Low Temperature Water Bath Cooking

Sous Vide cooking is the process of cooking food in a plastic bag submerged in water that is held at a constant temperature. The water is maintained at the same temperature at which the food will be served. For example, beef is medium rare at 135 degrees F, so the water in a sous vide cooker would be held at 135 degrees F for the duration of the cooking session. The minimum duration of the cooking session is determined by the thickness of the food being cooked.

The Name

Sous Vide is French for vacuum. The name can be a little misleading because a true vacuum isn’t strictly necessary. A vacuum sealer is often used however, because it is an easy way to get all the air out of bag that to food is held in during cooking. The important factor is eliminating pockets of air between the food and the cooking medium (water).

Method

Sous Vide is similar to braising and poaching and deep frying in that a cooking medium is used. It differs from these methods because the food is not in direct contact with the medium and cooking medium does not contribute to the flavor of the food. Additionally the cooking medium is never supposed to be at a higher temperature than the serving temperature of the food being cooked.

Benefits

Because the food is never exposed to heat higher than the serving temperature, there is no carry over, and no need to let meat rest. Meat will also be uniformly done. For instance with a tri tip roast, the small end will be done the same as the large end, where as in a traditional method the center of a roast would be cooler and the meat would be more done as you get closer to the outside of the roast, and the small end of the roast would be more cooked than the large end.

If you are using a large cooking vessel like an ice chest, you can prepare different sized cuts and they will all be cooked to the same doneness.

Food can be held at its serving temperature for long periods of time without drying out or otherwise diminishing in palatability.

Slow cooking methods generally produce more tender meat.

AMT Member Sous Vide Pictures

Tri-Tip roast cooked Sous Vide and Simple DIY Sous Vide Cooker made from an ice chest and a bucket heater. Use a remote thermometer to monitor water temperature.
[[File:Arc-sv-tritip-1.jpg|300px]][[File:Arc-sv-cooker-1.jpg|300px]]

Links

Meat Doneness Temperature
A Practical Guide to Sous Vide Cooking