Sous Vied (cryovac cooking)?

Hello,

My name is Chris, and I am a culinary instructor in Evanston, Il and I am currently writing an article on Sous Vied cooking (also known as cryovac cooking). I would really appreciate hearing other chefs experiences using this cooking technique, specifically have you ever used it, do you still use it, techniques or tips you have found useful with Sous Vied cooking. As well please relay your comments on why you do not like it. Examples of where you have used this technique and why would also be very informative.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

[Isa]

Chef Chris,

Thought I'd help you with your French, the term is sous vide.

[nancya]

But what on earth does it mean?

[Anneke]

Vide means 'empty' or 'vacuum'. It means vacuum-packed.

[isaac]

can someone please explain to me what the heck it is?

[Greg]

Marriot hotels used to (and possibly still does) use sous vide sauces. Their sauces were packaged in individual serving cryo-vac packages. They had a piece of equipment not unlike a pasta cooker (basically like a fryer, but filled with water and running at a lower temperature). When an order came in requiring a certain sauce, you would grab one of the packages and drop it into the water to re-heat, then open it and serve. This is one application of sous vide cooking; there are others, such as soups and vegetables.

We currently are using sous vide soups at work; we just opened and are short-staffed, so it's a great time saver. I'm not at all impressed with the product, however. One thing that is important is to have the MOP for re-heating on the package. One of the cooks came and asked to borrow my temperature probe (I didn't know what for, at the time) to check if the sous vide soup had reached 165 F. Fortunately, it had, because to check the temp he had put a hole in the bag, thus making any further cooking a royal pain.

[ June 13, 2001: Message edited by: Greg ]

[Nicko]

The one and only time I used Sous Viede was in France where we prepared a Foie gras Terrine this way. Basically we marinated the Lobe of Foie Gras in Sautern, seasoned it with salt and pepper and then place ground pistachios on the lobes. The lobes were put together and then place in a kryova bag. After sealing the foie gras we placed the bag in a pot of simmering water and let it cook for several minutes. As soon as the foie gras was done it was chilled.

Typically we sliced it and served it with toasted brioche, sliced pears, and mache.

[bouland]

My only experience with this type of cooking is in the restaurants I worked in in France. We did bother terrines and loose lobes of foie gras this way. The foie gras gave off substantially less fat than when cooked in the traditional way.

Frog legs were paritally cooked in this manner. We'd usually cook a thousand or so pairs spearated into upper and lower legs with some seasoning. When some were required for the finished dish, we'd empty a bag, bone the legs, and use them in the final preparation.

Jaret de veau were usually partially cooked in these bags. When an order came in for a jaret, a bag was openned and the leg was roasted in a hot oven to finish the cooking.

We also used the vacuum bags for portion control since we didn't have a good idea in advance how much of an item we would need for dinner service.

[Jim]

I often come across confit preparations a la sous vide. I think they lend themselves well to being cooked and sealed directly in their reheating medium. Specifically, duck leg/thigh confit comes to mind.
Perhaps if there is somebody from one of the 'formula' restaurants out there, they could chime in. From what I hear, Bennigan's and the like often rely on SV preparations because they ensure consistency between units.

[chefjohnpaul]

I used sous vide to some extent when I was at the Hyatt. We didn't package our own sous vide, we purchased it from Cuisine Solutions, and the product was quite acceptable for what it was. The shelf life was terrific in the sealed packages, I believe something close to a month unopened under refridgeration. Things like confit with a bit of fat and thoroughly cooked, I think would benefit greatly from this method as well as the portion control that really helps on the waste.

[Txacoli]

At this year's Masters of Food and Wine, the chef from Clio in Boston....I think! did a sous vide dish. He marinated chicken breasts in butter milk overnight, and then just dropped the packages in the circulating bain marie. If you go by how many of the leftovers were scarfed by all the different chefs from all over....it was one of the more successful. How to to tell if they are done? Practice, practice, practice!

[Mezzaluna]

I believe Grant Achatz (Alinea in Chicago) is using this technique. Is it true my own FoodSaver from Sam's Club could be used for this method?

[Mikeb]

I'm not a chef (yet), however I have worked in several restaurants that employed this method, and have employed it myself on many occasions.

We used it to cook fois gras torchons, we'd cook veggies in bags with a tiny bit of liquid then purée them, cooked poussin with herbs and butter, cooked sausages and fish in them, many other things. They're also very handy for reheating ingredients for service - warming up a leg of duck confit before searing the outside, reheating soups, stews and sauces, anything else that you want to reheat without drying too much, or something you want to poach without losing any flavour...

Apart from cooking, a sous vide machine (vacuum packer) is very useful for marinating foods, and every professional kitchen should have one for sealing and storing meats, soups, and other things.

Although sous vide cooking produces very flavourful, moist food, the end product usually ends up lacking texture, so we'd often cook things 3/4s in the bag and then finish it in a pan or on the grill. I think it's one of many very useful cooking techniques.

[100folds]

I've used this method twice now. We seared the meat, packaged it with olive oil and accomping herbs then let it sit for a day in the cooler.
For service, we had a steam bath sitting at 57 - 58 C where we would warm the meat up in. When pick up time came, we dropped it in a hot pan and in the oven.
I have found two things about this method
1. The meat is juicy and moist, pretty good for the first 5 minutes. Then the juice comes out of the meat like someone punctured a water ballon. It ends up dry and flavorless.
2. Saves time on line but if you ask me its too much preparation for something that can take an extra 5 minutes per an order. If your are organized, then it's nothing. I prefer the old ways
The origin;
Sous vide originated in France. It was created to save the buisness, that sell their meat by the weight to customer, to save money. They would loose money on the juices that were lost when they cooked a raw steak to md or wd. So, to make sure they never lost that income they would sear the meat, toss it in a bag and weigh the whole bag, making sure all that was there in the beginning is in there at the end. I've read this in three different articles and it has been confirmed by both Chefs that I worked with that used this method.
Now the other discussion has been, does the plastic leak into the food? That one you will have to answer on your own.

[Chef_Bob]

Originally Posted by Mezzaluna

Is it true my own FoodSaver from Sam's Club could be used for this method?

Be careful using your food saver. There is a lot of disturbing info out there about heating plastics that come in contact with food. I am no expert by any means but I would check with the manufacturer of the bags before trying it (especially if serving to children or pregnant/nursing women). I believe there is a thread in here some place regarding heating plastic (see "say no to cooking in plastics"). If not your good friend google should help you out