Many households focus on healthy eating. The availability of professional equipment and recipes allows you to create truly unique dishes. One of the more and more popular methods is sous vide cooking. See how to cook sous vide and add new dishes to your menu!
What are sous vide methods of cooking
Sous vide cooking means vacuum cooking in a water bath. This unique technique focuses on several important aspects. First, it requires the use of appropriate devices. Worry - getting them is neither difficult nor expensive. So, it would help if you had something that you could vacuum-wrap your food with. Therefore, vacuum bags will be needed. This vacuum bag must be made of a suitable raw material. Make sure that the plastic it is made of is resistant to high temperatures.
Another element related to sous vide is, of course, the cooking vessel. Some people use pots in which they just put their food in a water bath. There are also recipes that recommend vacuum steaming. The best solution, however, is a special sous vide cooker. Thanks to it, you will be sure that your dish will turn out perfectly. The sous vide cooker allows you to cook food in a vacuum closed at the selected temperature. A characteristic feature of sous vide cooking is also the cooking time, which can be up to 48 hours.
History of sous vide
Contrary to appearances, the history of sous vide is not the longest. However, while it is not a technique derived from great noble feasts, it certainly has a touch of luxury to it. Well, sous vide cooking was developed in the 1970s. The French chef, Georges Pralus, is responsible for its creation. He was a man of great culinary talent who loved to experiment. The first dish of this kind he managed to prepare were goose livers, which he sealed in foil bags. Of course, he sealed them before cooking. The sous vide cooking technique was so fascinating that even scientists conducted research on it. One of them was Bruno Goussault, who later became a master of this method. Thanks to him, many fantastic chefs have specialized in sous vide cooking.
What should you know about sous vide?
As you can see, the history of sous vide cooking is not very long. The technique itself doesn't seem too complicated either. Nevertheless, it is a technique that is used all over the world. These kinds of dishes break popularity records in the best restaurants. Therefore, it is worth knowing a few more important facts on this subject.
Advantages of sous vide cooking
Sous vide cooking has many advantages. First of all, it is necessary to mention the fantastic aroma of such dishes. What's more, the taste is also completely different than in traditional cooking. This is because neither smell nor taste is released into the cooking water. Thanks to the vacuum seal, everything stays in the dish. The fact that there is no smell to the outside is also a great advantage in terms of practicality. Thanks to this, you will not smell, for example, of boiled fish in the kitchen. Everything is done in a very hygienic and pleasant way.
The advantages of sous vide include the preservation of all the properties of cooked dishes. They are not in contact with water, so they do not change their structure. In addition, they also retain their natural colour, which looks amazing on the plate. The most important thing, however, is to preserve the nutritional value completely. That is why the sous vide method is recommended as a very healthy way of eating.
Prady - sous vide cooking
Before you go on with sous vide cooking, there are a few tips you should know about it. The first is the cooking temperature. Each dish should have a specific cooking temperature. You can easily check it on the web. Below are some of the most popular dishes:
- veal: 65–68 ºC
- medium beef: 60–63 ° C
- poultry: 65–71 º C
- pork: 52–68 ° C
- traditional fish: 50–60 C
- vegetables: 80–85 º C
In addition, you also need to determine the cooking time accurately. Take a look at the examples below:
- tender beef: 30 minutes to 4 hours
- tender pork: 45 minutes to 8 hours
- chicken meat: 30 minutes to 8 hours
- fish: 10 minutes to 3 hours
Overall, sous vide cooking is a great way to make healthy meals. By the way, you can enjoy the great taste and full aroma of the dishes. Their preparation is not difficult from a technical point of view. All you need is suitable sous vide cooker, bags and vacuum sealer for food. The cooking process itself, however, requires knowledge of the temperature and time of preparing dishes. It would help if you also had some patience. Enjoy your meal!