Sous-Vide Like a Pro - an in-depth guide (Sous-vide series, Ep. 1)

[00:00] let's talk about sous-vide most sweet

[00:03] guides don't like to overwhelm the poor

[00:05] home cook with all the details thinking

[00:07] that even the worst attempt at sous-vide

[00:09] will likely result in better proteins

[00:12] than most people are currently cooking

[00:14] at home and I'm guessing that for an

[00:17] average cook

[00:18] they are absolutely right but if you're

[00:21] watching this channel you are probably

[00:23] not the kind of cook who is satisfied

[00:26] with pretty good you are the kind of

[00:29] person who will only settle for great

[00:31] and for that even the Soviet method

[00:35] requires good technique so today I will

[00:38] share with you my bag of tricks that

[00:40] will take your soviet game to a whole

[00:43] new level in case you're new to this

[00:47] here is sous-vide in a nutshell in

[00:49] French the term means in vacuum but the

[00:52] most important aspect of this technique

[00:54] is not the vacuum but the precise

[00:56] temperature if you want the center of

[00:58] your meat to be 130 Fahrenheit you cook

[01:01] it in a hundred thirty Fahrenheit what a

[01:03] broth this completely eliminates the

[01:06] need to catch a perfect moment when you

[01:09] meat is done to do that you set an

[01:11] immersion circulator into a pot of water

[01:13] and it will keep any temperature you

[01:16] want for as long as you want put the

[01:18] meat into a plastic bag put it into the

[01:21] water wait for one to two hours

[01:23] depending on the thickness then sear and

[01:25] serve why is this so revolutionary

[01:27] because doneness is the biggest problem

[01:31] cooks have with proteins and the Soviet

[01:34] method solves that but it is not without

[01:38] its challenges sous-vide food can look

[01:41] and taste anemic here is an example from

[01:44] a Nova's website this year you get after

[01:48] the water bath can be wimpy here is a

[01:51] video from America's Test Kitchen sure

[01:53] that darkness is perfect but I like my

[01:56] meat more Brown than that the meat can

[01:58] taste dry even when cooked to a perfect

[02:02] temperature is it possible that you can

[02:05] overcook your meat even with sous-vide

[02:07] long cooking times are a killer for

[02:11] weekday nights today we'll address

[02:13] and many other problems and help you

[02:16] save it like a pro but first a little

[02:18] history I heard about sous-vide about 15

[02:21] years ago when immersion circulators

[02:23] would sell for more than $1,000 and were

[02:26] completely out of reach of most home

[02:28] cooks of course they didn't stop some

[02:30] people from going where no home cook has

[02:33] gone before

[02:34] I heard of grad students who would bring

[02:36] home old immersion circulators that

[02:39] their university labs were going to

[02:41] retire and cooking them

[02:43] I've heard of electrical engineers

[02:45] rewiring their crock pots to turn them

[02:49] into temperature controlled water bath

[02:51] since I had no electrical engineering

[02:53] skills and I was too chicken to cook in

[02:55] old lab equipment my preferred method

[02:57] was babysitting a big pot of water on

[03:00] the stove with a thermometer eventually

[03:02] I switched to Ken G outs brilliant huge

[03:05] beer cooler method beer coolers I

[03:08] insulated so if you fill them with hot

[03:10] water it'll maintain it for a while of

[03:12] course we didn't have to cook and beer

[03:15] coolers for long about 10 years ago the

[03:19] first sueded tool marketed to home cooks

[03:22] hit the market it was this very big

[03:25] heavy awkward and expensive box called

[03:29] sous-vide supreme obviously there was

[03:31] plenty of room for improvement and the

[03:34] race to create the best sous vide tool

[03:37] for the masses was on thanks to the

[03:40] competition the immersion circulators

[03:43] became small cheap and accessible to

[03:46] everyone I use the one by a Nova but

[03:50] there are many brands to choose from

[03:52] another sells for about a hundred and

[03:53] the link for it is below the video

[03:56] if you use your immersion circulator

[03:59] once in a while you can certainly clip

[04:01] it onto the side of any large pot but if

[04:04] you're planning to use it on regular

[04:06] basis I strongly suggest that you get a

[04:08] plastic box specially designed for this

[04:11] purpose I bought a size that fits into

[04:14] my sink nicely so there is no need to

[04:16] move it anywhere filling and emptying

[04:18] this box is a breeze I can fit at least

[04:21] eight portions into it at the same time

[04:24] so if I want to par cook some proteins

[04:26] for the week or if I'm having a party

[04:27] it's very convenient these boxes come in

[04:31] many sizes and they're very inexpensive

[04:33] I'll link to them below this video I

[04:35] fill my container with hot water so that

[04:38] I'm ready to cook almost instantly here

[04:40] is the current temperature of my water

[04:42] here is the temperature that I want it

[04:44] to be and I can change this temperature

[04:46] with this wheel by going up and down

[04:49] when I press the play button the

[04:51] circulator starts heating and moving the

[04:53] water once the machine reaches my

[04:55] desired temperature it will be and

[04:57] allowed the food now that we get the

[04:59] temperature covered let's talk about

[05:01] packaging the food restaurants use

[05:04] chamber vacuum sewers that are insanely

[05:07] expensive the vacuum sealers sold for

[05:10] home use like food saver that sells for

[05:12] about 100 are pretty useless for this

[05:14] purpose they will deform your food and

[05:16] won't let you add the oil which is very

[05:19] useful for some proteins my bag of

[05:21] choice is the ziplock not the flimsy

[05:23] sandwich bags but the sturdy freezer

[05:25] bags fold the back over to keep the

[05:28] zipper clean season your protein with

[05:30] salt and add to the bag when cooking

[05:33] fish and shrimp I find that adding lots

[05:35] of oil to the bag prevents pieces from

[05:38] sticking together and makes the shape

[05:40] and surface of the finished dish look a

[05:43] lot better I prefer a neutral oil so

[05:45] that it doesn't interfere with the

[05:47] flavor of the fish you'll be dumping the

[05:49] soil so no need to use anything

[05:51] expensive if you're putting more than

[05:53] one piece of meat into a bag put them in

[05:56] a vertically this way they won't tumble

[05:58] on top of each other as you submerge the

[06:01] bag into the water when you submerge the

[06:03] bag open it up completely this lets the

[06:06] water push the air out much more

[06:08] effectively than if you zip it up

[06:10] leaving a tiny hole keep pushing the bag

[06:12] under the water until you get to the

[06:14] zipper if the water is too hard for you

[06:16] use a utensil to help you zip it up if

[06:18] the bag sinks you did it correctly if

[06:21] the bag floats you still have too much

[06:23] air in open it up and try again

[06:25] flip the bag to the side of the

[06:27] container so that the water circulates

[06:29] around it having a bag lying on the

[06:31] bottom of your pot won't result in very

[06:33] even cooking below this video I'll give

[06:35] you the times that I like to use for

[06:37] many common proteins but just to give

[06:39] you an idea most steaks pork chops

[06:42] chicken breasts duck breasts and other

[06:44] meats that I mentioned have all s cookin

[06:47] one hour and most fish fillets and

[06:50] shrimp cook in 20 minutes so is it true

[06:53] that you can't overcook with sous-vide

[06:56] absolutely not

[06:58] the longer times mean more tenderness

[07:01] but less juiciness the myth that you

[07:03] can't have a cook with severe came about

[07:06] due to a clever marketing strategy used

[07:09] by sous-vide appliance manufacturers use

[07:11] it to market and new home appliance you

[07:14] have to combine the exotic with the

[07:17] familiar so the exotic sales pitch was

[07:20] the promise of restaurant quality food

[07:22] at home with no effort or skill the

[07:26] familiar sales pitch was comparing the

[07:28] immersion circulator to an appliance

[07:30] most home cooks already had at home the

[07:33] slow cooker cooking something sous-vide

[07:36] will inevitably take longer than any

[07:39] other method and that was not going to

[07:42] fly in our Fast Food Nation so the club

[07:44] marketing people told you that you could

[07:47] use the slow cooker model you could take

[07:50] your meat put it into the water bath in

[07:53] the morning go to work come home sear it

[07:57] for two minutes and the nurse surfed too

[07:59] bad they didn't tell you that this kind

[08:01] of steak would be very mushy and dry but

[08:04] chicken method isn't yet very flexible

[08:06] when it comes to meat and poultry if you

[08:10] hold them in a water bath for an extra

[08:12] hour - it won't make any difference

[08:15] for fish and eggs that's not quite the

[08:16] case if you need to hold them in the

[08:19] water bath after they are done try to

[08:20] limit that time too

[08:22] ten minutes after that the texture will

[08:24] gradually start to suffer the shrimp

[08:27] will turn mushy the fish will become dry

[08:30] and the egg yolks will firm up now let's

[08:34] talk about searing issues the usual

[08:36] solutions that you'll see people using a

[08:38] really hot skillet and blowtorches Oh

[08:41] personally I don't really like the

[08:44] flavor that the blowtorch is gifting it

[08:46] and the skillets well no matter how long

[08:49] you hit them and overheat them instead

[08:51] of your fire alarms nothing ever seems

[08:54] to be enough because the sous vide meat

[08:57] tends to use out juice no matter how

[08:59] much you dry it but there is a solution

[09:02] to this life's persistent problem and

[09:04] that is cooling limit when the meat

[09:08] comes out of the water bath it's at a

[09:10] perfect temperature so every minute you

[09:12] spend in the hot skillet you are ruining

[09:14] that sous-vide perfection but

[09:17] unfortunately one minute per side is not

[09:19] quite enough to brown meat that keeps

[09:21] using but all you have to do is get your

[09:24] steak or pork chop out of the bag dry it

[09:27] with a couple of layers of paper towels

[09:29] and put it in the fridge for about 10

[09:31] minutes if you meet this thick enough

[09:33] stand it up so that both sides dry

[09:36] evenly cooling the outside of you meat

[09:38] will allow you to keep it in the skillet

[09:41] for roughly two minutes per side instead

[09:44] of one resulting in a much better crust

[09:46] you can speed up the cooling process by

[09:49] putting your bag of meat into an ice

[09:52] water bath for about two minutes the

[09:54] water bath will not give you as dry over

[09:57] surfaces the fridge but on a weekday

[09:59] night when every minute counts that

[10:01] might be fine with skin on chicken and

[10:03] duck I take the cooling a step further

[10:05] and cool them completely before I sear

[10:08] them you see to get really crispy skin

[10:11] takes time and even two minutes aren't

[10:13] enough you probably will need about 7 to

[10:16] 10 minutes and if you start with warm

[10:19] chicken or duck you will either get

[10:21] great meat or great skin but not both

[10:24] but chill them completely and you'll get

[10:27] beautifully crispy skin while the meat

[10:30] warms up gently the reason that meat is

[10:32] not going to suffer another cook is

[10:34] because most

[10:35] of the time at least 95% is spent on the

[10:38] skin and the skin is an insulator

[10:40] protecting you meat from overcooking I

[10:44] realized that waiting for more than an

[10:47] hour for your dinner on a weekday night

[10:49] might not work for everyone so here are

[10:51] some tips to avoid that choose steaks

[10:54] pork chops chicken breasts duck breasts

[10:57] that I add most one and a half inches

[11:00] thick

[11:00] cook them sous-vide for an hour over the

[11:02] weekend when you're ready to cook during

[11:05] the week put them back into immersion

[11:07] circulator for 30 minutes how come the

[11:10] second time around the shorter that's

[11:12] because there are two reasons that we

[11:14] hit omit the first reason is to change

[11:16] its texture and the second reason is to

[11:19] make it Pleasant warm temperature for

[11:21] eating now the texture you'll take care

[11:23] of that over the weekend when you

[11:24] sous-vide it for a full hour so that's

[11:26] done and making it pleasantly warm for

[11:28] eating is not nearly as precise in

[11:31] particular as the texture so if you meet

[11:33] reached only 115 instead of 130 it won't

[11:36] be noticeable chicken and duck breasts

[11:39] are excellent choices for with the meals

[11:41] since you cook them sous-vide in advance

[11:43] anyway

[11:44] they go straight from the fridge into

[11:47] the skillet

[11:47] so we're basically talking dinner in 10

[11:50] minutes shrimp and fish cookin only 20

[11:53] minutes I don't recommend that you par

[11:56] cook them over the weekend because that

[11:58] will ruin their texture it's best to

[12:00] cook all the seafood only once but what

[12:03] you could do to speed things up is

[12:05] season them and bag them over the

[12:08] weekend so that when you come home on a

[12:10] weekday you can just grab the bag and

[12:11] plop it into your immersion circulator a

[12:14] reverse sear method is very similar to

[12:16] sous-vide but instead of using a

[12:19] temperature controlled water bath it

[12:20] uses the oven I have covered this method

[12:23] and great detail on my channels if

[12:25] you're not familiar with it check out

[12:27] the link below this video both sous-vide

[12:29] and reverse sear have their advantages

[12:32] and disadvantages sous-vide method is

[12:35] much more flexible if you got caught up

[12:38] doing homework with your kids your

[12:39] guests an hour late your side dishes and

[12:42] done no worries just keep your meat in

[12:45] your water bath until you're ready

[12:48] sous-vide method is also less

[12:50] error-prone it does not require you to

[12:52] insert the thermometer perfectly and

[12:54] find the center of you meat to figure

[12:56] out what is the minimum temperature and

[12:58] say one of your steaks is a little bit

[13:00] bigger than another if you're cooking

[13:02] six takes that could be a nightmare

[13:04] using the normal methods you have to

[13:06] figure out when each steak is done

[13:08] versus what Soviet if one steak is an

[13:11] inch and another is an inch and a

[13:12] quarter no problem you can cook them all

[13:14] together and sear them all together the

[13:17] downside of the Soviet method is that it

[13:20] takes longer and requires special

[13:22] equipment if you watch my reverse video

[13:25] which is from about a year ago you'll

[13:27] probably notice me complaining about

[13:29] this year after sous-vide being that

[13:32] nearly as good as after reverse sear but

[13:35] I have found a solution to this problem

[13:38] since then so it's no longer an issue in

[13:41] the next few weeks we'll apply all this

[13:43] theory to chicken duck pork chops shrimp

[13:47] and fish so stay tuned don't forget to

[13:51] subscribe hit that little Bell button

[13:53] for notifications and if you're ever in

[13:55] the Boston area maybe I'll see you in

[13:57] one of my classes

[13:59] [Music]