Under Pressure: Cooking Sous Vide

I've been very excited about the possibilities of sous vide cookery. For those who don't know, sous vide involves vacuum-packing (and sealing) raw food and cooking it in a controlled, low-temperature water bath. The idea is that the food maintains its shape and appearance while becoming equally cooked throughout. For example, if you cook a steak sous vide to a particular temperature, it will be exactly that temperature throughout - not rarer in the center and more well-done on the outside. The technique it great for anything that you want to be cooked to a precise temperature, which can be particularly useful when dealing with proteins. It is also, apparently, remarkably good with vegetables.

Think of sous vide as having all the benefits of braising (tenderizing, flavor-enriching) without the drawbacks (food that falls apart, loss of natural liquids, overcooking).

Why don't we see sous vide being used more often? It is used in some high-end restaurants, but the immersion circulators that are available are pieces of lab equipment which often sell for over $1,000 - out of the price range of most home cooks.

Angela picked me up a copy of Thomas Keller's book Under Pressure for my birthday. This is the definitive book on sous vide, and it does include some suggestions for using the technique at home. For instance, it can put your FoodSaver vacuum sealerto work for you.

Since the book came out, though, there have been some advances in sous vide for the home cook. SousVideMagic lets you plug a simple rice cooker or crock pot into a temperature controller, turning it into a sous vide water chamber. The controller has a temperature probe, and it simply shuts off power to the device when it gets too hot and turns it on when it gets too cool. The controller runs for about $150. Even newer is Sous Vide Supreme, an all in one unit that costs $400.

Still, sous vide is a great opportunity for hackery. All you need is a water bath in which you can maintain a constant, controlled temperature. For this you need some sort of container (pot? crockpot? bathtub?), a temperature probe, and a means of control (often involving water circulation to ensure equal heating - a simple aquarium pump should work). Putting these things together can't be that hard, can it?