What is a Sous Vide? And How it Changed Cooking in Our Home

Let me start this article by informing you that I have no cooking experience and neither does my fiancé. In a modern Canadian society its not uncommon for people our age (mid 20's) to be helpless in the kitchen, when there are so many take-out options readily available to us. Not to mention one of our other challenges was time. Him being a general manager of franchise and myself owning a small business most the time we are two passing ships, rarely home at the same time, and when we are neither of us feels so inclined to volunteer hours of our day off to slaving in the kitchen, when there is so much else that needs doing around the house. We would try once and a while to cook up something special but most efforts were futile and ended with a call to our local pizza place or a frozen lasagna.

Just when we were starting to give up hope on ever being able to cook a "good" meal, my fiancé's father gifted us a Sous Vide. The rest is history!

So What Is a Sous Vide?

Pronounced "sue-veed" the technology originated in France, and was a tool only used my the masters, too expensive for us mid 20 somethings to ever dream of. Sous vide translated is "under vacuum" which is a perfect definition of the system.

Basically by using water, and temperature control all the cook has to do is set the Sous vides temperature to the desired heat, place it in the water, vacuum seal the food (usually meat) in a Ziploc bag, place it in the water and voila a couple 1-2 hours later you have perfectly cooked meat every time. I do advise searing your food on a pan for a couple seconds for look, but that's all there is to it.

What Can You Cook With The Sous Vide?

Now that we have become more confident in our ability to cook, we have also been adding new dishes to our life style here are some of our favorite plus some we have yet to try.

1. Steak- I'm sure all steak lovers can recall a moment where all you wanted was beautifully cooked, melt in your mouth steak but don't have the funds to go to a steak house and pay $50+ dollars for one meal. So you try to make your own, and sometime it turns out perfect but other times you end up sour and disappointed... Steak has become a regular meal in our house hold and I am not lying when I say every time the steak comes out perfect! The only way you can mess up a steak now is if its a bad cut.
2. Salmon- Anyone else hate the smell of fish cooking? Consider that inconvenience also gone. Because the technology cooks the meat in bags under water it never stinks up your house. I have never had a tastier, more tender cut of salmon.
3. Pork Tenderloin- Honestly I've never had much interest in pork, I've always found it dry and over cooked. Now when we cook it, I end up having seconds. Apple sauce now compliments your dish rather than making it swallowable.
4. Chicken- Chicken has always been a fearful dish in our home. Now its simple and delicious, always juicy and never under cooked.
5. Most Beef Cuts- (the thicker the cut the longer the cooking time)
6. Lobster- Because who doesn't love surf and turf!
7. Ribs
8. Lamb etc.

What Makes it That Much Easier?

The big reason the Sous vide has become a staple piece in out household is primarily due to time. Neither my fiancé or myself want to sit watching our food cook, temping and time everything just right so not to ruin the main course. With this technology you cant over cook your food. That's right once the food is up to temperature (cooking guides will tell you how long the minimum time is) the food can sit in the water for up to 4 hours total. In fact the longer the food sits in the water the more tender it will become.

No more watching the oven like a hawk and monitoring every step. You can fold your laundry, watch a Tv show without pausing, do a work out and forget about the Sous vide. The tech cooks at such a low temperature that the water never even boils over and isn't a fire hazard.

All-in-all this devise has made novices into masters, and changed cooking in our home for life!