My introduction to Sous Vide: First impressions

I might be late to this game, but I first heard of sous vide cooking method and sous vide machine only about a year ago. At that time it quickly made me curios but not enough yet to invest in the sous vide machine right away. Over time I came across more articles about sous vide cooking and met people who used or owned a sous vide machine. And eventually I decided that I'd get us one, I just needed an occasion for it.

What is Sous Vide?

Sous vide is a method of cooking in which food is placed in a vacuum plastic bag and is cooked in a water bath until it is properly and evenly cooked to perfect texture, with all moisture retained. This process takes quite a long time (up to a few hours) at precise temperatures that are lower than what we normally use for cooking (you can read more about sous vide method here). What you get at the end is consistent restaurant-quality results in terms of flavor and texture.

My first Sous Vide experiments

My husband knew about my interest in sous vide cooking and decided to surprise me by buying a sous vide machine for us (not for me but for us (!) as we all enjoy the results). I'll be honest. As much as I was thrilled about being a proud owner of the sous vide machine, it really got me intimidated at first. I curiously opened the box, looked at the machine, packaged it back and haven't touched it for 2 month. I had all the excuses for myself - travels, parents visiting, etc., but of course those were excuses. Then finally, after my husband commented not so jokingly that maybe he should return it or that there was probably already a newer version available, one Sunday I promised him and myself to use it. So I did! And it definitely got me hooked up!

So far I've used it 4 times (in 1 week!). I started with a couple of really simple items but also tried one more complicated recipe. The machine we have is Wi-Fi enabled and can be started from the phone, which is very convenient. It comes with an app, which provides a ton of useful tips and great recipes that I've been using.

I first cooked salmon, simply seasoned with salt, pepper, dried thyme and olive oil. It turned out so incredibly tender, not under or overcooked at all, just the way it should be! The app gives you all the tips to set a temperature based on how raw / moist / flaky / etc. you want your result to be. So you have a lot of freedom to choose your final results. I love fish and we eat fish quite often, mostly baked in the oven. While it turns out tasty most of the time, it is very inconsistent, with the thinner parts sometimes being overcooked or drier than desired, or the thickest part not cooked enough. The beauty of sous vide method is that it cooks the whole piece evenly, which is achieved by lower temperatures and longer cooking time.

Next, I made boneless chicken thighs, slightly marinated in salt, pepper, poultry seasoning mix and olive oil. Again, the result was as promised - super juicy, flavorful and perfectly cooked. One of the biggest differences for me besides texture is the abundance of flavor in the sous vide cooked food. As the food is cooked for a really long time, the flavor from all the spices, herbs and other aromatics really gets throughout the whole piece, as opposed to staying outside when quickly cooking on the pan, for example.

Third experiment was my masterpiece. And as I was scrolling through the app recipes I saw a recipe for a one-bag chicken curry. I love curries and I decided to make it on Saturday. Seriously, it was the most delicious curry I have ever made and potentially even have ever tried! It was a much more complex recipe, though, which required cooking the curry base before combining everything in the bag and then cooking it in the sous vide machine. But it was totally worth it! I will definitely save it as a weekend go-to recipe or the one to use when hosting guests.

And lastly I made basic sous vide scallops, just seasoned with salt, pepper and olive oil. And once again, they didn't disappoint. To be honest, although we love scallops, I never buy them because I can never cook them just right and then I feel like I'm wasting money and scallops. But now I am definitely going to buy them more.

What I love about Sous Vide method

Consistently perfect texture. All the meats, chicken and seafood that I've cooked so far turned out extremely tender, almost melting in your mouth, which I can hardly ever achieve otherwise.
Abundance of flavor. Even with the most basic aromatics, the meals turn out extremely flavorful. I've quickly learnt that I have to scale down the amount of salt and pepper I use because of how intense the flavor gets here. So when using very aromatic herbs or spices, you should be careful not to overdo it.
Technology, that provides the convenience of controlling your cooking process remotely. Also, it is convenient to have all the basic information, tips and recipes in one place in the app.

What I'm not so much in love with

Cooking time. Since cooking process can take up to several hours, you really need to plan ahead. For example, if you want your meal to be ready by the time you get back from work, you need to make sure you have everything ready and in the machine before you leave in the morning, so that you can start the process remotely.
Delayed timer functionality. It might be because I'm still a new user here, but I wasn't able to find a way to set the time by which I want the meal to be ready. Instead, I can only start the cooking process at any given time. Ideally, I'd like to be able to program my machine in the morning to have my meal ready at 5 pm and then not think about it anymore throughout the day. But now I have to remember to pick up my phone and start the cooking process at 4 pm if the meal requires 1 hr cooking time.
Finishing. While the food comes out of the sous vide machine perfectly ready to be consumed, it might require some finishing touches if you want to step up your presentation. For example, if you cook your steak in the sous vide machine, you'll get the perfect texture, but you won't get the crust. For that, you'll still need to put it on a hot pan or on the grill to make it more appealing presentation-wise. The same with chicken, fish, or any other piece of protein, if you want the crust on it. Most of the time those finishing touches really just take a minute, but it would be nice to have everything completely ready once the sous vide process is finished.

What's next?

So far, I feel like a child on a Christmas day who got the toy she really wanted. I'm normally very careful about buying new kitchen appliances as they take space and some of them are not frequently used. But I have no regrets with our sous vide machine purchase as I love how tasty, flavorful and tender the food comes out of it. The machine also doesn't take much space in the kitchen! And I love to see that my family is enjoying every meal cooked in it just as much as I do.

I also see it as a great step up in the game of hosting dinners. I absolutely love to have people around for dinner. But I'm always nervous about things coming out not the way I want them to be. That's why I often rely on my tested and trusted dishes when hosting guests. But now I can see myself making some meals that I won't serve otherwise, like steak, and feel much more secure about them because I trust the machine.

In the meantime I'm going to continue experimenting with sous vide technique and get a better feel for cooking times and temperatures so that I can eventually create my own recipes and delicious meals. Are there any sous vide experts or beginners among my readers? I would love to hear any tips, favorite meals to cook or things to be aware of.

If you are thinking of buying a sous vide machine, here is the link to the Anova Culinary Sous Vide Precision Cooker that we have.

DISCLAIMER:
This post is not sponsored by Anova Culinary Sous Vide Precision Cooker. All the views and opinions in the post are solely based on my own experience.