I love to cook. No, I don’t just enjoy standing next to my stove stirring things -- I daydream of recipes to the point of distraction, search out new ingredients with a feverish fervor and create dishes with the intent of surprising and impressing my guests.
I don’t buy cookbooks because I think it’s lazy to follow recipes and instead rely on my own whims when building flavors.
So, when my husband was shopping for a kitchen gift that would knock my socks off, he had to dig.
He had watched enough cooking demonstrations and competitions with me to know that the hottest technique outside of molecular gastronomy was something called “sous vide.”
It’s a term that, in French, means "under vacuum" and was invented to cook foods gently at a specific temperature, keeping flavors in and air out.
Food is seasoned, sealed in a plastic bag by a FoodSaver or similar apparatus, then dropped into the sous vide machine, which is filled with water and set to a predetermined temperature.
Foods can cook for as little as 30 minutes (shrimp) or as much as 72 hours (short ribs) and will emerge cooked to a temperature no higher than what was set.
It’s nearly impossible to overcook, and the vacuum-packing ensures that the food will not have contact with water or air, which would dilute the flavor or encourage spoiling.
Why not just throw your bag o’ food in the crock pot? Because it cooks at a much higher heat level (170-200 degrees) and can’t be regulated.
The beauty of sous vide is that one can cook a perfect 64-degree egg. You can’t do that with a slow cooker. And, with sous vide, one can cook individual portions of meat until they’re almost done, then sear them to get a perfect crust without overcooking the flesh.
Until recently, sous vide machines were only accessible to restaurants and only really used by gourmands such as Thomas Keller, Joel Robuchon and Michael Mina. They’re big, hulking machines that cost a few thousand dollars for the most basic model.
And then, the heavens parted, angels sang and the Sous Vide Supreme was introduced to the market. Still wildly expensive at $450, this version is small enough for the granite countertop in the home cook’s McMansion. One could easily sous-vide a standing rib roast and acoutrements.
Still, it was a little pricey for something I wouldn’t use every day. So imagine my shock and gratitude upon opening the box from my husband that contained the Sous Vide Supreme Demi, a smaller version, less expensive ($299) but still able to accomodate four Cornish game hens.
Right away, I began to experiment.
So far, I’ve discovered that shrimp come out a bit odd; they’re compressed in such a way that they almost melt into each other, though they do absorb every bit of sauce or spices you sprinkle on them.
Steaks come out ready to be photographed for Saveur Magazine, cooked to 123 degrees, light red from edge to edge and fork-tender.
I also re-heated some prime rib in the sous vide and it worked out perfectly, bringing it to temperature without cooking it twice.
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, those flavorless hockey pucks of the weeknight dinner, became succulent and tender, infused with the garlic and olive oil I had placed in the sealed bag with them.
Pork chops, heated to 150 degrees and then seared on a cast-iron skillet, retained their juices.
I still have a lot of learning to do when it comes to mastering the art of sous vide. Temperature ranges have a wide spread, as do cooking times. One must also plan ahead, sometimes immersing the chosen protein a day or two ahead of time.
It’s brought my cooking to an entirely new level, though I now feel like I’m discovering the basics all over again. I never really thought about temperature and cooking time as parameters before, as I just cooked food on low, medium or high and took it off the heat when it was done.
Now it’s about science and how the heat and length of heat affects the food. And here I thought in high school that I’d never use science!
