Sous Vide

I first heard of sous vide like most people, while watching Top Chef, and seeing contestants vacuum pack food and stick it inside a water bath, with the temperature controlled by a thermal immersion circulator. Being a total gadget geek, I thought that was cool as can be!

For those not in the know, the wikipedia entry for sous vide states,

"French for "under vacuum",[1] is a method of cooking that is intended to maintain the integrity of ingredients by heating them for an extended period at relatively low temperatures. Food is cooked for a long time, sometimes well over 24 hours. Unlike cooking in a slow cooker, sous-vide cooking uses airtight plastic bags placed in hot water well below boiling point (usually around 60°C or 140°F)."

So, I did a lot of research, and decided to pick up an Ary Vacmaster VP-210 chamber vacuum sealer and a Polyscience 7306c. Lots of people get buy using Tilia Foodsaver vacuum sealers and other cheaper solutions to monitor the temperature of the water bath, but I decided I wanted to go in all the way. (Food savers have an annoyingly high defect rate, poor sealing of bags, and they don't handle liquids well.)

In the past week, I've made fish, eggs, chicken, and beef. All of my attempts have yielded a protein that was amazingly well cooked. My girlfriend, who was at first skeptical of me filling the kitchen with laboratory equipment, is now a convert.

All this said, this technique isn't for everyone. There are some legitimate food safety issues to consider regarding safe holding times, how long and how hot to cook things at, which are magnified by the fact you're cooking in a vacuum -- which is a ripe breeding ground for bugs like botulism.

For those interested, I highly recommend these resources,

Thomas Keller's Under Pressure

A Practical Guide to Sous Vide Cooking