Table of Contents
YES! Many restaurants use the sous vide technique, and for a good reason.
Sous vide is a technique which is accomplished by sealing food in airtight plastic bag then immerse it into a water bath at an accurately regulated temperature.
The result is food cooked to perfection with no risk of overcooking or burning.
Most fine dining chefs prefer this method because it leaves all the flavors inside your food intact — without drying out meat or vegetables as quickly as traditional cooking methods do.
The best part about using this technique is that you can apply Sous vide to any dish you already make, from pork chop and eggs to macaroni and cheese!
Examples of restaurants that use sous vide techniques for their delicacies
There are many restaurants in the USA that use sous vide. One example of a restaurant in the USA is Yusho, an Asian fusion restaurant that offers fast casual foods and traditional American steakhouse fare.
The sous vide technique is not just limited to a few dishes on their menu -this restaurant use sous vide technique to prepare all their dishes.
Sous vide cooking has given Yusho the ability to create tender and juicy dishes with rich flavors and textures.
Another restaurant in the US that uses a sous vide technique is Italia Grill in Houston, Texas, specializing in Northern Italian Cuisine.
You will find many dishes on the menu that they serve with beef tenderloin cooked using this technique atop pasta, risotto, short ribs and polenta.
The sous vide method of cooking adds an extra layer of flavor and texture to each dish.
The next restaurant in Boston, Massachusetts that uses sous vide for cooking is Craigie on Main, specializing in French-inspired New American cuisine.
Their menu includes traditional French favorites like Pork Rillettes and Fried Sweetbreads with Bok Choy and Crispy Suckling Pig Confit — all made using sous vide techniques.
Au Cheval is another popular brunch spot in Chicago. They serve some of the best burgers you can find in the city, and it also has an award-winning Kale Caesar Salad.
These restaurants use sous vide method ensures that you cook all your dishes to perfection, including their tender fried chicken sandwich, with a crispy coating on the outside and juicy meat inside.
Other restaurants that use this technique include:
- In San Francisco, California, Bar Tartine specializes in New American cuisine using local produce, sustainable seafood, and organic meats. The restaurants use this method for cooking squid, pork chops, and many more dishes on their menu.
- Trois Mec in Los Angeles uses a la minute precision cooking to create modern French meals served at a communal table. It incorporates ingredients like American Kobe beef glazed with foie gras butter and sautéed by flame — all made using the sous vide technique.
- David Burke Kitchen in New York uses sous vide to cook octopus, lamb shank, and filet mignon on the menu. This modern American-style restaurant has been around since 1993 and still serves dishes cooked using this unique method.
Benefits of using sous vide cooking technique
The benefits of sous vide are not exclusive to professional chefs, as there are plenty of home cooks who have started using this technique in their kitchens.
The following are some benefits of cooking foods in restaurants and at home using the cook sous vide technique for food preparation.
Accommodating different thicknesses of meat
The sous vide technique cooks using the surrounding temperature control rather than shorter and hotter bursts.
This makes it easier for you to cook meat without overcooking it, and cook things like vegetables that might take longer to become tender.
It also means that you don’t have to cook meat in batches because it’s possible to set the time and temperature of your sous vide cooker for thicker pieces of meat.
Meat lasts longer
Food can stay fresh for longer when cooked using this method because no heat addition until the food has reached the core temperature required.
This means food only spends a minimal amount of time in the “danger zone” (between 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4.44 °C) and 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 °C)), which reduces the risk of bacterial growth.
Using less energy
With traditional cooking techniques like frying or grilling food, you need to use high heat to vacuum seal in moisture quickly so that the inside cooks roughly the same as the outside.
You need to do the whole cooking process within a few minutes or create overcooked meat. This means that you need to use much more energy and, once again, have the risk of overcooking your food.
Low-cost equipment
The price of equipment used for cook sous vide technique has dropped drastically over recent years — now you can get everything from a stainless-steel pot on Amazon for $14 or an Anova Bluetooth cook Sous Vide Immersion Circulators for $200.
You’ll also find plenty of pre-made bags online if you don’t want to cut them yourself (although this is fun).
It’s worth investing in some good quality individual vacuum bags because they make them thicker, which reduces the risk of punctures.
Rapid response times for precise temperature changes
Refrigerated water and sealed bags work together to change the temperature of your cooking equipment quickly.
This helps you get to temperatures controlled below their boiling point (around 90 degrees Celsius) in a matter of minutes, which means faster cooking times than other methods.
How to cook delicacies using a sous vide technique
Commutes, meetings, and other commitments tend to dictate modern cooking times. It is a struggle to get home in time for dinner with the kids and come up with the idea to eat.
A sous vide cooker can help you whip up an easy dinner that the whole family will love.
Step 1: Preheat your oven and vacuum sealers for 30 minutes up to an hour before you need them, depending on their power level and your kitchen temperature.
Step 2: Place your meat or vegetables into a large pot filled with water to cover cooking.
Put the pot on high heat until it starts boiling vigorously, then turn it down to a low simmer.
Step 3: Once your food has reached the desired temperature, remove it from the pot and pat dry with a towel.
Place the sealed bag into your sous vide cooker until it reaches the same precise temperatures as what you just pulled out of boiling water.
Step 4: For best results, do a quick sear on your meat or vegetables in a skillet before serving to crisp up their surfaces and lock in their juices. Enjoy!
When should I use sous vide cooking technique, and when should I not use it?
The best way to decide when to use sous vide is by considering the following factors:
- The type of food you are cooking.
- What degree of doneness would you like the food?
- The texture of the food that you want.
- The desired cooking time.
The type of food you are cooking
Many foods work well with the sous vide methods, such as vegetables, fruit, meat, fish, and eggs. These are some of the most basic types of food that you can cook in sous vide water to perfection!
It is important to note that you cannot cook certain ingredients by sous vide due to their structure or density (for example, pasta). If you add these ingredients to the water, they will not cook properly.
What degree of doneness would you like the food?
Sous vide lets you cook your food to a specific degree of doneness rather than leaving it in the heat for too long and becoming dry or overcooked.
For example, cooking salmon to be medium rare is very difficult when using traditional methods.
Salmon can quickly become overcooked because it cooks at such a high temperature that it turns dry speedily and loses its texture.
Sous vide cooking does not have this problem because you can set an exact degree of doneness (55 degrees) and let it cook slowly without allowing the temperature to rise above this point.
The texture of the food that you want
As mentioned before, fish becomes dry much easier in traditional cooking methods if cooked too long or too high. Sous vide cooking helps to avoid this problem by allowing the fish to cook slowly and naturally.
The texture becomes smoother and tenderer than traditional methods because you cooked it in its juices rather than exposed to dry heat for too long!
The desired cooking time
Sous vide cooking allows you to plan for your meals, especially in busy households or professional kitchens where timing is crucial!
Allowing food to sit in a water at a constant (and low) temperature until it’s ready will enable you to cut out any guesswork that comes from traditional cooking method.
You can set up your ingredients beforehand and let them cook while you manage more important things like preparing the rest of your meal.
This leaves less room for error and allows you to serve the best dish possible!
When should I NOT use sous vide?
Sous vide cooking is not suitable for all types of food or ingredients.
You should consider this method when cooking meat, fish, vegetables, and fruit but not when cooking pasta, rice starch-based foods (such as potatoes), or any other type of starch.
Also, note that it is easier to overcook some ingredients using this cooking method because they can become dry if cooked for too long at too high a temperature in the water bath.
It is advisable to research certain ingredients before attempting to cook them using the sous vide technique.
