What? You don’t like dry chicken? Cooking a filet is more like guesswork and you wonder if your family flatters you and always just says, “it’s perfect!” and you know at least your slab of meat wasn’t what you expected?
I’m not a cook. I have some things I can cook. I’d say better than 50% of things I cook on the grill come out good, but not perfect. I’m paranoid of under cooked chicken so I’ll either be the last to volunteer to grill chicken, or, yes, it’ll be dry. Sorry. At least you aren’t sick for 24 hours!
At least that was until Karla and I were introduced to this strange water cooking appliance. It took me forever to remember what it was called, and even now I have to look up “sous vide“. My dad just asked me and I had to look it up (while swordfish is currently cooking at 121.9 degrees).
So, what is a “sous vide”? According to Google Translate, it means “under vacuum” in French. This speaks to the process of which you should prepare the food prior to cooking (vacuum sealed). The device I’m speaking of is somewhat long and cylindrical. It simply sucks up water, heats it up and shoots it back out. You’re best to put this into a pot of sorts to contain the water. With the air sucked out of the food you’re intending to cook, it will likely sink in said pot. You can alternatively pus something on top of the food to ensure it’s under water for the duration of the cook period. Sounds pretty simple, right? See below.
Well, it is pretty simple. This is the specific model we chose. The people at Breville have created a mobile app that controls the Joule Sous Vide via Bluetooth making the experience super easy. Once configured, you set it in the desired pot, plug it in, tell the app what you’re cooking and it starts up the water heating process. Unless you’re heating up a full sink of water (we don’t recommend using your sink) before you know it, your app says to add your food and start the timer!
The “magic” with this process is that your food can’t over cook! If you’re cooking a medium rare filet (YUM), it will cook to the exact temp of a medium rare filet and not a degree more. You can even leave the meat in the water for an hour longer than the timer and it’s still PERFECT! Back to chicken, not only is it cooked to the exact temp you want (and need), because the chicken is vacuum sealed, you also get the juiciest chicken you’ve probably ever had. For some meats you may want a quick sear on each side. It even connects to wifi so you can check on the status of your cooking while you’re away.
I can’t say enough about how much we love our Joule Sous Vide. We pack it when we go to visit friends and family or on vacation. It takes up VERY little space and is our most used cooking appliance. While there are other models, I can only attest to this one and we love it!
It seems Breville has come out with a Stainless Steel version for a small premium if you like fancy things.
Here are a couple of accessories we’ve added to our set up:
We’ve found ourselves using these not only to help hold food down, but it helps insulate heat and subsequently, water loss from your cooking environment. They’re inexpensive and come in a nice mesh bag.
We hope you stop what you’re doing and immediately order one of these amazing tools! Please leave any comments you have below and happy cooking!