up to one year.
Benefits of Sous Vide Cooking
Sous vide is an excellent way to achieve delicious meals with low effort. This cooking technique guarantees a juicy and tender result, whether cooking with meats, vegetables, fruit, or other ingredients.
Here are some of the main advantages of sous vide that are guaranteed to benefit your kitchen:
Consistent quality
Sous vide involves precise control over the cooking process to achieve consistent results with your meals and offer the same quality time and time again. Providing consistently delicious meals is a surefire way to satisfy and excite your clients to return to your restaurant.
Enhanced nutrition
The sous vide technique avoids the most harmful effects of cooking at high temperatures. Many nutrients and minerals are better preserved when cooked sous vide, resulting in a healthier and tastier dish.
Better taste
Sous vide is an easy way to achieve delicious dishes. Vacuum sealing the ingredients ensures that all the flavors, juices, and nutrients are well preserved, maximizing the taste of any recipe.
Tender, juicy and well-cooked
Try cooking protein sous vide if you want to achieve tender and juicy meals that retain moisture and flavor. Seasoned chefs favor this method for a good reason. By precisely controlling the temperature, you can easily avoid overcooking your meals and end up with perfectly cooked dishes every time.
Easy to cook and plan
Sous vide can be a real time-saver in the fast-paced world of restaurant kitchens, as preparation takes minimal time and effort. Even food cooked for long periods doesn’t need the chef’s direct supervision so that staff can focus on other tasks.
With sous vide machines, you can cook different types of food simultaneously without losing quality, allowing for easier menu planning and increased staff efficiency.
Less portion shrinkage
High heat directly affects raw meat weight, decreasing it up to 25-45% when cooked. The sous vide cooking method significantly reduces shrinkage to an estimated 5-15%, helping you make the most out of your ingredients and budget.
Energy efficient
Sous vide cooking requires only one piece of equipment and consumes a fraction of the energy needed for conventional cooking techniques. By using sous vide regularly, you can make a sustainable choice that consumes less electricity and reduces operational costs for your business.
What foods are best-cooked sous vide?
The sous vide method enables you to cook various meals, from meats and vegetables to desserts and cocktails.
Sous vide is a technique that encourages creativity and culinary exploration. Experienced chefs often add their personal touch to classic recipes and find new ways to innovate using this technique. The possibilities are endless!
Here are some of the best foods you can cook sous vide for a consistently delicious result.
Meat & Fish
The sous vide cooking technique is recommended when preparing all kinds of meat. It ensures that even the trickiest cuts of meat turn out tender, juicy, and flavorsome.
Steaks, pulled pork or pork chops, duck breast, salmon, and chicken breast are excellent choices for sous vide, resulting in evenly done meals without losing moisture, taste, or texture.
You can also try cooking processed meats like sausages sous vide. For a finishing touch of crispiness, lightly sear or grill the cooked meats.
Avoid meats that are too lean or delicate, such as filleted fish, steak, or liver – their consistency makes them a poor choice for sous vide.
Carrots
Carrots can quickly lose their taste and texture when cooked. With sous vide, you can avoid the breakdown of carrot cells, maintaining their nutrients and flavor and resulting in exceptionally tender and tasty.
Eggs
When cooking eggs using sous vide, you will experience less overcooking and achieve more texture. You can experiment with various classic egg recipes sous vide without close monitoring. Additionally, sous vide cooking will give your eggs a unique taste and a creamy, custard-like consistency.
Asparagus
Asparagus is one of the vegetables that shines through when prepared sous vide. It retains all of its delicious juiciness and becomes tender while keeping a bit of its crunchy texture.
Flavored Oils
Commercial kitchens can save time and money using sous vide to create flavored oils. Sous vide flavored oils are a great way to experiment with unique flavors made in just a few hours.
Creme Brulee
Sous vide is excellent for custard egg-based desserts such as creme brulee. With less risk of overcooking, you can achieve the same unforgettable creamy consistency repeatedly.
Sous Vide Cooking Chart – Temperatures and Times
The trick with sous vide cooking is to figure out the perfect ratio between time and temperature that yields perfectly cooked meals. The duration of cooking food may differ depending on the ingredients used and the thickness of the food.
Here is a general sous vide temperature and time guide for the main types of food:
Steak:
- Rare (120°F / 49°C): 1-4 hours
- Medium Rare (130°F / 54°C): 1-4 hours
- Medium (140°F / 60°C): 1-4 hours
- Medium Well (150°F / 66°C): 1-4 hours
- Well Done (160°F / 71°C): 1-4 hours
Chicken Breast:
- Boneless, Skinless (140°F / 60°C): 1-4 hours
Salmon:
- Flaky and Tender (120°F / 49°C): 30-45 minutes
- Buttery and Rich (130°F / 54°C): 30-45 minutes
- Traditional (140°F / 60°C): 30-45 minutes
Pork Chops:
- Tender with Slight Pink (135°F / 57°C): 1-4 hours
- Traditional (145°F / 63°C): 1-4 hours
Lamb:
- Medium Rare (131°F / 55°C): 4-8 hours
- Medium (140°F / 60°C): 4-8 hours
Duck Breast:
- Tender and Medium Rare (130°F / 54°C): 1-4 hours
- Traditional (140°F / 60°C): 1-4 hours
Eggs:
- Soft-Boiled (145°F / 63°C): 45-60 minutes
- Poached (149°F / 65°C): 45-60 minutes
- Custard (165°F / 74°C): 10-30 minutes
Vegetables:
- Asparagus (183°F / 84°C): 10-30 minutes
- Carrots (183°F / 84°C): 30-60 minutes
- Potatoes (183°F / 84°C): 60-90 minutes
- Broccoli (183°F / 84°C): 15-30 minutes
Sourcing high-quality ingredients for sous vide cooking with Fadaro
While sous vide cooking can maximize the taste of the food, it is essential to use only high-quality, fresh ingredients to avoid bacterial contamination or subpar results.
Finding a reliable source of wholesale food can take time, so at Fadaro Foods, we strive to bring you the best selection of high-quality ingredients for your kitchen.
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