Sous vide is the new generation of food preparation which guarantees a more economical, healthier and efficient way of preparing food with a substantially enhanced taste

Sous vide cooking is redefining dining experiences in many of the world's most distinguished hotels and restaurants. Sous vide cooking is becoming increasingly popular among professional and amateur chefs who are taking advantage of its many benefits and using it to experiment with new dishes. As a result the number of sous vide recipes and knowledge of the sous vide process is proliferating rapidly worldwide.

Sous-vide (Soo-VEED) means “under-vacuum” in French. It was developed in the mid 1970s by Georges Pralus for the restaurant Troisgros in Roanne in France. It was originally developed on Foie Gras when Pralus discovered that the sous vide process reduced cooking loss from 30% to 5% and led to a better texture and appearance. Unlike cooking in a slow cooker, sous-vide cooking uses airtight or vacuum packed plastic bags placed in hot water well below boiling point (usually around 60°C or 140°F) for extended periods of time.

The sous-vide method is used in several gourmet restaurants and well-known chefs such as  Christopher Young, Thomas Keller, Jesse Mallgren, Paul Bocuse, Joël Robuchon and Charlie Trotter. Non-professional cooks are also beginning to use vacuum cooking because of its many benefits.

How does sous vide differ from standard cooking?
In sous vide cooking all the raw ingredients are vacuum packed in consistent quantities in single serving bags in an oxygen free environment.  The bags containing the ingredients are then immersed into the water in the sous vide bath and cooked using precisely controlled heating, usually at a variation of only ± 0.1° C. The cooking time and temperature are very accurately controlled so that the ingredients are cooked to perfection. The absence of oxidation due to the vacuum packing, increases flavour intensity and by cooking the food at a precise temperature the ingredients are cooked to perfection every time. The food remains in the vacuum packed bag ensuring that all the flavours and nutrients remain during the cooking process until served.

Precise cooking is very important when cooking protein such as fish, meat and poultry.  Cooking times and temperatures vary depending on the preference, size and type of food being cooked. For example some fish may cook for less than 30 minutes while some tough meats will cook for up to 72 hours. A good example to consider why a chef would prefer the sous vide cooking method is steak. The traditional way of cooking a 300g rump steak to medium-rare on a grill, would be to grill it at about 300° C until the temperature at the centre comes up to 54° C. The outside of the steak will be overcooked and the centre will be rare, but with the sous vide method of cooking this is not a problem.  The steak is poached in the vacuum bag in a sous vide bath at 54° C for 60 minutes and then seared in a hot pan to finish off.  The result will be a steak with a perfectly grilled crust and the rest of the steak a consistent medium-rare throughout.

Tougher cuts of meat such as pork and ox cheek in conventional cooking would require many hours of braising and can end up being very chewy due to the high levels of collagen.  With the slow and low temperature of cooking with sous vide, the collagen transforms to gelatin and produces a tender and incomparably tasty joint.

Because sous vide cooking takes place at comparatively low temperatures, cooking at exactly the correct temperature for the right amount of time is critical to achieving perfect results, not only in terms of flavour and consistency, but also in terms of food safety. This is where Grant Sous Vide Baths are invaluable, providing excellent temperature control with an accuracy of up to ±0.2°C.

See benefits of sous vide cooking.