The Sous Vide Movement

September 1, 2010 by Kenmore

Simply put, sous vide is a cooking method where food is placed in a vacuum-sealed plastic bag and cooked in warm water over a long period. It results in an even texture and doneness you just can’t get from any other method.

Start your sous vide experience by cooking a simple egg. You’ll discover a custard-y texture that is life changing!

(By the way, an egg is the perfect base for an exotic flavored salt. Depending on where it’s harvested, salt may be gray, red, pink or white. There’s Himalayan salt, Hawaiian sea salt, salt flavored with truffles or infused with lemon. Experiment and find new flavors!)

Great Reasons To Try Cooking Sous Vide:

  • You can easily try it at home with basic equipment.
  • The beauty of it is that it’s all done on the burner – no mess!
  • It’s nutritious and healthy, since no nutrients are lost in the cooking water.

Although there is fancy sous vide equipment on the market, you can use a vacuum food sealer and the simmer burner on your stovetop, along with a digital thermometer.

Some foods work well with this method and some don’t. You’ll want to avoid fresh garlic and use garlic powder instead. Salmon cooked sous vide for 20-30 minutes is good, but cooking olive oil for extended periods isn’t, so use canola or grape seed oil instead. Try steak, fish, chicken, eggs and veggies. Oh, and try tarragon with your eggs – it’s a wonderful flavor pairing.

Here are two simple sous vide recipes for you to try.

Method One: Sous Vide Eggs With Tarragon

1. Prepare the egg

2. Cook slowly at low heat

3. Carefully unwrap and serve.

  • Plastic wrap
  • 1 Tablespoon melted butter or olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon chopped tarragon (or your favorite herb)
  • Pinch kosher salt
  • Pinch ground black pepper
  • 2 eggs
  • Kitchen twine
  • Buttered toast

Egg Preparation: Put a 10×10 piece of plastic wrap on a work surface. Brush a 4-inch circle in the center of the plastic with butter or oil. Transfer to a small bowl so that the plastic touches the bottom of the bowl and the remainder of the plastic hangs over the rim.

Sprinkle tarragon, salt and pepper into the plastic-lined bowl, then crack an egg into the bowl. Squeeze out air and tie tightly with twine. Repeat with the second egg.

Cook Egg: Fill a small saucepan with water. Using a thermometer to monitor, heat the water to 148ºF. Immerse the egg parcel in the water and cook for 55 minutes at 148ºF. If the water gets too hot, add a few ice cubes.

Serve: Remove from heat, unwrap carefully and serve on buttered toast.

Ease of preparation: easy to medium
Prep time vs. make time: Prep time: 5 minutes. Cook time: about 55 minutes total.
Estimated cost: $3 total

Method Two: Sous Vide Egg

A whole egg in a sous vide bath

1 egg
Vacuum sealable bag

Egg Preparation: Seal a whole egg (in the shell) in a vacuum-sealed bag, pumping out the air and sealing shut.

Cook Egg: Fill a small saucepan with water. Using a thermometer to monitor, heat the water to 148ºF. Immerse the egg parcel in the water and cook for 1 hour at 148ºF. If the water gets too hot, add a few ice cubes.

Serve: Remove from heat and open the vacuum-sealed bag carefully so that you don’t burn yourself. Immerse the egg, in its shell, in cold water to cool off for 5 minutes. Peel away the eggshell and carefully scoop out the egg. Serve on toast or in a salad.

Ease of preparation: easy to medium
Prep time vs. make time: Prep time: 5 minutes. Cook time: about 60 minutes total.
Estimated cost: .25 cents total

Kenmore recommends…

Use the Kenmore Select Seal-N-Save when you cook with the sous vide method. It vacuum-seals, protects against freezer burn and can even be used to seal important papers!

For faster heating, precise control and energy savings, induction cooktops are tops! Electromagnetic energy heats the pan, not the cooktop, so less energy is used and your kitchen stays cooler.

Kenmore

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