What is The Sous Vide Method of Cooking?
Sous vide is a cooking method that has become especially popular today for both at-home chefs and commercial use. The term itself (pronounced soo-veed) translates to “under pressure” or “under vacuum”, and that directly correlates to how exactly the method works. When cooking sous vide, you vacuum seal your ingredients into an airtight, resealable plastic bag that is also temperature safe. From there, you have water preheated in a cooking vessel and you submerge the plastic bag full of your ingredients into the pot of heated water.
Although the cooking method sounds relatively easy, it’s a great way to bring out your food’s natural flavors and overall integrity. The food is allowed to cook amongst itself without losing any of its natural juices, almost working as a marinade of its own all within the bag. When cooking sous vide, the food is cooked at a lower temperature for a longer period. Throughout the time the dish is cooking, it’s better able to break down tougher ingredients, especially tougher, oftentimes even thought to be cheaper, cuts of meat such as pork chops, chicken, duck, and so on. The best part? Sous vide-style prepared dishes are already vacuum sealed and have a much longer shelf life than dishes prepared using an alternative cooking method.
What Are the Benefits of Sous Vide Steak?
There are several unique benefits of cooking sous vide steak. However, the biggest thing to note is that preparing and cooking a steak using the sous vide style produces an all-around better steak in general. When using the sous vide method, many sous vide enthusiasts will use a cooking tool known as an immersion circulator. This allows you to have a better grasp of the overall time and temperature that your steak is prepared, thus helping to eliminate any potential guesswork on your end. Listed below are a few of the benefits of cooking your steak using the sous vide method.
Better Flavor
As mentioned previously, when cooking using the sous vide method the only thing that remains in the temperature-safe plastic bag alongside your meat is the natural juices that are coming out of the meat. Because dishes are cooked for an extended time using the sous vide method, the steak is allowed time to soak in those natural juices and flavor, thus resulting in better flavor overall. The tenderizing effects of this cooking method have been compared to the overall effects of braising your meat before cooking.
Better Consistency
It’s no surprise that when it comes to cooking meat, especially steaks, there is a lot of room for human error. There are also several other variables associated with alternative cooking methods that can impact how your steak turns out. Examples would be things such as the thickness of the steak you are cooking, how many steaks you’re cooking, what cut of steak is being prepared, or was the steak at room temperature prior to cooking. All of these unique variables can impact your steak, causing it to either be overdone or extremely dry. However, when preparing steak sous vide style, none of those things matter. The method works to produce a consistently cooked and delicious steak every time.
Better Texture
As the steak breaks down, the only thing that remains with the steak in the bag is the steak’s natural juices, essentially working as a tenderizer. Over time, the meat is allowed to break down and lose any toughness it may have retained using other cooking methods. In turn, you’re bound to get an extremely moist and flavorful steak as a result.
More Convenient Overall
Last, but certainly not least, cooking steaks using the sous vide technique is more convenient overall. Frequent monitoring of your dish isn’t required as it would be with cooking the steak in an oven, on a cast iron, or a grill. The sous vide method works to heat the steak to a designated temperature, then retain that temperature throughout its entirety of cooking. Essentially, the sous vide cooking method can be thought of as a “set it and leave it” style of cooking, so you can go on with your day without fear of over or undercooking your dish.
It shouldn’t be any surprise that the sous vide method is quickly gaining popularity in the market. It helps to produce a flavorful, consistently cooked, and delicious steak each and every time. The same can be said with other cuts of meat, as well. Consider learning more about the sous vide method or even giving it a try today!