Sous vide cooking is a method that prepares food in a water bath for a long time and still produces quality foods. Sous vide foods are delicious, which makes most people prefer using the method of cooking. Recently the technique was meant for restaurant chefs to prepare their meals, but currently, most people are taking advantage of it that they use it at home.
The cooking method has some advantages with the use of an immersion circulator that cooks the food in good cooking conditions making the food excellent. However, some disadvantages are associated with it that make the chefs feel it is not the best method to use. Therefore, consider checking the advantages and disadvantages of Sous vide cooking before choosing it for use.
The article below shows the reasons you can use to consider choosing Sous vide and the one that will make you dislike it. Check on one that is more weight before choosing. There are the frequently asked questions and lastly, the conclusion.
Summary table of the advantages versus the disadvantages of Sous vide;
Advantages | Disadvantages |
Requires less attention | Container lids are recommended. |
Produces tasty food | It over enhances the flavors. |
Reduces overcooking of food | It needs a plan before cooking. |
It brings out healthier food. | It is time-consuming |
It prepares the food evenly. | It needs time to get the right temperature Use a thermometer to check the temperature. |
Maintains the color of vegetables. | It is not exciting |
Prevents shrinking of meat |
The advantages of using Sous vide cooking
Since many people choose to use Sous vide cooking, there must be something good. Below are some of the advantages of Sous vide cooking:
- Requires less attention
When using Sous vide cooking, there is no need for the person cooking to stand on the stove monitoring the actions taking place. If you like cooking and still have some other activities to work on, you can put the food in the Sous vide equipment and set the temperatures. All you need to do is prepare the food and let it cook independently. Sous vide cooking allows you to multitask as you cook, wash the house, and take children to school and other activities, but the outcome will still be stunning.
- Produces tasty food
Sous vide cooking adds some flavor to food while cooking to make it feel tasty. If you use the traditional cooking methods like boiling and frying, the food will lose its texture, color, flavor, and other nutrients that make the food lack good taste, while this method retains all the nutrients in the food.
The central feature that makes the method bring an excellent taste to food is the slow cooking process that makes it retain the pork, steak, or even chicken when cooking. You can cook the food before the exact consumption day, which still makes it tasty when using the method.
- Reduces overcooking of food
Sous vide cooking reduces overcooking of food since you moderate the temperatures you are using for cooking so that the water will not overheat, causing overcooking of food. Therefore, when you are using lower temperatures, you can be doing other activities in the house, and still, the food will not overcook.
- It brings out healthier food
Sous vide retains the nutrients in food to make it healthier and more nutritious for the human body. The method maintains nutrients as it cooks at lower temperatures, unlike the traditional methods that use high temperatures to kill all the nutrients in food and remove all the fat within.
The method above allows food to stay in a water bath for a long time so that you do not need to use oil or butter to oxidize the high temperatures and be harmful and lead to more fat in the human body.
- It prepares the food evenly
Using stoves or grills for cooking can overcook some parts and leave others uncooked while some features are well cooked, all because the temperatures are high and are not regulated. Therefore, Sous vide uses moderate temperatures that prepare the food evenly.
- Maintains the color of vegetables
Most cooking techniques make the vegetables lose the color that is not attractive since their color turns dull. Sous vide helps the vegetables maintain their natural color and prevents the loss of nutrients with the food.
- Prevents shrinking of meat
When boiling meat using other methods, the heart tends to shrink; however, when you try using the Sous vide, the beef stays compact, and you can do business with it. Using Sous vide produces the best result for your guests and customers and increases the value of money.
The disadvantages of Sous vide cooking
Even though Sous vide cooking has its benefits, some features make it unsuitable for home use. Find some of the disadvantages in the article below:
- Container lids are recommended
The Sous-vide cooking container has a lid that, if you cannot cover it well, the temperature will fluctuate and change the result of the food you are cooking. Therefore, if you have the Sous vide container, you need to purchase a lid or make your top cover the container. The caps also help prevent water evaporation in the water bath that can affect the cooking process.
- It over enhances the flavors
Sous vide cooking enhances the natural flavors in food as it cooks in air-tight vacuum-sealed bags with a moderate and controlled temperature. Therefore, people are different. In some people, the flavors can be excess that they do not like. With chefs using the bay leaves, there could be metallic tastes in the unpleasant food. However, the case with flavors is not with all foods, but you should take care when cooking to avoid such scenarios.
- It needs a plan before cooking
When you are bad at planning what to cook, the method is not suitable since Sous vide requires you to prepare the kind of food and all the requirements to use with the process. Remember to keep the Sous vide food in a water bath for hours before eating. The method also needs time which is not good.
- It is time-consuming
Sous vide method is slow and wastes a lot of time; for example, the kinds of food you fry or cook within 15 minutes or 20 minutes will take one hour while using the Sous vide method of cooking. Therefore, even if it takes time to cook, the result will be good since it takes time to cook food with low temperatures.
- It is not exciting
The Sous-vide method of cooking is not exciting since it uses fewer cooking techniques as many people like cooking and feeling the aroma of food, touching the spices and ingredients, and many more activities involved. Therefore, with Sous vide, the only thing you need to do is prepare the items to use and put them in a water bath, and it starts cooking.
- It needs time to get the right temperature
When cooking Sous-vide, you need to give the food time to achieve the correct temperature you need to start cooking. Therefore, the time it takes to get the temperature wastes a lot of time you need to cook the food since you need to wait for the water bath to be hot.
The issue of time wasting makes it not suitable for use when you are preparing food for your visitors that you need to prepare it a day before or else you will take time to prepare the food.
Should I choose Sous to vide cooking or not?
After checking the advantages and disadvantages of Sous vide, you will need to decide if you will use it or not. I suggest that you choose the method since it requires less of your time to monitor the food unless you are an individual who likes cooking while touching the foods you are cooking.
However, you need to choose what you want and use such that if you think the disadvantages overpower the advantages, then it means you cannot use this method for cooking.
Frequently asked questions:
- Is the Sous vide method of cooking expensive to use?
The Sous-vide cooking method is not that expensive, but it is not like the stove cooking method. Therefore, the technique needs you to choose if you like it or not.
Conclusion
After getting to know the advantages and disadvantages of Sous vide cooking, you can now choose either to use it or not. If you like food with flavors and feel like cooking while doing some other activities at home, then the method is suitable for you to use. The guide has advantages and disadvantages with its details.
Therefore, check on the guide carefully to make a decision. Remember, the Sous vide method of cooking also has the disadvantage that if you are a terrible planner, the process cannot be suitable since it needs a plan before starting any activity.