Sous Vide Machines

SousVide Supreme Special Promo Package – A Great Gift For The Foodie With It All

The SousVide Supreme Special Promo Package would make a great gift idea for cooking enthusiasts who have just about every gadget or appliance they need to indulge their passion of cooking. It would also be a good way to get into the Sous Vide cooking style too. Lets look a bit more into what this package includes.

What Is Sous Vide cooking ?

Sous Vide cooking is still a fairly unheard of cooking technique for many people, although it is being used in restaurants more and more these days. The basic idea is to slow cook foods in a water bath that is set at a fairly low temperature. So the water is not that hot but the combination of slow cooking and the unusual way that the heat is transferred to the foodstuff means that you should get a new eating experience.

One more point to add is that the food is sealed in a plastic bag before it is placed into the water. The plastic bag is completely sealed around the food stuff such that the item is said to be in a vacuum (or vacuum packed for want of a better word).

You can pretty much cook any item you like with the Sous Vide method but favorites are meats because the process can make the meat more tender. Vegetables can also be cooked but I imagine the texture of meats will be most different using this technique than vegetables and the like.

More on the SousVide Supreme Special Promo Package

So the SousVide Supreme special promo package basically consists of everything you will need to start cooking using the sous vide technique.

The two main appliances are the water bath, which is the SousVide supreme. This is a 10 liter water bath that is very easy to use. You simply set the temperature and the time and when it reaches the required temperature you place the food into the bath. The appliance comes with a rack so that the bag doesn’t float around or if you want to put more than one bag in at a time.

The Supreme was one of the first home appliances developed for this cooking technique and has a good look to it. I think you can get other colors and you can also get a smaller or mini supreme, but this one seems to only come in a chrome color. Nonetheless, it looks good and stylish and won’t look like an eyesore in your kitchen.

The machine also comes with bags for sealing food in. The specifics are one box of gallon bags and one box of quart sized bags. The bags seem to be special bags that only work with the sealing machine also made by SousVide. This is a little disappointing as it means you will always have to buy their bags.

The sealing machine is the second appliance that comes with the promo package. As already mentioned it works with the supplied bags and will seal food into a vacuum pack. Again this appliance is easy to use. It should be noted that this sucks the air out of the bag so it can’t seal liquids like soups and may even suck juices off item like partially cooked meats. Other than that, it does the job well.

The final part of the package is the book, written by Douglas Baldwin. He is considered to be one of the founders of the Sous Vide cooking methodology and this book goes into cooking times for certain foodstuffs and various recipes on a variety of foods.

Summary

This would make a complete gift for a “foodie” who is looking to try some new techniques in the new year. As it is the complete set of appliances and some good literature about the topic, it is a great way to get into the art of Sous Vide cooking. Plus, it is a little bit cheaper than if you were to buy the items separately but of course you wouldn’t expect anything less really. If you already have a sealing machine, it might not be worth getting this package but given that you will save, why not get a back up machine anyhow.

Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter

Leave a reply »

Sous Vide Cookbook – If You’re Getting Into Sous Vide Then Get Into These Books

If you are getting into Sous Vide cooking then you probably want some books and other information on how to make certain meals and cook various food items using this technique. If you have a product like the Sous Vide Supreme water oven, then you will already have a guide on making a few things but in order to get really inspired, you need to look to the top chefs. Here is a brief overview of the best Sous Vide cookbooks from some of the masters of the method.

The first book that you should consider is Thomas Keller’s Under Pressure: Cooking Sous Vide. This is one of the more popular books on the topic. It is a bit of a balance of information for a professional chef and things that the enthusiastic home cook might want to know.

About a quarter of the book outlines what the technique is all about and why it should be championed as a cooking technique. The rest of the book is devoted to recipes using the sous vide method. Vegetable, meats, desserts, soups and even cheeses have sections devoted to them.

He has some truly creative ideas but I’d say that quite a few of the recipes would be too ambitious for the amateur chef. Getting the ingredients could be difficult too. Even so, the book is an elegant, high quality publication that will be the perfect reference guide for sous vide cooking. Get a great discount on the book here

Sous Vide Cuisine by Joan Roca and Salvador Brugus is a hardcover book that has been translated from Spanish. In fact, the English version is very hard to get and you will have to pay a bit of money to get your hands on it. With this said, most comments on the book say that it is excellent. It is more aimed at professional chefs than amateur cooks though. Currently this book is available here

The next two books are probably more appropriate for home cooks keen to learn more about sous vide cooking. They are practical and accessible for people that don’t have a professional cooking background.

Beginning Sous Vide: Low Temperature Recipes and Techniques for Getting Started at Home by Jason Logsdon is a great primer for sous vide cooking. Many of the other books featured here will be purchased after you have your gear and know quite a bit about the technique. However this book takes you from the very beginning. It even evaluates the sort of equipment you need to use from the cheaper to the more expensive products. Get this sous vide cooking primer here.

The book also has an extensive recipe list for all types of meats and vegetables. This includes the temperatures and timings for each food item.

Sous Vide for the Home Cook by Douglas Baldwin is another primer and even features exercises that amateur chefs or people new to the method can try out to get some experience.

The book also has hundreds of recipes and detailed temperature and timings for various foods. It is extremely thorough, including setting the temperature and time of meats based on the thickness of the cut. This is a must have book if you are just starting out from one of America’s first proponents of the sous vide cooking technique. Check out Douglas Baldwin’s book here.

And for something a little bit different, take a look at The Fat Duck Cookbook by Heston Blumenthal. These are the weird and wonderful creations that Heston has thought up at his award winning restaurant. The book in itself is a work of art but the recipes will have you amazed. Anyone for Snail porridge ? This guy is an absolute perfectionist as demonstrated by his triple fry chips.

To be honest, I don’t know how many of the recipes you will actually want to try at home but the book should really inspire you to think about different methods and ingredients to put into your cooking. This book is not really about sous vide cooking but is fascinating all the same. Check it out here.

Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter

Leave a reply »

Thomas Keller Sous Vide Cookbook

It might be a disservice to describe Under Pressure: Cooking Sous Vide by famed chef and restauranteur Thomas Keller as a cookbook as it is greater in scope and the production values go well beyond a paper back recipe book.

>>>Check Out Today’s discount on Under Pressure: Cooking Sous Vide here<<<

However it does have some elements of a recipe style book that people can follow or use as inspiration if they are finding their way with the relatively new cooking technique termed Sous Vide (or Under Pressure in English). Here is a brief review of  the book and who it might be for.

Under Pressure: Cooking Sous Vide

The introduction to the book probably sets the tone and tells you what you are in for. There are two forewords written by Bruno Goussault, one of the early pioneers of the cooking technique and renowned for studying the cooking times needed for certain foods. The other foreword is by Harold McGee, who is deeply interested in cooking techniques and brings a more scientific method to the simple act of cooking.

Each man discusses the point and aims of the cooking technique from their unique perspectives on the subject.

Next we hear for Thomas Keller himself. He discusses why to try this technique. And the answer is simply because we are always striving for new sensations, new ways of expression and highlight the artistic nature of making food.

He goes on to describe how he was turned on to the technique and his early adventures at sous vide cooking.

With the introductions out the way, he goes on to describe what the technique is all about – how you do it and some of the benefits of using the technique over more traditional cooking methods.

He covers the basic principles and 4 techniques. He also goes into the safety issue of cooking with this method. This is very important as the water temperature is not that hot and certain foods, especially meats, need to be cooked thoroughly from a safety standpoint.

He finishes the section by talking about the technique is used in his restaurants and then discusses how it can be used in the home by an amateur cook or enthusiast.

Are There any Recipes ?

From here, it goes into the more conventional recipe style book.

Each section is set out as you would expect. There are  recipes on :

  • Vegetables and Fruits
  • Fish and Shellfish
  • Poultry and Meat
  • Variety Meals
  • Cheese and Desserts

However these are not traditional recipes and the ingredients are quite exotic by the standards of the average home cook. You won’t find them in the supermarket lets say. Well, that’s not completely true as there are some recipes that can be used word for word (or ingredient to ingredient) by a cooking enthusiast but others would be hard to source and execute.

I guess it depends how passionate you are about cooking and trying new techniques. Sometimes it’s almost as rewarding to look at the pictures of the meals than it is to make them.

The book also lists many of the devices or appliances you will need to do this style of cooking. The book was written before home appliances like the Sous Vide Supreme came out (and I’m pretty sure Keller wouldn’t endorse this type of gadget anyhow).

He prefers to use the high end sous vide machines, like chamber vacuum sealers and immersion circulators, but then he is talking about a professional kitchen for the most part so this isn’t really surprising.

Thomas Keller Sous Vide Summary

The books runs out at 295 pages. It is a finely produced book, with glossy pages, great photography and large print and non standard (artistic license maybe ?) font. The book is a hardcover. It is a must have for anyone interested in Sous Vide cooking, even if some of the recipes aren’t really practical for the home chef. It will be an invaluable reference guide if you are learning to cook with this method and even just as a book to flick through if you are looking for something to read.

>>>Check Out Today’s discount on Under Pressure: Cooking Sous Vide here<<<

Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter

Leave a reply »

Home Sous Vide Equipment – Cook Your Favorite Food At Home Sous Vide Style

Sous Vide is a recently developed cooking technique that has come out of the professional kitchens and into the homes of amateur cooks thanks to the development of home Sous Vide equipment. This article will cover what the technique is all about and some of the equipment you need. It will also pinpoint a few appliances that are ideal for the home that can be used to prepare food with this method.

So Sous Vide is French for under pressure. I think the literal translation is under empty (although checking out the dictionnaire it seems like it can also mean vacuum) which kind of hints at how the technique works.

Food is cooked in a vacuum. It’s a very “chefy” technique that is all about delivering a different texture to food that you may have eaten dozens of times and got a little bit bored with. It also makes the food, especially meats, very tender which is another positive outcome for the technique. People like to eat meat that literally melts in the mouth without it seeming overcooked.

By the nature of the technique, all the juices and nutrients stay in the produce thus making things like vegetables more beneficial from a health standpoint. If you marinade some food item, the juices will stay in the product and thus ensure it will be even tastier than by frying or even grilling.

Home Sous Vide Machines

So what do you need to cook this technique at home ? It’s actually quite simple with the latest appliances that have come out. You need a vacuum sealer and a water oven (oh, and a few plastic bags). Depending on the type of home sous vide machines you get this can cost around $700.

So the first step is to place the food that you want cooked into a plastic bag which then has to be sealed.

Vacuum sealers have been in the home for quite a while now. You can get a decent machine for about $120. These type of machines are typically suction vacuum sealers. They suck out the air and once all the air is removed they seal the bag.

They are often used for things other than sous vide cooking and do a decent job. Some people comment that they can’t seal a bag filled with liquid, like a soup or sauce, and this is true. If you have precooked some food item, the suction vacuum sealer may also suck out some of the excess juices, which is not really ideal. But for most Sous Vide style meals, this type of vacuum sealer is fine.

The better machine is the chamber vacuum sealer. This creates a vacuum within a chamber and allows for bags filled with liquids to be sealed without any leakage or loss of liquid for any bag placed in the chamber. This is the ultimate vacuum sealer but is far more expensive.

The next thing needed is a water oven or bath. The Sous Vide Supreme is just such a device and it is made for home cooks. Professional kitchens would generally use an immersion circulator and a steel vat that can be filled with water.

The Supreme is the circulator and vat in one appliance. It is made so that it is easier to use and more suitable for home cooks. You fill the oven with water, set the temperature and time controls and place your sealed bag or bags into the water. When the time is up, the food is cooked.

The supreme is a 10 liter vat and you can also get a smaller version called the demi (with 5 liter capacity). Sous Vide cooking really is very simple with this water oven. You can experiment with different types of produce and really move from being a dabbler to a truly adept sous vide chef.

Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter

Leave a reply »

Sous Vide Cooker – Savor A New Eating Experience

Sous Vide cooking is a recent cooking technique that is coming out of the top chefs kitchens and into the homes of cooking enthusiasts. This is partly due to the fact that cooking programs are everywhere nowadays and you can actually see the top chefs employing new fangled methods. This gets the mouths watering for many an amateur chef or even armchair chef eager to have a crack at the new technique themselves. There have also been various appliances released recently that make the technique easier to do at home too. This article will detail the cooking technique and talk about what a sous vide cooker is exactly.

So this technique is basically cooking food in a vacuum sealed pack in a water bath. The major benefits of the technique are that the juices and nutrients are retained in the food so it should be tastier and even healthier. You can also add a marinade to a piece of meat, for example, and the cooking process will ensure that the marinade goes deeply into the meat for extra taste. The cooking process can also make certain foods much more tender too (this is especially the case with meats).

Along with these benefits of the technique, it is also something new. Chefs are always looking for new techniques that will deliver a different eating experience.  A typical meal cooked sous vide will have a completely different texture to say something fried, roasted and even boiled.

Not surprisingly, a sous vide cooker is the way that you prepare this kind of food. It is actually a water bath when all is said and done. In a chefs kitchen, a sous vide cooker could be as simple as having a vat or steel container of water and an immersion circulator. You dunk the immersion circulator into the vat of water and it makes the water a certain temperature.

Sous vide cooking relies on fairly tepid temperatures but the temperature has to be constant throughout the volume of water. The cooking process generally takes a long time because of the low temperatures. Some Chefs will cook meats for 24 or even 48 hours.

For the amateur or home chef this is not really an option unless you are having a weekend dinner party and are especially dedicated to the cooking art. But for amateurs you can also get the Sous Vide Supreme cooker which makes the process much easier.

The Supreme sous vide machine is basically a water vat and immersion circulator in one easy to use appliance. It’s also a lot cheaper than an immersion circulator (that seem to be incredibly expensive for what they are). The Supreme sits on your worktop and has a control panel much like you get on a microwave oven. Set the temperature and the time you want and off it goes.

The supreme and it’s little brother the Supreme Demi make sous vide cooking at home a lot easier but of course there are other things you need before you can actually do it. You also need a vacuum sealing machine and vacuum sealing bags. These are easy to get and take a bit of practice to get used to but after a while you should be producing exciting new meals for your friends and family to savor.

Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter

Leave a reply »

VacMaster VP210C Dry Piston Pump Chamber Machine – Sous Vide Vacuum Sealer Par Excellence

Wow, what a mouthful of a name ! The name VacMaster VP210C dry piston pump chamber machine tells you absolutely nothing about the product so let me elaborate on what it is and what it does. In fact this is a review of the VacMaster VP210C that will help you decide if it is something you need in your kitchen or not.

Check out the VacMaster Vacuum Sealer Machine here >>>

More on the VacMaster VP210C Vacuum Sealer Machine

Sous Vide cooking is a two step process. The first step is to put the food you are cooking into a vacuum. This is done by covering it is a plastic pouch and then sucking all the air out and sealing the pouch. A vacuum sealer machine is used for this process.

You are probably well aware of the standard vacuum sealer as it is a fairly common household appliance these days. It can be used for all sorts of things, including creating the vacuum pouch for your sous vide cooking item.

However most standard vacuum sealers use the suction method of creating a vacuum in the plastic pouch. The drawback of this method is that you can’t create vacuum packs with liquids like soups or sauces because the machine sucks the liquids at the same time as it sucks out the air.

The same problem applies to foodstuffs that have juices, like precooked meats for instance, thus potentially taking some of the flavor out of the food or forcing you to pre-freeze the item before sealing it.

The VacMaster VP210C uses a different method to create the vacuum and thus can seal liquid items and foods that have juices as well as all other types of foods and other items.

It creates a vacuum (or as close to a vacuum as you get before it collapses in on itself – 27 to 29 hg) in a chamber within the machine. So you can place bags with soups and other liquids into the chamber and the pressure is equal both on the outside and the inside of the plastic. This allows the bag to lose all the air but not the liquid.

Place the open end of the bag against the heater element and it is automatically sealed.

This process takes around half a minute to complete which includes a bit of time to let the element and the sealed bag to cool down. When this is all done the lid will pop open and you can take the bag out and do whatever you had planned for it.

It is a far superior vacuum sealer machine than any of the suction style machines but it is priced to reflect this too.

The machine is quite a big appliance (approximately 13″ wide x 19″ long x 15″ high) and quite heavy at 90 pounds. It looks as stylish as a square brick like object can look in a brushed metallic finish. It need to sit on a worktop in your kitchen to use with a bit of space overhead to lift the lid up. You also get 1000 bags to play around with.

It may take a few tries to understand how the functions work but after a few goes it is quite easy to use. Once you have played around with it a bit you should have no problems. It’s make vacuum sealing foods and all sorts of other items a breeze. If you do sous vide cooking, it’ll help to give the food more flavor and integrity if the food are already cooked. And it will make you more versatile in the type of products you use in your sous vide cooking.

Check out the VacMaster Vacuum Sealer Machine here >>>

Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter

Tagged:

Leave a reply »

SousVide Supreme Demi Water Oven

So as the name suggests, this is a smaller version of the Sous Vide Supreme SVS-10LS and is made by the same company. The literature on the Demi says that it has about 60% of the volume capacity of the Supreme. I’m not sure why they have come out with this smaller model but I can hazard a few guesses.

Check out Today’s discount on the Demi Water Oven here >>>

Firstly, many people have said that they think the supreme is expensive. Which it is I guess and it is over $400 but I imagine this price will come down over time. The Demi is about half the price of the supreme. So if you are intrigued by the idea of Sous Vide cooking but don’t want to stump up $400 then it might be a good way to start.

Another factor might be that the Supreme is big. It might have been proving hard to locate in even a medium sized kitchen. So the Demi is a lot small in terms of a footprint and should fit into most kitchens. Ideally it should be placed on a work surface so that you can get easy access to it.

You could even go so far as to say that the Supreme Demi is a bit more trendy than the original model. For instance, you can get it in a number of different colors, including black, red and pink. Maybe the makers of these sous vide machines are trying to target a younger age group.

Other than these three factors the Supreme Demi works exactly as the original Supreme. All the functionality is exactly the same. The control panel is the same with the counter to indicate how long it has been running. It also displays the temperature which can be set to either Fahrenheit or Celsius.

The Demi machine also has the stainless steel rack that allows you to hang portions of food on it when in the water bath. It is suggested that you could get 6-8 single portions in at any one time. So this would cater for a family but probably not a dinner party or some bigger occasion.

So the SousVide Supreme Demi comes with the machine itself. You also get a perforated bottom grill designed to generate thermal turbulence. The aforementioned stainless steel rack to rest the individual vacuum sealed bags on. Finally you get a instructional manual with cooking temperature charts and recipes and an instructional DVD.

This Sous Vide machine represents a great way to dip your toes (figuratively speaking) into this new cooking style. It could also make a great gift idea for a cooking enthusiast.

Check out Today’s discount on the Demi Water Oven here >>>

Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter

Tagged:

One comment so far, What do you have to say?

SousVide Supreme VSD100 Vacuum Sealer – Complement Your Supreme Sous vide Oven

Sous Vide cooking is a relatively new concept in restaurants. Folklore suggests that it was first used in a restaurant in France in 1974 and since then has gradually been gaining in popularity.

Check out the latest price on this vacuum sealer appliance here >>>

In fact, any chef who is worth his/her salt will have experimented with this style of cooking. It gives more control over the food that is delivered (although it takes a while) and delivers a new eating experience that people are always after. With the release of the Supreme range of equipment, this style of cooking can now be tried at home by the amateur or cooking enthusiast. You need three things to do sous vide cooking at home. A water bath, some plastic bags and a vacuum sealer. This article will cover what the vacuum sealer does and spotlight the SousVide Supreme VSD100 Vacuum Sealer.

Simply put, sous vide cooking is about cooking vacuum sealed foodstuff in a water bath at a low heat. It has a number of advantages such as being more healthy to retaining all the flavors and nutrients of the produce. It also creates a different texture to ingredients that people have gotten used to eating, thus creating a new eating experience.

So to do this style of cooking the first thing you need to do is vacuum seal the food. The SousVide Supreme VSD100 Vacuum Sealer can do this. It is part of the supreme range of appliances. Since the Supreme water bath is one of the first home appliances for this cooking technique, they are keen to get you to buy their vacuum sealer too. They have a similar design and “go” together.

Not that you have to of course. For instance if you already have a vacuum sealer and are planning to buy the water bath then skip the sealer. Alternatively, you could probably use any vacuum sealer but here are a few points on this particular one.

So this vacuum sealers has two options.

There is vacuum and seal for solid food items. This removes all air and liquid out of the bag and ensures that the food inside is totally sealed.

The other option is just a quick seal function. This effectively seals any bag however you want it. This is used for liquids like sauces, marinades and soups. It would be impossible to vacuum seal these as the liquid would be sucked out before it could perform the sealing process.

The sealer comes with five 1 quart bags and five 1 gallon bags. This should keep you going for a while. You can seal the bag to the size you want too. Of course there are replacement bags and you can probably get more bags at your local grocery store.

This item (or something similar to it) is one of the sous vide machines you need to practice this innovative cooking technique at home.  Most comments on this machine say that it does what it’s supposed to do without any fuss. Good, solid and reliable. The price is there or thereabouts too.

Check out the latest price on this vacuum sealer appliance here >>>

Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter

Tagged:

One comment so far, What do you have to say?

Sous Vide Supreme Review – Start Sous Vide Cooking At Home

Sous Vide cooking was generally thought to be a style of cooking that was strictly reserved for the professionals. The equipment was too expensive or not available to the average home cooking enthusiast. The intricacies of the method, specifically from a safety standpoint, made people nervous to experiment with this way of cooking. With the release of the SousVide Supreme SVS-10LS Water Oven it seems that everyone can have a go and enjoy the benefits and eating experience of Sous Vide cooking at home.

Check out Today’s discount on the Sous Vide Supreme here >>>

More on the Sous Vide Supreme

So the Sous Vide supreme is a big water bath. When I say big, it can contain 10 liters of water. This means you can get quite a few items of food in the bath at any one time. As most items are cooked separately in their own vacuum sealed pouch this means you can easily cook for a dinner party of 5-10 guests with this oven.

The machine has racks inside the bath chamber so that you can hold the vacuum sealed pouches in place when cooking. Cooking in the Sous vide way takes a long time by conventional standards, mainly because the water in the bath is not that hot.

However even though the water might not be so hot, the temperature is vitally important in the cooking process. The temperature has to be uniform throughout the bath water so that every part of the item being cooked is cooked satisfactorily.

Controlling the temperature with this Sous Vide machine is easy. In fact it is a bit like a microwave oven in that there is a keypad like panel on the front of the machine that lets you set the temperature. You can set the temperature to be uniform within one degree. The panel also has a timer and this counts down to show you how much time has elapsed and how much further you have to go before the food is ready.

The oven comes with detailed instructions and some recipes so that you can get started with this new cooking style as soon as it is out of the box (although you will need a vacuum sealing machine, which doesn’t come with this sous vide cooker, before you start cooking).

The machine has a contemporary look which includes a brushed stainless steel effect on the outer housing. There are also well designed handles at staggered heights on the machine. This helps when you want to drain out the water.

The lid of the sous vide machine also doubles as a drain tray for cooked items. There have been some comments that the lid gets extremely hot when the machine is turned on. There is an insulation pad to counteract this but a better design might be to incorporate this into the lid itself.

Even though the machine is quite big, it is designed to sit on a counter top or work surface in your kitchen. This makes it easy to access and use. It is also easy to clean as all you have to do is drain the water and dry. It is a great way to cook sous vide at home and is one of the first machines designed specifically for the home user in mind. Some comments suggest it is too expensive but you can now get the demi model which is cheaper but is half the size.

Sous Vide Supreme Specifications

  • Model No.: SVS-10LS
  • Capacity: 10-L.
  • Dimensions: 9.9×12.6×6.8-in. (bath)
  • Width: 11.5-in.
  • Height: 11.4-in.
  • Instructions and recipe booklet

Check out Today’s discount on the Sous Vide Supreme here >>>

Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter

Tagged:

2 comments! Add your voice »

Sous Vide Cooking Equipment – What Do you Need To Start Sous Vide Cooking At Home

Sous Vide is a fairly modern cooking technique that involves vacuum sealing a raw food item and then placing it into a hot water bath for a length of time. This method ensures that all the flavor and nutrients of the foodstuff are not lost to the cooking environment. They also provide a different texture to the food than most people are used to which will result in a new eating experience.

The technique was largely reserved for professional kitchens until recently. However various sous vide cooking equipment was released in 2009 that was aimed at the amateur cook. Now cooking enthusiasts can try sous vide cooking at home. But what equipment do you need to do this at home ?

Sous Vide Equipment

Basically there are two elements to this cooking technique.

The first is sealing the food in a plastic bag so that there is no air in contact with it. This is the vacuum part. You need a vacuum sealer machine for this and plastic bags that can be placed in hot water without deterioration or affecting the food in any way.

There are a number of vacuum sealing machines available on the market at the moment. Most vacuum sealing machines have two options. One is to create a vacuum and seal the bag. This is for solid foodstuffs like vegetables and meat products. The other option is to seal without a vacuum for liquids like soups and sauces. This is needed for liquid items as the vacuum would draw out the liquid as well as the air using the first option.

The plastic bags can be purchased in set sizes or you can get a roll that you can cut to your own desired size.

The next piece of equipment that you need is a sous vide oven. This is actually a water bath. The idea behind sous vide cooking is that you place the sealed food item in a bath of water that is heated.

Usually this temperature is not really high, it all depends on the food you are cooking, the size and how you like your food. You can experiment with this and follow various recipes. This is the fun of cooking and creating interesting meals.

As already mentioned, there are numerous appliances coming out now that are specifically aimed at cooking sous vide at home. One such item is the SousVide Supreme SVS-10LS and it’s little brother the SousVide Supreme Demi Water Oven.

The SousVide Supreme SVS-10LS can hold up to 10 liters of water in it. This allows you to cook a large item of food or lots of smaller ones at the same time. The SousVide Supreme Demi Water Oven is half the size and obviously has half the capacity. You can still make plenty of portions in this oven however.

These machines are designed to make the this technique of cooking easy for novices. Another  piece of equipment that can be used to cook sous vide at home is an immersion circulator. This is a machine that can be placed in any bath of water to heat it up. This is probably consider more difficult to use and seems to be a lot more expensive.

More Sous Vide products will pop up as this innovative method becomes more widespread and popular with the average cooking enthusiast.

Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter

Leave a reply »