Think Like a Chef | Worth the Effort
…That is the question I’ve been asking myself for the past several years as more and more professional chefs have come to swear by this relatively new—it has been practiced in its current form since about the mid-1970s—cooking technique/process. And with the release and subsequent publicity surrounding Nathan Myhrvold’s monstrous 6-volume treatment of modern cookery, Modernist Cuisine, it’s a question that has recently come back to the forefront of my mind. For those unfamiliar, “sous vide” comes from the French meaning “in a vacuum,” and it is a process (generally speaking) in which various foods are sealed into plastic bags and then cooked in a water bath (think boil-in-a-bag veggies) at much lower temperatures than is usual (typically between 130°F and 180°F) on either the stovetop or oven.
Now there’s a ton of information and opinions out there as to the empirical benefits of cooking in this way as far as it relates to quality of food produced (most chefs say they would never go back to cooking any other way), and its health benefits (you don’t have to add additional fats and many vitamins which are lost in higher-heat cooking are retained). But despite the fact that most every professional chef worth his salt swears by this method these days, I really just had one question: Is it worth it for me as a home cook to dive into the sous vide waters?
Now, I’ll be honest, while I certainly trust that a sous vide setup makes perfect sense for the Thomas Kellers and Grant Achatzs of the world, I was a bit skeptical that its benefits would justify its costs in both dollars and in terms of the real estate it would take up on my countertop. As far as the costs go, prices have dropped considerably over the past several years and you can get the entire setup that I used (SousVide Supreme Demi, The SousVide Supreme Vacuum Sealer, and a starter kit of food grade plastic bags) for under $500 on amazon.com. And really, the Supreme Demi itself is a clean, stylish (I got red) appliance about the same as a standard-size microwave oven while the vacuum sealer can fit in a drawer. You will also need a kitchen scale, as most sous vide recipes deal in weights of ingredients as opposed to volumes.
Now for the one caveat I mentioned earlier? It requires a good bit of time to prepare a meal. I would say 2 hours minimum for a protein, and a couple of vegetables. So if you’re idea of “planning” for a meal is seeing what looks good at the grocery store on your way home from work, then sous vide may not be for you. But if you’re the type of person who plans your family’s meals for the week, or better yet, likes to prepare meals in advance that just need a quick warming up at mealtime, this is completely the setup for you. Imagine the convenience of one of those prepackaged, frozen skillet meals, but with your home-cooked food. Seriously, with a few low-impact hours on a weekend, you can produce 2 or 3 meals worth of food, which come out of the water ready to be stored in their own individual vacuum-sealed bags. It’s a truly brilliant system. And easy. And while it’s not going to replace the oven, or stovetop, or grill in the near future, I would certainly say with no hesitation that sous vide has a future in my home, not just as an implement for fancy cookery, but also as an invaluable tool for planning healthier and easy-to-execute meals.
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I can think of one other downside to this brand-new-to-me-until-last-night method of cooking: Yet another (possibly several?) plastic bag around every meal.
I dunno, $500 doesn't seem that reasonable for a 'starter kit'...sounds interesting though
@Norma The plastic bags are actually part of the appeal, though. I, unfortunately, regularly make the decision to sacrifice the quality of home-cooked food for the convenience of heating up something pre-cooked for the sake of saving time, but this technology can help bridge the gap between convenience-food and quality-food that my family deals with on a daily basis.
@SH Of course, "reasonable" is a term relative to everyone's personal circumstances. But, if the concept of sous-vide as a vehicle to produce properly-cooked, healthy, and convenient food appeals to you, then you should keep an eye on the prices of this technology. And this may be a stretch, but I like to think about sous-vide in terms of how HDTV was perceived 6-10 years ago. Namely, that it was first a luxury item for those who could afford it, but it's inherent qualities forced it into the marketplace which then brought the price down.
Of course it had to involve sous vide in some way, and the cookbook is helpfully arranged into seasons.
I can't except this way of cooking, plastic bags kill my appetite and dishes look not tasty and fake
Controlling your food intake will definitely do a huge part in managing health. Thanks for sharing!
