What is the Best Food to Sous Vide

Even though many have not heard about it, cooking foods using the sous vide method is becoming quite popular.

If you haven’t yet discovered this wonderful way to cook, it may be time to learn more about it. You will probably find a lot of recipes online for sous vide cooking.

Perhaps you have done a little bit of experimenting already and now you are wondering which are the absolute best foods to sous vide.

The best food to sous vide is steak, hands down. But other foods like fresh fish and roast are great alternatives too.

If you are willing to give some new foods a try, you may find that there are a lot of different foods suitable for sous vide.

Be aware that there are also a few foods that should never be cooked using this method.

What is Sous Vide?

Specialty chefs have used the sous vide cooking method for many years. But now thanks to the instant pot ultra and other modern cooking tools, you can use this cooking technique to create delicious meals for your family.

Until a few years ago, only high-end restaurants used sous vide to cook foods to the perfect amount of doneness every single time. It turns out, though, that it’s relatively easy to do the same in your own kitchen.

Sous Vide is a French term that means “under vacuum.” The process involves sealing foods in a bag and cooking at a precise temperature using the water bath method.

The cooking method will produce results that you cannot get through any other cooking technique.

Why should I cook Sous Vide?

Temperature control and circulation of the water bath with an immersion circulator are the secrets to producing the results you want from sous vide.

Other methods produce foods that are overcooked on the outside but undercooked on the inside. When food is overcooked, it can become dry and chewy.

Even tender foods like chicken breasts can become dry when overcooked. But sous vide chicken breasts, steaks, pulled pork, and other cuts of meat turn out perfectly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The precise temperature control of sous vide cooking provides you with these benefits:

Consistency – You will get the expected results every time because food is cooked to a precise temperature for a specified amount of time.

Taste – Since food is cooked in its own juices, it turns out moist, tender, and juicy.

Flexibility – Traditional cooking methods require your constant attention. Since sous vide cooking brings food to a specific temperature and holds it, you don’t have to watch it constantly to prevent overcooking.

Waste reduction – When your foods turn out too dry, they can end up wasted. A steak that is cooked using traditional methods will lose as much as 40% of its original volume because it dries out.

When a steak is cooked sous vide, it loses zero volume.

What are the best five foods to cook sous vide?

Although steak is by far the best food to sous vide, there are several foods that are delicious made this way. Here are five foods that are great for sous vide cooking.

Tougher Cuts of Meat

It’s important to note that tougher or cheaper cuts of meat are not necessarily the worse ones. Cheaper meats like chicken thighs, leg, or neck or less desirable even though they are affordable.

They are often tough because of the muscles. But these protein strands can also be tasty if you can find the right way to cook them.

Using the sous vide process breaks down these tougher strands of protein and provides an extremely tender cut made from the cuts of meat most would discard.

Even pulled pork or pork chops can become like a juicy tender steak when cooked using sous vide.

Eggs (Eggs?)

Eggs are a popular food to cook sous vide for a few reasons. The primary reason it is a desirable cooking method is the texture of the eggs.

Since you precisely control the cooking variants, you get the exact consistency of the eggs you want. You just need to know what temperature to cook them at and for how long to get the desired consistency.

You’ll be able to cook poached eggs to the perfect consistency every single time.

The other reason eggs are a popular sous vide choice is how easy it is to do. Since eggs are already contained in their shells, you don’t have to use a vacuum sealer to vacuum pack them.

Cuts of Pork

Pork can get a bad rap for being a super dry, bland meat. The problem isn’t the meat, it’s the cooking method. Conventional cooking methods cause the pork to lose a lot of juices and fats.

Sous vide cooking helps the meat retain fats and juices, so you get a flavorful piece of meat every single time whether you prefer your pork well done or medium rare.

Lamb

Lamb is another type of meat that can be very difficult to get just right. Many cooks end up overcooking it and wind up with a chewy, tough result.

Others overcompensate when trying to prevent overcooking and end up with undercooked results. That’s what makes lamb perfect for sous vide.

You get to remove the guesswork, so you end up with a flavorful, succulent cut of meat without having to stand over it constantly while it’s being cooked.

Carrots and Other Veggies Too

Veggies are a great choice for sous vide cooking. It keeps them firm and crisp. You can get the perfect texture every time.

Add in a few herbs and some duck fat and you can take your carrots to the next level. If you’d like, you can brown the carrots once they are done cooking. This will caramelize their natural sugars.

In Conclusion

There are lots of foods that are better when cooked sous vide. Even though sous vide steaks are at the top of the list of the absolute best food to sous vide, you may find you have a few other favorites.

The method is tried and true and works every time. Why not get cooking tonight? You may discover a new favorite sous vide recipes you and your family will devour.