Sous vide is a French cooking method using vacuum-sealed bags placed in hot water at low temperatures. It retains more flavor and shape than slow cookers, but can cause food poisoning. It is popular in high-end restaurants and for pre-cooked meals. However, it is not suitable for crispy foods and lacks the aroma of traditional cooking.
Sous vide is a style of French cooking developed by George Pralus in the 1970s. The term, (pronounced “cause veed”), translates to “under vacuum.” Sous vide is a method of slow cooking food in vacuum bags placed in hot water at a low temperature. Foods cooked in the sous vide style tend to retain more of their shape and flavor than foods cooked in a slow cooker due to the absence of oxygen and boiling water temperatures used.
Sous vide, as a cooking style, has its drawbacks. Lack of oxygen and cold temperatures can actually cause significant food poisoning and grow bad bacteria like botulism. To avoid this undesirable result, chefs have a number of bain-marie machines in place that help circulate the water around the bagged food.
The first sous vide cooking was applied to the preparation of foie gras, goose or duck liver pâté. When Pralus tried the cooking style, he and other chefs like him, soon discovered that the end result was better and tastier than traditionally prepared foie gras. Little fat has been lost, resulting in more flavor and more color in the final product.
Another benefit of sous vide is the relative ease of preparation. Usually, when a person orders food in a restaurant, it needs to be prepared. By using the sous vide method the waiting time is reduced and more customers can be served. Not only is sous vide cooking popular in many of the world’s high-end four- and five-star restaurants, but it has proven to be a great way to prepare tastier foods for airplanes, cruise ships, and hotel room service. .
Any type of banquet that requires extensive preparation can now be less chaotic before serving because the food is already cooked to order and simply needs to be served. Unlike food that is pre-cooked and reheated, sous vide meals taste fresher and haven’t had time to oxidize and lose flavor. Even the US military uses a variant of sous vide in their Meals Ready to Eat (MREs) for soldiers on the go.
Different styles of sous vide cooking are available to supermarket consumers. These include boil in pouches of foods that have been popular for a number or years and new cooking pouches that can be used to hold in flavor while making pot roast or a savory chicken dish. Yet not all chefs are fans of sous vide.
There are limits to the kinds of things you can cook via sous vide. First, you can’t make things crispy, and a sous vide roast chicken won’t have the crispy skin that so many people enjoy. It is best suited for foods that are traditionally poached or stewed. Secondly, some chefs say they are missing out on one of the things they love most about cooking, the aroma of food. Because sous vide foods are sealed, you don’t get that delicious smell that comes from cooking things in a more open style. For many, however, the convenience and ability to produce large quantities of food may outweigh these minor inconveniences, and the cooking method continues to increase in popularity.
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