With the increasing popularity of cooking shows on television, many home chefs are exploring new possibilities and experimenting with different cuisines, ingredients and cooking techniques in the kitchen. One of these is sous-vide
What is sous-vide?
Sous-vide has only recently become popular with home cooks, but the technique has been used by professional chefs for decades to achieve mouth-watering dishes cooked to perfection. The term ‘Sous-vide’ is French, and translates to ‘under vacuum’. It refers to the process of vacuum sealing food and cooking it in a water bath.
Cooking in this way usually involves immersing the food for a longer amount of time at a lower temperature, usually between 40 and 100°C. Unlike boiling food in a bag, where the water is brought to temperature before the food is added, sous-vide cooks food gently, at a temperature matching the food’s ideal internal temperature. This allows the cook to bring the ingredients to a precisely controlled temperature, without overcooking.
Sous-vide is an extremely simple and versatile method of cooking, and it brings with it a whole host of benefits to the chef.
By vacuum sealing the ingredients of the dish, all the flavour, aroma and original integrity of the food remain closer to their original state. This results in tender protein dishes and fresh, crunchy vegetables.
Using a low temperature and vacuum sealed bag means that nutrients don’t get lost during the cooking process. It also uses water instead of oil and little, if any, added salt or fat.
Conventional cooking methods often require the chef to pay great attention to the food, in order to ensure it is not over or undercooked. Cooking sous-vide uses extremely precise temperature control, meaning that a consistent outcome can be achieved over and over again – and the chef can focus on other parts of the meal instead.
Because of its consistency, it is easy to manage any number of portions cooking at the same time, while knowing that each will turn out perfectly. This makes it a great choice when cooking for a significant number of people.
Try it at Home
Traditionally, sous-vide involved vacuum sealing food and placing this pack in a water bath. However, modern kitchen appliances have now made it even easier to adapt this method at home.
Chef and ASKO advocate, Paul Mounsey, says: “Sous-vide is all about precise low temperatures and the use of a steam oven can replicate the more traditional sous-vide cooking method of a water bath. Ideal foods for vacuum sealing and cooking with the sous-vide method are proteins like beef, lamb, pork and poultry, as well as seafood, and root vegetables are also excellent. Green vegetables can be cooked sous-vide, however, results vary.”
Vacuum sealing food can be as simple as using a zip lock bag, but for the ultimate sous-vide cooking experience, Paul suggests trying the new Elements by ASKO vacuum drawer. Designed to introduce advanced cooking in your own home, the drawer can be used to vacuum seal food for sous-vide, as well as for storing, packing or portioning food.
ASKO Vacuum Drawer
The vacuum drawer is available as a 14cm high drawer co-designed and prepared for installation together with both the 45cm and 60cm combi steamer ovens in the Elements by ASKO range.
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