If you watch any of those fancy cooking competitions, chances are you’ve heard about (and are dying to try) sous vide cooking. It’s a method that involves vacuum-sealing food in a bag and cooking it in a water bath for several hours at a low temperature.
The key is to carefully monitor the heat to gently bring your food to the right temperature without overcooking it. Cooking in a bag locks in the food’s natural juices, aroma and moisture. This results in super-flavorful, ultra-tender and juicy, evenly cooked food. Unfortunately a sous vide cooker will set you back at least $300, probably more. But here’s a big secret: You don’t need a fancy appliance to sous vide.
All a sous vide machine does is adjust the temperature of the water as needed, which you can do yourself. You can DIY this technique with a pot, zip-close kitchen bags, some binder clips (seriously!) and an accurate thermometer.
InstructionsPrepare Water Bath: Fill your pot with water. … Mount Thermometer on Side of Pot (Optional): Use a skewer or a heavy-duty clip clamp to mount digital thermometer to side of pot. … Heat Water: … Place Food in Freezer Bag: … Cook: … Sear: … Season and Serve:
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Prepare Water Bath: Fill your pot with water. …
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Mount Thermometer on Side of Pot (Optional): Use a skewer or a heavy-duty clip clamp to mount digital thermometer to side of pot. …
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Heat Water: …
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Place Food in Freezer Bag: …
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Cook: …
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Sear: …
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Season and Serve:
Prepare the water bath
Fill a large, heavy-bottomed pot with as much water as you can without it overflowing when you add your food. If you find later that you’ve filled it too much, you can always use a ladle or heat-safe Pyrex liquid measuring cup to remove water if you need to.
Get the water up to temp
Now bring the water to the temperature called for in your recipe. You’ll need to play with your heat settings to get it right. It takes a little trial and error to achieve a steady cooking temperature. You should probably try this for the first time on a day when timing isn’t urgent rather than the night of a dinner party.
Make sure your thermometer stays within 2 degrees F (plus or minus) of the desired temperature before you consider the water ready. This means you may need to move the heat setting up and down or even move the pot around on the burner — sometimes if you’re having trouble maintaining the exact temperature, sliding the pot partially off the burner will be the sweet spot. This is the most time-consuming part of the process.
How to Sous Vide a Steak the Cowboy Way | No Machine Needed
FAQ
Can you sous vide directly in water?
Do I need special equipment for sous vide?
Can you cook sous vide without an immersion circulator?
Trying to cook sous vide without an immersion circulator forces you to sacrifice both of these attributes. The most effective “hack” for cooking sous vide without a device is to set up a large pot of water on your stovetop, fit it with a thermometer, and fiddle with your burner until you reach your target cooking temperature.
How do you use a sous vide machine?
Time to get cooking! Fill a big pot with water, set your sous vide machine (aka immersion circulator) up in it according to the device’s specifications, and set the desired time and temperature based on what you’re cooking.
What is a sous vide circulator?
The sous vide circulator. This is the heart of the system, and there are a wide range of models available —even some equipped with Bluetooth. In theory, you could sous vide on the stovetop with a pot of water, using a candy thermometer to monitor the water temperature.
What is sous vide & how does it work?
The sous vide method basically involves heating food just enough so that it reaches the exact “doneness” you desire, with no risk of over- or under-cooking. Tools like immersion circulators and Sous Vide Supreme baths do make the process faster and easier, but they are not a requirement.