Have you heard of Sous Vide Cooking??
Here is a picture of my newest kitchen appliance…
What is Sous Vide Cooking??
I first heard about Sous Vide cooking on Iron Chef America, but have since seen numerous cooks on the Food Network use the method in various cooking shows and competitions.
Sous vide is French for “under vacuum.” Sous Vide (pronounced soo-veed) is a cooking method that involves first vacuum-sealing your food in a plastic pouch, and then cooking the food inside the pouch in a water bath at a controlled temperature, usually at a very low temperature for an extended period of time.
Using the temperature-controlled water bath makes it possible to cook food to the perfect level of doneness or tenderness from edge to edge, without having to char or overcook it around the edges. Because the water is kept at the maximum temperature you want your food to be, your food never goes over that temperature, and does not overcook. Because your food is vacuum-sealed in a bag, none of the moisture or flavor leaks out during cooking.
If you like your steaks medium rare, you can cook your whole steak to medium rare. If you like the edges seared or charred, you can quickly finish it off on the grill or in a saute pan. Cuts of meat with less natural moisture, like pork chops and chicken breast can be cooked to doneness and tenderness without drying out the meat. No butterflying or brining necessary! Imagine thick, juicy pork chops cooked to perfect doneness without drying out the meat or burning the outside edges of the chops… the Sous Vide method was made for this kind of dish!!
Check out this Battle of the Thanksgiving Turkeys, on the SousVide Supreme’s blog: Sous Vide Turkey: Once you’ve gone sack, you’ll never go back!. If you think turkey breast is dry and flavorless, reading about this turkey cooked Sous Vide might make you think again… I can say it made an impression on me!
Is Sous Vide Cooked Meat really as crazy, over-the-top amazing as people say?
I have heard chefs, foodies, gourmet nerds, average joes, etc… virtually everybody who tastes chicken breast, pork chops, fish, seafood and other delicate meats cooked with the sous vide method simply RAVE about the texture and flavor of the food. The all insist that sous vide whatever, isn’t like anything they have ever eaten before. They swear you’ve never tasted a pork chop, until you’ve tasted a sous vide pork chop… Could it be that different?? Could it really be that good?? I don’t know.
But now I can find out for myself…
The first Sous Vide water oven designed for the home kitchen has just been developed by Eades Appliance Technology, LLC, and has just become available for the first time.
If the name Eades sounds familiar to you, it is probably because many of you Low Carbers out there know Drs. Michael and Mary Dan Eades from the Low Carb Protein Power nutritional program and best-selling books. All readers of this Lovin’ It Low Carb blog should also recognize the Eades name from their new book: The 6-Week Cure for the Middle-Aged Middle, since I have been writing about it for weeks!
I bought a one of these new SousVide Supreme water ovens, and I just received it this week. As a kitchen gadget it seems expensive. Compared to a professional/commercial sous vide water bath, it was very inexpensive. I paid $400 for mine. They were offering a $50 discount for pre-orders made prior to a certain date. So, I took advantage of that. The current retail price is $449.
Many bloggers seem to be mentioning the new law about product reviews and full disclosure… so let me say, too, that I am not related to or partnered with the Eades in any manner. Any products, books or blogs I write about, I do so because I like them, or not, and want to tell you about it. Not because I’m paid to post a review. (I WISH people would pay me for my opinions – I would gladly disclose it!) My Amazon links ARE affiliate links, so I do earn a small commission if you purchase books or other products through my Amazon links, including the Eades books. OK, now back to my post…
For my first SousVide Supreme cooking adventure, I am cooking two cuts of beef simultaneously. I think this will work because both these cuts cook at the same temperature.
Three Ribeye Steaks:
A small Brisket, cut in half and sealed in two vacuum bags:
Here is the SousVide Supreme, loaded up with my 5 vacuum-sealed portions of beef:
I seasoned all of this beef with my favorite seasoning mix, Magic Dust, which I buy from The Hitching Post, the famous restaurant north of Santa Barbara featured in the movie Sideways. This seasoning has simply great flavor and a mild afterburn that tickles my tongue!!
I heated up the water in my unit, and put the meat in at around 10:00 a.m., expecting to have the ribeyes for dinner tonight, and the brisket tomorrow night. That gives the ribeyes about 6-7 hours to reach medium rare perfection, and the brisket about 30 hours to reach optimal tenderness. I’ll post my ribeye and brisket results as they come out of the SousVide Supreme and dissappear into my stomach, so tune in later to find out how my first sous vide dishes turn out!!
And, if perfect medium rare ribeye or melt-in-your-mouth brisket was not enough, what is the over-the-top delectable delight I MOST want to taste cooked in my SousVide Supreme?? Eggs Scrambled in the French Manner. This Scrambled Egg “Custard” sounds like heaven in my mouth.
I’m also really looking forward to some thick, juicy pork chops!!
I’ll have to let you know how that goes when I get a chance to try it!
Maybe next weekend…
Lovin’ It Low Carb
Ramona Denton
interesting take on the subject, count me as a new subscriber!