The Everything Guide to Cooking Sous Vide Read Free

ribs, and other cuts of meat need a longer cook time to break down the collagen and connective tissues. Sous vide can do this easily, and there are some incredible recipes that use these cuts of meat to create something absolutely delicious.
    There are even some recipes that cook meat in the sous vide for more than a day. Yes, you read that right: more than a day. If you check around online, you’ll see that there are even recipes that call for meat to be cooked in the sous vide for up to 72 hours. While this does tenderize the meat, some actually feel that cooking it for this long actually makes it a little on the mushy side. Typically, 24–36 hours is more than plenty to tenderize even the toughest cuts of meat.

As with any form of cooking, it is important to follow the proper food safety guidelines. This cookbook is just a reference and anyone cooking sous vide needs to understand and follow FDA and USDA guidelines for cooking meat according to the correct combination of temperature and time. See Appendix A: Time and Temperature Charts .
    More Than Just Meat
    While sous vide is most often praised for how well it can cook a steak or a rack of lamb, it is also a wonderful way to cook other foods. Cooking vegetables in the sous vide provides a nice firm texture to the vegetables, preventing them from going all mushy. It is also possible to cook sauces and custards in the sous vide. Crème anglaise and hollandaise sauce are great examples of other recipes to make in the water bath, as the lower temperature can ensure that the eggs do not cook, but instead gently heat, creating a super-creamy texture. Also, there is nothing that can prepare you for the amazing experience that is eating your first sous vide egg. The water bath is able to cook an egg in such a way that it is soft and almost custard-like. Sous vide eggs are ideal for eggs Benedict, hash, and Japanese noodle soup.
    Time Not So Much of a Factor
    The sous vide makes it nearly impossible to overcook most cuts of meat. Since the meat can stay in the water bath for hours past the cook time, it makes cooking far more convenient. It is possible to start some meat in the sous vide before you leave for work, and it will be ready once you arrive home. Since meat can typically stay in the water bath longer, if traffic is bad on the way home from work, there is usually no need to worry. The sous vide can hold the meat at that temperature until you arrive home and are ready to eat.
    In the same way, if dinner guests are running late, there is no fear of the meat overcooking and drying out. If your are having a nice conversation with your guests and want to push the meal back another 30 minutes, the sous vide can usually let that happen with little to no problem.

While many different meats like beef, pork, chicken, and more can stay in the sous vide water bath longer than the minimum time, this does not work as well with seafood. For example, the texture of salmon, shrimp, and scallops can all be negatively affected by cooking longer than the set time.
    Many people find this benefit of sous vide cooking to be liberating, as it significantly reduces stress around mealtime. There is no fear of the meat overcooking, as it is in the water bath ready to go when you are.
    Fine Dining at Home
    Sous vide cooking provides so many opportunities for home cooks to expand their culinary skills and prepare food in ways that seemed impossible before. Sous vide makes cooking some fine-dining dishes more accessible and simplifies complicated cooking tasks. Whether it is making a succulent Halibut with Sicilian Ragu (Chapter 11) or Steak and Scallops with Chipotle Cream (Chapter 9), the sous vide is ready to stretch the home cook into new and exciting culinary realms.
    It makes sense that you may look at many new kitchen tools as simply a gadget that is “here one day and gone the next.” There are countless examples of these contraptions packed away in closets and garages everywhere. Many