Chances are that if you haven’t heard about the sous vide cooking method yet, you will start noticing it everywhere and watch it become a staple way of cooking at home within a couple of years.
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Easy Sous Vide Cooking With The Couch Cook
What is Sous Vide, exactly?
Sous vide is translated from French means “under vacuum”. It is a method of cooking where you heat food to a specific temperature in heated, circulating water.
The temperature of your food will reach the precise temperature that you set based on your desired doneness. For example, a medium-rare steak is cooked to 130 degrees Fahrenheit, so the water temperature is set to 130 degrees Fahrenheit.
How to Sous Vide?
Sous Vide cooking couldn’t be easier!
- Vacuum seal a heat rated silicone or plastic bag (or use a “water displacement” method to remove and seal the air out).
- Submerge the bag in a pot or bucket of water with a Sous Vide “cooker” set to the perfect temperature.
- Come back to perfectly cooked food in a few hours.
What tools to use?
A Sous Vide machine, also known as an “immersion circulator”, kind of looks like a chunky immersion blender. It will circulate the water bath you submerge you food in, and keep it at the precise temperature you set. Some newer ones even connect to your phone!
You’ll need bags that can handle the temperature. There are reusable silicone bags available that you can use “water displacement” to remove the air before sealing (submerge most of the bag in a pot of water to push all the air out).
Another option is to use a vacuum sealer – if you like to portion out and freeze things this also helps avoid frostbite! FoodSaver is a popular brand, and you can buy bags at local shops (Costco, Canadian Tire, WalMart, etc). They make Sous Vide specific bags as their regular bags can’t handle the higher temperatures.
Finally, you need a container. There are fancy bins available, but I just use my stock pot and a few magnets.
What makes this so significant?
Sous vide allows you to cook the steak or whatever other food product you are cooking to the EXACT desired doneness throughout with no chance of it overcooking!
Even if you left it in a pot of water for 6 months, all that is happening during this time is the collagen and tissue of the meat breaks down until those fibres are basically non-existent, resulting in a melt in your mouth tenderness, even for the toughest cuts of meat.
This principle applies the same to all fruits, vegetables, eggs and even grains and its incredible consistency is the reason nearly all chefs around the world cook the majority of their foods sous vide.
Other benefits of sous vide cooking
- Nutrition retention: There is nowhere for the proteins, vitamins, minerals and other key nutrients to escape to since they are all generally trapped inside of an airlocked bag, cooked delicately at a precise temperature. Some studies suggest over 98% of the nutritional value is retained, these results simply cannot be duplicated with traditional cooking methods.
- Yield: You yield nearly 100% of the food products you put into the bag, 100 grams of chicken in the bag = 100 grams out of the bag.
- Shelf life: Since there is no oxygen in the bag it does not provide an environment for bad bacteria to survive. If you vacuum seal and sous vide fresh meat product correctly it could easily retain its freshness for 2 weeks before expiring.
These are the very basic but wonderful things that sous vide cooking offers, it may sound complicated and confusing but once you start experimenting you will notice how much more efficient and easy it really is!
4 Delicious Sous Vide Recipes
Sous Vide Chicken Breast
4 chicken breast
20 grams of butter or olive oil
2 sprigs fresh thyme
3 thin lemon slices Salt & Pepper
- Preheat water to 150F
- Combine all ingredients into a bag and vacuum seal or use the water displacement method with a Ziploc bag once the temperature has reached 150F
- Cook for a minimum of 1 hour and up to 4 hours.
- Remove from bag lightly season with salt and pepper again and finish with a very high heat sear both sides in a pan or grill, just long enough to get a nice crust! Its key to not overcook it at this point.
Sous Vide Orange & Tarragon Carrots
6 carrots
1 orange peeled
2 sprigs tarragon
Salt
10 grams of butter
- Preheat water to 190F.
- Combine all ingredients into a vacuum seal bag or Ziploc and use water displacement method.
- Cook for 1 hour.
- Strain liquid into a saucepan and reduce by 1⁄2 and add carrots back into the sauce for 2 minutes.
- Serve.
Sous Vide Whiskey Poached Peaches
2 peaches, pitted and quartered
1⁄2 cup whiskey or rum
1⁄2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Tiny pinch of salt
- Preheat water to 180F.
- Combine all ingredients into a vacuum seal bag or Ziploc bad using the water displacement method.
- Cook for 30 minutes.
- Strain liquid, if you have a creme brulee torch you can caramelize the peaches with it but this step is not necessary.
- Serve with ice cream.
Sous Vide Vanilla Creme Anglaise
1 cup whole milk
1 cup whipping cream
3⁄4 cup granulated sugar
5 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
- Preheat water to 180F
- Blend together all ingredients until smooth and frothy
- Transfer mixture to a zip lock bag, using the water displacement method cook for 1 hour.
- Every 10 – 15 minutes massage the bag carefully with your hands to prevent curdling or clumping.
- Once the timer goes off plunge the bag into an ice bath to cool down immediately.
- Serve with fruit or pour over cakes and pastries! (This is similar to a hollandaise, dessert-style!)
Shane Ball, The Couch Cook, was a professional Chef for 10 years until he decided to switch career paths a few years ago. During his time as a Chef, he had the privilege to travel and work in some of the best restaurants in the world, including one of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’s restaurants in London, UK!
Leaving the culinary industry left a void, which has resulted in him creating an outlet for his passion for food through The Couch Cook on Instagram, as well as his podcast The Couch Cook. As a resource and community for discussion on all things related we’re all couch cooks! You can also find Shane at www.thecouchcook.com, check it out because a YouTube channel is also on the horizon!