Even if you have never heard of sous vide cooking before, chances are high that you have experienced food prepared this way.
It may surprise you to learn that increasing numbers of restaurants are turning to sous vide. Why? Cooking using the sous vide method allows for more tender, and so many say, tastier steaks. That’s not all, cooking this way allows for easier and faster cooking for a myriad other foods. (Click here to read about which pet food delivery services also using sous vide.)
You can even find sous vide appliances for your own home or can experience this cooking phenomenon by subscribing to certain ready to eat prepared meals, but more on that in a bit. By learning more about sous vide, you can learn whether it could be right for you.
What Is Sous Vide?
As you can probably tell by the name, sous vide cooking originated in France, and it refers to cooking under a vacuum, which is the literal meaning of its name. There are three main parts of this cooking style that set it apart from traditional cooking methods. These include the following:
Sous vide originated in the 1970s from chef Georges Pralus, although it traces its roots to nearly 200 years prior.
Today, it is used in many gourmet restaurants and even in kitchens cooking for evacuees where food must be kept fresh and safe in inhospitable environments.
In sous vide cooking, food is placed inside a vacuum-sealed bag, which is cooked in a low-temperature water bath.
What Are the Benefits of Sous Vide Cooking?
The biggest benefit of choosing sous vide-prepared meals is that you never have to worry about overcooking food.
Your food will be tender and perfectly cooked every time because the water bath helps foods cook evenly. Even the most expensive cuts of meat will turn out perfectly, and you will not have to worry about food waste.
Of course, sous vide can be used on much more than just steak. It is also incredible for chicken breasts and pork, which traditionally are known for being dry but with sous vide, are rendered moist and tender. It can also be used for seafood, eggs, vegetables and more.
Other benefits of sous vide-prepared meals include the following:
Are There Downsides to Sous Vide Cooking?
As with nearly everything in life, there is always a disadvantage or two to anything that seems incredibly perfect.
While foods are thoroughly cooked with sous vide, they often must still be finished in a pan. According to Bruno Goussault, a food scientist, searing meats in a pan after sous vide cooking not only gives them the correct coloring but also gives them the right flavors and structures. Of course, these problems are avoided when you choose a sous vide meal preparation service that does this extra work for you.
Does Sous Vide Affect the Safety of Foods?
The biggest question in your mind may be how safe sous vide meals are. After all, you may have gone out of your way to remove plastics from your kitchen and may wonder how safe it could possibly be to eat foods that have been wrapped in plastic and cooked in hot water.
Thankfully, food-grade plastics have become safer than ever. If cooking on your own, be sure to look for food-grade, heat-resistant plastics with low gas permeability, according to Douglas Baldwin who wrote Sous Vide for the Home Cook. In addition, foods should always be prepared in very clean environments to protect against food poisoning from bacteria that can grow rapidly in vacuums.
Prepared Meal Delivery Services with Sous Vide Foods
Sous vide cooking is often used today by prepared meal delivery companies. These companies send you fresh foods that have already been cooked but that are safe and retain their nutritional qualities.
All you have to do is heat them quickly in your kitchen to get photo-ready, delicious, nutritious meals on your table.
Babeth’s Feast is one excellent example of this. Read our Babeth’s Feast review and get the deets on how this company focuses on using real foods prepared under the direction of top chefs. They finish and flash-freeze the foods to preserve freshness. This lets you enjoy preservative-free foods, including meats, vegetables and more. All you have to do is reheat your meal in warm water.
However, our favorite prepared meal delivery services that offers delicious meals which utilize sous vide cooking is Home Bistro. To get all the details about this service, read our Home Bistro review.
Finding healthy food for yourself may not require you to look any further than sous vide-prepared meal delivery, which is the perfect option if you struggle to find the time to cook unprocessed foods for yourself.
Plus, this style of cooking may actually give you better nutrition than you would have thought possible, help you enjoy more tender cuts of meat and give you better flavor profiles across all your meals!
