Our Secret to Sumptuous Meat: Sous Vide Cooking

Cooking in a Vacuum at a Constant Low Temperature Gives Consistent Results

Although a cooking process that has been used for decades, sous vide has really only made into the American restaurant kitchen in the last ten years. The problem is, it really requires specialized equipment to do it, and up until recently, this equipment was difficult to procure. Nowadays, not only is the equipment readily available for restaurants, but the home version of these items is hitting the shelves of home kitchen equipment purveyors all over the country.

For Vernona, we use two commercial pieces of equipment for cooking sous vide. The first is a PolyScience thermal circulator, once used only in science labs. The advantage of this piece of equipment is that it can maintain the temperature of a water bath at a constant temperature (within +/- .5°C) for an indefinite period of time. The advantage of this is quite simply control. It allows the cook to control the final cooked product with a degree of exactness never before available.

The second piece of equipment is a Technovac vacuum sealing machine, used for sealing food before sous vide cooking. A home version of this will work, such as a Food Saver, as long as the product is sealed completely so that the cooking process in anaerobic.

The process is actually relatively simple, and the end results are fantastic and relatively easy to achieve.

First, you will need to seal the food with whatever ingredients that you want to flavor your final product with. Typically we use simple ingredients, such as organic olive oil and sea salt (our olive oil poached beef tenderloin), but often more complex ingredient combinations can yield exciting new dishes.
Second, you will need to set the regulator temperature at the desired end temperature for your desired product. For example, if you want medium rare beef, you would set the temperature at around 135°F and place the bag in the water. The beauty of sous vide cooking, amongst many things, is that the product will never cook past the temperature – meaning it will never overcook. If the finished temperature is above 140°, then the product will hold indefinitely (we cook shortribs for as long as 48 hours in this manner). However, with research and experience, you will find what times and temperatures work the best with each food. Also, always remember to study on the food safety regarding sous vide cooking, as there are food storage and cooling guidelines associated with this process that can ensure your personal food safety.