Sous Vide Cooking Using A Vacuum Sealer

“Sous vide” is French for “under vacuum”. Sous Vide cooking method is an ideal choice for meats, seafood, and vegetables. This method of cooking entails the sealing of food ingredients in plastic bags devoid of air for the entire cooking process.
The first step is to seal your food ingredients in an airtight plastic bag. Prior to the sealing of the food ingredients, the meat should be coated with all the desired spices, seasoning and marinades. This allows the meat to soak up all of these ingredients becoming more flavorful as it tenderizes during the sous vide process.

The sealed food is submerged in a hot water bath for a stipulated period of time until it reaches the desired temperature. When the food is ready, it is removed from the water and can be seared or poached depending on the cook’s preference.

Professional cooks rely on top of the line water bath ovens. However, for your home use, you could improvise by cleaning and storing lukewarm water in the kitchen sink, a thermometer, and a stop-watch to keep track of the temperature and time respectively.

Sous vide is a very effective cooking method as unlike other food preparation methods. Using vacuum sealed bags ensures the juices from the food stay put. The moist environment created by these juices ensures the food retains its natural juices producing a more tender taste and texture.

Vacuum sealers are great for sous vide cooking, they make batch cooking a breeze, and keep things super sanitary in the kitchen. The use of a vacuum sealer keeps food airtight in the best possible way to allow it to cook in the hot water bath. The vacuum seal keeps out air which can change your food’s temperature and harm the cooking process.

Most of the expensive vacuum chambers take up valuable space on your kitchen counter. There are plenty of inexpensive external vacuum sealers that work perfectly for home cooks and take up way less room in your already crowded kitchen.
Higher temperatures and especially long cooking sessions can break down ziplock-style bags, whereas high-quality vacuum-sealed bags won’t be affected. It is, therefore, necessary to have a vacuum sealer if you want to engage in longer periods of sous vide cooking especially when cooking meats.

A Vacuum sealer is also useful at prepping meals for example; either for the week or for a dinner party. You can pre-cook the meat with sous vide and keep them in the bags to finish on the grill when they are required.