Sarah Spencer - Sous Vide Cookbook: Preparing Restaurant-Quality Meals with Easy Delicious Sous Vide Recipes

Sous vide literally means under vacuum, and the method of cooking involves putting pretty much anything in a vacuum-sealed bag or a sealed mason jar, then placing it in a water bath to cook at low temperature for a longer time than usual. Because the bag is sealed, all of the flavors of whatever you are cooking are retained, and any marinade or sauce you add infuses its flavor throughout. Another advantage of sous vide cooking is that the temperature cant get any hotter than you have programmed. The food cooks evenly throughout, and you cant burn it! It can take a while to cook sous vide recipesas much as 36 to 72 hoursbut the end results are totally worth the wait.

Meat, vegetables, eggs and even desserts can be cooked using this method. Some of the recipes here will get you started on a wonderful meal by providing delicious ways to cook your proteins, and others make an entire meal or dessert all at once. You will need either vacuum seal bags or strong Ziploc bags that will seal completely. Small canning jars are also handy for making desserts; just make sure when sealing them to only finger-tighten the lids so that the air bubbles will have an escape route. Most recipes require that you seal the bag using the immersion method. This means that you place your bag of ingredients slowly into the water and seal it at the last second before submerging it. This removes the majority of the air. You can even use a straw to suck out the remaining air before you seal. Just make sure you seal the bag before you get any water in it.

Equipment and tools you need to sous vide like a pro would include:

• A sous vide cooker,
• A vacuum seal or resealable heat-proof bags,
• A deep container to use for the water bath such as a deep pot, a plastic container or even an everyday beer cooler.
• Sous vide balls or clips are also used to ensure that your sealed bags stay submerged and the balls will help retain an even temperature.
• Pans or skillet to caramelize the food when needed. A cast iron would be perfect for this. When possible, a barbecue grill to add char marks to food could also be used. A kitchen butane or propane torch can also work nicely if you have one.

Here is a basic list of cooking times and temperatures for various foods (all temperatures are in F):

1. Beef
   1. Steak: 129 degrees for 1 to 2 hours for Medium Rare
   2. Roast: 140 degrees for 6 hours

1. Pork Chops: 144 degrees for 1 to 3 hours

1. Chicken :
   1. Light Meat tender and juicy: 149 degrees for 1 to 3 hours
   2. Dark Meat tender and juicy: 167 degrees from 1 to 5 hours
2. Fish , tender and flaky: 122 degrees from 45 minutes to 70 minutes

1. Eggs , poached 147 for 1 hour to 1.5 hours

1. Green Vegetables , tender: 180 degrees for 10 minutes

1. Potatoes , whole, tender: 185 degrees from 1.5 to 3 hours.

Sous vide cooking uses precise temperature control with circulation to consistently prepare moist, juicy and tender food. Because sous vide cooking doesnt require constant monitoring, it frees you up to take care of other important things you may have on your plate. It also doesnt require the oven so it can be used to prepare other things you may need for your meal or to keep your kitchen from getting overly hot, especially if you are cooking for a crowd.