I consider the kitchen my territory. I’m in there for what feels like most of the day, cooking, prepping, wiping down messy spaghetti covered babies, so my domain, right? So imagine my surprise when David suggested a new gadget and style of cooking to me and it was one I had never even heard of. Sous vide.
Have you heard of it? The name, sous vide (sue veed), is French for “under vacuum” which is how the food is prepped before it is cooked at a low, steady temperature in water over time. The intent of this cooking method is to cook the food evenly throughout and retain moisture.
I honestly didn’t want another gadget in the kitchen, or perhaps I was just offended at the intrusion of my domain (I kid, I kid), but then one day (last week), guess what arrived at my doorstep? Yup. This guy.
I’ll admit that once it was in our possession I was pretty excited and we wasted no time putting it to use.
David started with an egg, which he claims he poached, but I called soft boiled. Either way he ate it on toast and was pumped with his success. I was more intent for trying it out on our steak fajita dinner, as it’s supposed to be incredible for even cooking and making a tender steak.
This is a great guide to picking your temperature for your desired cook of the steak and how to cook it. We chose medium-rare and set the sous vide stick to 131. Though it only needed about 45 minutes in the water bath, our circumstances ended up keeping it in there for about 10 hours, but unlike a slow cooker, it’s held at a specific temperature, which ensures it doesn’t over cook the steak. It’s a tough concept to wrap my head around, but I’m getting there.
I also finally realized why David wanted it so badly.
Finally, an excuse to bring the blow torch in the kitchen. Men.
After a quick sear (which we totally could have done in a pan), we checked out our results.
Dang. I’ll admit I was very impressed! It was perfectly done, incredibly tender and the juices stayed in the steak instead of running all over my cutting board like they usually do. It made for a freaking amazing fajita.
I braved using it on my own last night for a turkey tenderloin. Since we don’t own a vacuum sealer, I used the water displacement method.
I let the sous vide to its thing for several hours before searing it in a pan. Then, dinner!
Again, tender, juicy and perfectly done.
Obviously we are new to it and still learning, but it’s slowly winning me over and I can see why restaurants, including Chipotle, use it to ensure consistent, delicious results.
I have some uneasiness about cooking in plastic, but here is a great article that goes into depth on the subject. I feel pretty OK with it, but still am going to buy a few of these silicone bags to use as well. I’m anxious to keep experimenting, especially with vegetables, and try some of the recipes listed here.
Have you heard of sous vide?
Does it sound like something you’d like to try?
What meat/protein to you have the toughest time getting cooked just right?
Karen says
Wow, cool but strange at the same time. I have never heard of this. And like you, the kitchen is “my domain” so it would also take some convincing for me too to try it.
Andrea says
Hmm…already have the vacuum sealer whose bags would be safe for this. I wonder…how would it work on game meat? I have some rather tough cuts that can be tricky to cook (i.e. Canada goose breast, wild turkey legs, etc) that I usually pull out the pressure cooker for. But those recipes usually wind up like a stew or saucy. I would totally try this if I could serve goose breast like you did your turkey, simply seasoned and sliced on a plate!
Brittany Dixon says
That’s what I really want to try it on- game meat! The method is supposed to be ideal for tougher cuts of meat so as soon as I get my hands on some I’m going to give it a try. How cool that you have access to fresh wild game like that!
Andrea says
If I find someone willing to let me test their cooker on some game I’ll let you know how it turns out. 🙂
Beth says
Ben has been dying to try this! It may show up at our house for Father’s Day. 🙂
Brittany Dixon says
Must be something with engineers 😉
Sam @ Pursuit of Healthy Happiness says
This looks like so much fun! I too feel like the kitchen is my domain. I tinker with recipes and cooking methods until I find one I feel is just perfect. And then I stick to it. Thanks for inspiring me to try new things! What do you think you’ll cook next?
Brittany Dixon says
I really want to try carrots, actually, ha! But then I need to look into recipes because my mind is stuck in the steak camp, so I need to explore a bit!
Beks says
That is trippy. I’ve never seen such a thing, but it makes sense. I’d try it, but I don’t know that I’d use it.
Brittany says
I would definitely try! I always have a hard time cooking salmon so would love to know if you try it on salmon!
Brittany Dixon says
Ohhh great suggestion! I’m totally going to look into using it for fish!
Erin @ Her Heartland Soul says
That is so cool! I’m officially intrigued!
Heather says
It’s definitely intriguing! I admit at first I was like, what?? It looks like it could be a handy tool, though, and I really like how you don’t have to worry about undercooking or overcooking.
Brittany Dixon says
Yeah I love the idea of using it for intimidating cuts of meat for larger groups (Tenderloin at Christmas) to ensure it’s done perfectly. Pretty cool!
Kathy says
Wow! Never heard of this but your food looked amazing! Like, you the plastic concerned me but looks like you’ve got that under control. 🙂 Enjoy your new toy!
Lauren @ Oh Hey I Like That! says
I’ve never heard of this, but it definitely seems like something my boyfriend would want!
Jen says
Never heard of it! Very interesting, and it does look like it did a nice job on your meat. Gotta love the blowtorch photo 🙂
Jen@jpabstfitness says
Saw this method used on Top Chef once, but I have never been brave enough to try it! That fajita…OMG, mouth.watering.
erin says
I have heard of it before, Nom Nom Paleo has a lot of ous vide recipes and they sometimes use it on Chopped, but I was familiar with the huge stand alone system that is a lot more expensive. I had no idea there was a stand along thing you could put in any old pot. Very cool! I am looking forward to seeing how it works out for you.
Mona says
I’ve never heard of this, might have to investigate a bit. It looks a bit strange!