Sous Vide Cooking Tips- Prepare Meat & Vegetables More Gently

Cooking sous vide is trendy! The gentle cooking method makes even simple dishes a culinary experience, as it preserves all nutrients and aromas. Here, you can learn more about vacuum cooking.

Sous Vide: What does that mean?

Sous vide is a very popular cooking method for meat, fish and vegetables. The term comes from the French and can be translated loosely “under vacuum.”

Cooking sous vide you place the ingredients in a vacuum-sealed plastic bag, Afterward, you cook the dish for a long time at a low temperature in a water bath.

Although it was invented as early as the 1970s, it only gained fame with top and amateur chefs much later.

 

This is mainly due to the fact that you need special tools such as a vacuum sealer for sous vide cooking.

For a long time, it was very difficult to obtain such devices. Therefore, solely the food industry used sous vide cookers for ready meals.

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Benefits of Sous Vide Cooking

The sous vide cooking is very gentle. The ingredients will not dry out and retain their color, flavor, nutrients and vitamins.

Meat from the sous-vide device becomes particularly juicy and tender and spices unfold its flavor to the fullest.

It is a fat-free preparation and, therefore, ideal for a healthy diet. You can cook each ingredient to perfection. Pre-cooking is also a beneficial option, as it takes on the kitchen stress of the holiday seasons.

Sous Vide Cooking: That’s how it works

Admittedly, the sous vide may be a bit cumbersome at the beginning and needs some special equipment. Once you have everything available, however, this cooking method is quite simple.

For Sous Vide Cooking you need: 

Heat-Resistant Plastic Bags or Vacuum Bags

A Sous Vide Cooker, A Sous Vide Cooking Stick Important Note!

Be sure to obtain food-grade plastic bags without plasticizers or other harmful substances. These could otherwise end up in your food during the cooking process.

A constant temperature is essential for sous vide cooking, and sous vide cookers are closed water baths that provide just that.

You can set the desired temperature using the control buttons, which are usually located on a display field. Some sous vide devices can be quite pricey, however, they do a fantastic job.

Cheaper and ideal for beginners is an immersion circulator (Sous Vide Stick). You can attach this item to any vessel, and it heats the water to the desired temperature.

A small disadvantage is that the thermostat does not allow you to place a lid on the chosen cooking pot. Due to the heat loss, the temperature information is, therefore, not quite as accurate as with a sous vide device.

Vacuum Cooking – Step-By-Step Instructions

First, prepare your ingredients. You can easily season your meat, fish and vegetables with a few desired herbs or a marinade in the plastic bag.

Make sure to leave at least 3 inches of space toward the opening of the bag, so you can weld all ingredients well.

Now insert the open ends of the bag into the slot of the vacuum sealer. This deprives the bag off the air before it begins with the welding process.

Heat the water bath and enter the desired cooking time and temperature. Then you can submerge the bag. After the sous vide cooking, you either see the food immediately or you can sauté it briefly to your liking.

Tip

You can, furthermore, process the vacuum-cooked meat and vegetables on a  different day. To do this, place the food with the still-sealed bag immediately after cooking in an ice-water bath.

Then, you can freeze it. This way, you have ready cooked meat and vegetables on days when you have limited time, thus, you can still prepare sous vide cooked meals.

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Sous vide tips and tricks for beginners

In sous vide cooking or vacuum cooking, the ingredients are cooked in a vacuum bag at low temperatures. The flavors are particularly well preserved and the ingredients can be cooked to perfection using a sous vide cooker or stick.

Before you start, you should look at the following sous vide tips and tricks!

Sous vide Tip # 1: Find out about the cooking times

Check out my sous vide cooking time table in advance (at the end of the article)! No matter what you want to cook with your sous vide cooker, everything depends on the right water temperature and the correct cooking time. My cooking times table helps you to avoid such a mistake. Be it beef, pork, lamb, fish, vegetables, …I’ve got you covered.

Sous vide Tip # 2: Do not put the meat in the water too early!

Most sous vide cookers, such as the Wancle Sous Vide Stick, have a display of the water temperature. With that, you can easily see if the water has already reached the desired temperature.

Only put in the food when the water reaches that precise temperature. It should never stay in the water longer than necessary. This will avoid a loss of quality and nutrients of the meat and vegetables.

Sous vide Tip # 3: Do not be greedy with the water!

There obviously must be enough water for the method of sous vide cooking to work. Many sous vide cookers have a minimum water level installed, but this is more for safety.

When cooking, make sure to use enough water.

If you use a sous vide water bath cooker, it is important to pay attention before you buy. If you know that you usually want to prepare larger quantities, the pool should be bigger.

You are more flexible in this regard when utilizing a sous vide stick, you are more flexible in this regard. These immersion circulators are easy to hang in any pot. The size can vary and is not so much limited in volume.

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Sous vide Tip # 4: Circulation pump

Tip number 4 of my Sous Vide cooking tips and tricks for beginners is the use of a sous vide cooker with circulation pump. The Wangle Sous Vide Stick, for instance, comes with such a circulation pump.

The circulating pump ensures an even rotation of the water and, thus, the temperature remains constant throughout the water basin. However, the circulating pump causes some noise.

If you do not use a circulating pump, you should pay even more attention to using enough water when cooking.

Sous vide Tip # 5: Start slowly

Less is sometimes more. It is especially important to get to know one another. Start with small amounts in a lot of water. This makes it easier to achieve good results. Get a grip on different foods and get a feel for it. Practice creates masters.

Bonus Tip: With a bad sous vide cooker, you will not get great results.

It’s just like that. If the sous vide cooker cannot keep the temperature accurately, your food will suffer. Just a few changes in the  Fahrenheit degree range make a lot of sous vide cooking differences. Therefore, make sure to check the quality carefully before purchasing.

Sous Vide Cookers and Sous Vide Stick Recommendation

Let’s take a look at the Sous Vide Cooking Charts

Sous Vide Cooking Times At A Glance

In order to facilitate the entry into the sous vide cooking art, there are so-called sous vide cooking times-tables. These give a rough guide to water temperature and time. You have to choose the other factors yourself. Here is an overview:

For meat, the sous vide cooking method is of course particularly good, as the food doesn’t lose flavors or its juice during the cooking process. Thus, the spices can develop the aroma much better, penetrate deeper into the meat and make it extremely savory.

Thickness Minimum/Cooking Time

0.4 inches/20 minutes

0.9 inches/60 minutes

1.1 inches/100 minutes

1.5 inches/150 minutes

2.0 inches/200 minutes

2.4 inches/250 minutes

Cooking Degree    &   Water Temperature 

Beef

Steak (Rib Eye, New York Strip, Sirloin)

Rare (juicy red)            54 Celsius/129 Fahrenheit

Medium                        58 Celsius/136 Fahrenheit                       

Well-done                     68 Celsius/154 Fahrenheit

Roast

Rare                               56 Celsius/133 Fahrenheit

Medium                         60 Celsius/140 Fahrenheit

Well-done                      70 Celsius/158 Fahrenheit

Tough Cuts

Rare                               55 Celsius/131 Fahrenheit

Medium                         65 Celsius/149 Fahrenheit

Well-done                      85 Celsius/185 Fahrenheit

Pork

Chops

Rare                               58 Celsius/136 Fahrenheit

Medium                         62 Celsius/144 Fahreneit 

Well-done                      70 Celsius/158 Fahrenheit

Roast

Rare                                58 Celsius/136 Fahrenheit

Medium                          62 Celsius/144 Fahrenheit

Well-done                       70 Celsius/158 Fahrenheit

Tough Cuts

Rare                                 60 Celsius/140 Fahrenheit

Medium                           68 Celsius/154 Fahrenheit

Well-done                        85 Celsius/185 Fahrenheit

Chicken

Light Meat                       

Very-Supple                     60 Celsius/140 Fahrenheit   

Juicy & Tender                 65 Celsius/149 Fahrenheit

Well-done                         75 Celsius/167 Fahrenheit

Dark Meat

Tender                               65 Celsius/149 Fahrenheit

Falling Off Bone               75 Celsius/167 Fahrenheit

Fish                                                                             

Tender                               40 Celsius/104 Fahrenheit 

Tender/Flaky                     50 Celsius/122 Fahrenheit

Well-done                          55 Celsius/131 Fahrenheit

Vegetables

Green Vegetables               82 Celsius/180 Fahrenheit

Winter Veggies/Squash      85 Celsius/185 Fahrenheit

Potatoes/Root Veggies       85 Celsius/185 Fahrenheit

Fruits

Warm&Ripe                       68 Celsius/154 Fahrenheit     

For Purees, etc.                  85 Celsius/185 Fahrenheit

Sous Vide Cooking Tips – Conclusion

Finally, all you have to do is try it out! Cooking sous vide is a pure exercise routine. Stick to my tips, start slowly and pick a device that suits you and does its advertised job.

There are plenty of benefits with sous vide cooking. Everyone loves savory, succulent, tongue-melting and wholesome and nutrient-rich food. So do you, plus, you and your loved ones deserve it.

Have you or someone you know already tried sous vide? If so, what was your experience with it, and how did you like the taste?

I truly hope my sous vide cooking tips are helpful to you. In case you try them, feel free to leave a comment below and share your story with us. You know that we’re always happy to hear from you.

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In the meantime, I’m sending you lots of love, light, happiness and an abundance of all good things. Remember that you are beautiful, precious, unique and endlessly loved regardless of what others might say. Thus, keep on shining.

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