Sous-vide - educate me

[grumpyoldman]

complete dummy here , ( ok no wise cracks about that last statement )
i often see some of you talking about this thing called " sous vide "
what is it and what does it do ? i think i understand that it is something vacuum sealed and cooked in hot water . is there an advantage cooking something this way ? for example , a sirlon steak is known to be a tough cut of steak , would cooking it this way help it be more tender ? i do know that you guys marinade some things by vacuuming the seasoning in the bag before cooking ( makes sense )
can this type of cooking be as simple as vacuum sealing something and dropping it in a pan of boiling water ?

 

[HeyItsSara]

It was all the rage a few years ago. Not sure if everyone agrees that it's "all that". I think the rage now is air frying.

 

[pictonguy]

There's a lot of nuance in sous vide and a lot depends on the ingredient, the time and temp picked, and expectations. I like it and actually prefer, time permitting to conventional cooking with certain foods, sausage being one of them. It's difficult to explain really.

For example if I hear one more reference that sous vide steak is the best you could possibly get, I think I'll lose my mind.

 

[dragnlaw]

hey there grumpy... you're right. Food is sealed in a bag and dumped into water that is kept at a desired temperature for a desired length of time. As it is a large vat of water it it keeps a constant temperature and so does the the food that is in it. It never goes above that temperature.

Whereas with food in an oven the temperature inside the food will keep on rising til it reaches the same temperature as the oven.
Which means when you cook a roast and want to reach an internal temp of say 150 you set your oven to 350 and wait a prescribed length of time for that specific meat and the weight of the meat. If you don't remove the food - well, it keeps on rising.
Whereas with sous vide you set the temperature you want the food to reach and the food never surpasses that temperature.
But I also understand you possibly could leave it tooo long and the texture of the food will suffer but it still will not go past the temperature.

CAVEAT: I do not have nor have ever cooked with a sous vide - the above is just my simple understanding of it.
If I'm wrong there will be plenty of volunteers to shout me down.

 

[caseydog]

There's a lot of nuance in sous vide and a lot depends on the ingredient, the time and temp picked, and expectations. I like it and actually prefer, time permitting to conventional cooking with certain foods, sausage being one of them. It's difficult to explain really.

For example if I hear one more reference that sous vide steak is the best you could possibly get, I think I'll lose my mind.

A sous vide steak is the best you can possibly get.

CD

 

[caseydog]

I have been cooking sous vide for years. The biggest advantage is that you can cook to an exact temperature, and not overcook your food. This is what makes it so good for steaks and pork chops.

I like a medium rare steak, and I can nail it every time with sous vide cooking. I just put a quick sear on it when it is done, and I have a perfectly medium rare steak.

Will it make a tough cut of meat tender? Not sure about that. It definitely keeps meats from drying out. I get the most tender and juicy white meat pork using sous vide and sear, just like my steaks. Since you are cooking for a longer amount of time, you can actually have safe pork at a lower temperature, so it's even a tiny bit pink inside. Here is some pork tenderloin cooked to 145F internal temperature.

I don't use sous vide for everything, the way a lot of people use air fryers. Sous vide is excellent for certain things, especially meats.

Since your new vacuum sealer can seal foods with liquid in them, you could do things that I can't do.

CD

 

[grumpyoldman]

ok i'm starting to get the picture , question : we have newer electric stove and when we turn on the burners/ heating elements to say number 4 on the dial the heating element will cycle . would this work for what your describing ? of course i would have to play with it to ensure it would hold water at a given temp

 

[caseydog]

ok i'm starting to get the picture , question : we have newer electric stove and when we turn on the burners/ heating elements to say number 4 on the dial the heating element will cycle . would this work for what your describing ? of course i would have to play with it to ensure it would hold water at a given temp

Sous vide on a stovetop will not be as acurate as with a circulator. I have an Anova circulator, and you can get them for under a hundred bucks. You can use a stock pot for the waterbath, or other containers, as I do.

The nice thing about a circulator is you set it up, put your food in, and walk away for however long it takes. You would have to pay more attention doing it on a stovetop.

Here is my setup. Perhaps some other people can show what they use.

CD

 

[dragnlaw]

My understanding is one of the reasons the sous vide can "hold" the temperature is that it continuously circulates the water around. This aids in the temperature being kept constant. Does the heating element cycle as does your stove - don't know.

 

[caseydog]

My understanding is one of the reasons the sous vide can "hold" the temperature is that it continuously circulates the water around. This aids in the temperature being kept constant. Does the heating element cycle as does your stove - don't know.

That is correct. There is circulation and a thermostat that keeps an accurate temperature to within less than one degree F.

CD

 

[grumpyoldman]

while i have never measured the temp . the stove top element does turn on and off as it hold what the temp of whatever number we turn the dial to , i just don't know what that temp is ... ( yet that is.. lol )

 

[caseydog]

while i have never measured the temp . the stove top element does turn on and off as it hold what the temp of whatever number we turn the dial to , i just don't know what that temp is ... ( yet that is.. lol )

I have a ceramic/electric cooktop, and it does the same thing. I could make it work for sous vide, but I'd have to pay closer attention, which I don't want to do.

CD

 

[dragnlaw]

you need pretty low temperatures! Newer ovens don't go below 170. Water boils at 212.
As casey has mentioned. It is also the length of time it is held at that temperature which makes it safely cooked.

 

[grumpyoldman]

so what i am hearing is this is a very low temp, long time way of cooking , maybe even slower than smoking meat
so i couldn't decide at 4 in the afternoon that i wanted pork chops and have them ready at say 5 or even 5:30

 

[dragnlaw]

Don't know, probably not. But you could probably decide at 8 in the morning! Fix it all up at noon and be ready for 5.

 

[grumpyoldman]

i think i have learned what i needed to know about "sous vide " and don't think we will be cooking this way , its kinda like putting something in a crock pot and waiting and i never cared much for cooking that slow
thanks for all the good information !!!!

 

[caseydog]

so what i am hearing is this is a very low temp, long time way of cooking , maybe even slower than smoking meat
so i couldn't decide at 4 in the afternoon that i wanted pork chops and have them ready at say 5 or even 5:30

There are a few time/temp charts on this forum. Pork chops cooked to 145F would need two hours of sous vide cooking, followed by a very quick sear to brown the outsides. So no, it is not something you can do in a hurry. However, on the opposite end, if you start your chops at four, and you are not ready to eat at six, you can leave them in the waterbath for another few hours, and they will NOT overcook.

CD

 

[caseydog]

i think i have learned what i needed to know about "sous vide " and don't think we will be cooking this way , its kinda like putting something in a crock pot and waiting and i never cared much for cooking that slow
thanks for all the good information !!!!

It does take a little advance planning, but the reason I cook certain things, like steak, sous vide is because I have not found a better way to cook steak, and have it perfectly cooked, medium rare, edge to edge, every time.

CD

 

[grumpyoldman]

i think when it comes to a good steak i'm just old fashioned and i'll just fire up the old blackstone and slap em on that hot griddle ( i love the sizzle of a good steak )
thanks again

 

[pictonguy]

It does take a little advance planning, but the reason I cook certain things, like steak, sous vide is because I have not found a better way to cook steak, and have it perfectly cooked, medium rare, edge to edge, every time.

CD

Yup, that's what I'm talking about, but CD I'll have to disagree with you. Your right though and when the steak is pulled out of the bag it represents a temperature that most agree would be considered medium rare from the surface to it's center, basically perfect medium rare.

To me it's the gradient of doneness in a traditionally cooked steak that creates a textural and flavor spectrum with it's multiple thermal zones that I would and do miss.

The extra time spent on a flattop, frying pan etc to get to that medium rare doneness generates a thicker crust zone producing in my opinion more umami from the denser and crisper surface with that outer layer more medium and with a firmer bite than the rarer center with it's more tender bite displays exactly that gradients and what a good steak should be, in my opinion of course.

Basically a gradient steak offers more contrast where each bite moves through heat, texture, and flavor where sous vide in this context uses heat as a stabilizer which results in a uniformity that again, and this is my personal opinion leaves me wanting. I won't even go into the amount of times I've seen people use a blow torch to simulate the Maillard reaction, yeah sure.

I've had many sous vide steaks and admit some are far better than others which I suspect comes down to the quality of the meat and possibly a better attempt at a crust. Either way a decently cooked steak is good eating.

TLDR: do what you like.