Arguments Against Sous Vide

[Shel_B]

This video popped into my queue today. It's Helen Rennie's take on why she dislikes sous vide cooking.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwIRIcdDLBQ

 

Of course, this is a very personal and opinionated piece, and Ms. Rennie clearly states that in the video.  I don't cook using sous vide, and some of Ms. Rennie's points coincide with my own feelings.  However, never having cooked using the technique, my feelings are, for the most part, just feelings, and I have little to zero experientially based reasons for them.

 

Where she and I are in 100% agreement is the hands-off approach sous vide allows.  I like the sounds, smells, textures, and involvement in cooking that sous vide diminishes or removes. I love it when a visitor says "That smells good. What are you cooking?" 

 

I'm curious about your thoughts on her comments.  I'd love to hear both pro and con about Ms. Rennie's opinions.

 

Edited October 5 by Shel_B
typo (log)

[mgaretz]

She's right about sous vide for chicken - not so great.  But she's off-base about steaks.  She is embracing inconsistency.  She also likes sous vide for fish (at least halibut).  I used to do fish sous vide, but now I prefer my Speedi which uses steam and air frying.  

[gfweb]

Its a technique that is great when applied properly. 

 

I'm not watching the video, because I can tell from your summary that she is a dope.

 

Its like saying I hate baking because it messes up scrambled eggs.

[rotuts]

why not review SV Here :

 

47,000 pages , most insightful and very helpful.

 

Right Here .

[Shel_B]

1 hour ago, gfweb said:

Its a technique that is great when applied properly. 

 

I'm not watching the video, because I can tell from your summary that she is a dope.

 

Its like saying I hate baking because it messes up scrambled eggs.

 

You read my summary, so I'm the dope.

 

 

Edited October 5 by Shel_B (log)

[IndyRob]

She's very knowledgeable and I enjoy her videos, but it's hard to react to this one since she says in the title that she doesn't sous vide, but admits in the video that she does use it for certain applications.

 

I think she's really saying that she doesn't have the same level of enthusiasm that others do.  In my case, I can say that I don't use it as much as I used to, but it still remains an important tool that I have at my disposal.  Not so much different from what she's saying.

 

I wonder if it's just a response to people asking her to do more SV content.

Edited October 5 by IndyRob (log)

[Bernie]

Unfortunately, most information on the web these days is about earning advertising revenue and that takes views.

You wont earn much if people don't watch/talk about whatever you post.

It doesn't matter what you (as the poster) know or believe, it is more about what will generate hits. Ideally, you want people on forums (like us) discussing it, because then those people (us) will view the video/blog.

 

So to this end she achieves what she wants 😁

 

The very fact she says she doesn't use it but later says she does is probably just an attempt to inform/indicate (scam?) the viewers that she knows what she is talking about or to not alienate anyone that may use SV

 

Pure politics in its basest form !

[Alex]

8 hours ago, Shel_B said:

I'd love to hear both pro and con about Ms. Rennie's opinions.

 

How about someone who doesn't give a rat's ass what her opinions are?

[IndyRob]

41 minutes ago, Alex said:

 

How about someone who doesn't give a rat's ass what her opinions are?

Well, sure I guess.  What do you have to add?

[haresfur]

10 hours ago, Shel_B said:

This video popped into my queue today. It's Helen Rennie's take on why she dislikes sous vide cooking.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwIRIcdDLBQ

 

Of course, this is a very personal and opinionated piece, and Ms. Rennie clearly states that in the video.  I don't cook using sous vide, and some of Ms. Rennie's points coincide with my own feelings.  However, never having cooked using the technique, my feelings are, for the most part, just feelings, and I have little to zero experientially based reasons for them.

 

Where she and I are in 100% agreement is the hands-off approach sous vide allows.  I like the sounds, smells, textures, and involvement in cooking that sous vide diminishes or removes. I love it when a visitor says "That smells good. What are you cooking?" 

 

I'm curious about your thoughts on her comments.  I'd love to hear both pro and con about Ms. Rennie's opinions.

 

 

In line with other responses, I don't usually pay attention to video opinions because I find them an inefficient way to convey information and because I don't appreciate being treated as a click. This forum would be better served by posting salient points that we can discuss here. That would also serve the eG goal of being a resource for cooking related information.

 

With regards to the one point you posted, there are plenty of other techniques that have long periods with little involvement in the cooking. I don't cook for the smells - they are a side bonus. And I have no problem doing a quick stir fry rather than feeling I have to have a stew pot going all day to make the kitchen smell nice. You get that quick smell hit when you brown meat after sous vide. In fact, I often sous vide beef and add it to a stir fry at the end to get the combination of med-rare meat and charred veg. In that way I suppose you could just consider the sous vide to be part of your prep. 

 

To me sous vide is primarily about precision and flexibility. I don't doubt that a top steak house can produce a better steak with their equipment but I can produce a much better steak with sous vide than any other way I have found. I like a roast chook but sous vide chicken is convenient and delicious for preparing ahead.

 

[nickrey]

I've been using sous vide cooking since around 2008, which was when I joined eGullet having found early posts on the technique.

 

Sous vide cooking has now moved from early adopters to the mainstream and even into the reluctant adopters.

 

At this stage of adoption, it is not unusual to get commentators opining that it has lost its appeal.

 

Those of us who adopted it early on typically now just use it as another cooking technique in our repertoire. The situation, number of people, product type, and desired outcome determine which method you will use. I find in many cases that I use it when I'm cooking for thirty or more as cook and hold or cook and reheat/finish can be easier using this process for certain meat and/or vegetable dishes.

 

 

[AAQuesada]

I pretty much agree and I vacuum seal much more often than I cook sous vide. I'm never going to do a steak that way but I'm glad I have my set up it's great for braising as an example as well as for 'catering' small dinner parties or holidays it can free up the stove (and you)

[gfweb]

9 hours ago, AAQuesada said:

I pretty much agree and I vacuum seal much more often than I cook sous vide. I'm never going to do a steak that way but I'm glad I have my set up it's great for braising as an example as well as for 'catering' small dinner parties or holidays it can free up the stove (and you)

 

 

Except if I'm doing a bunch of steaks of varying size, then SV makes it easy and lets me have more time to be a host.

[YvetteMT]

I've only been using sv for about 2 or 3 years and 95%of the time it's with wild game. I absolutely prefer it with venison roasts over braising traditionally.  Same with venison steaks- i get a nicer steak from an older elk if I sv opposed to grilling or in a skillet only. 

 

Halibut was mentioned up thread and since that's on the menu this week, I'll be giving it a shot sv.  I can cook fish quite well but having guests  and "ready in 5 minutes" doesn't mean "get your butt to the table"to everyone,  being able to hang out in the bath without loss of quality is a selling point!

[AAQuesada]

1 hour ago, gfweb said:

10 hours ago, AAQuesada said:

it can free up the stove (and you)

 

 

Except if I'm doing a bunch of steaks of varying size, then SV makes it easy and lets me have more time to be a host.

I think that's pretty much what I said as the exception

[gfweb]

1 minute ago, AAQuesada said:

I think that's pretty much what I said as the exception

 

Well, no.  You said you'd never do a steak SV, therefore whatever followed in the post must apply to something other than steak.

 

But it really doesn't matter.

[AAQuesada]

Fair enough, I wouldn't plan a menu like that in the first place because I'm not a fan of steak cooked that way. But I do get it's convenient for dinner parties, certainly not denying that!

[AlaMoi]

it's a curious technique . . .

if one has the time to sous vide at 'the finished temp' one probably also has the time to simply oven cook/braise/roast/whatever . . . at a lower temp.

just did this with a pork tenderloin - marinated, then oven "baked" at 145'F (digital oven control; accuracy... decent by thermometer check)

it came out juicy, tender, moist, yadda yadda yadda.

 

now, if the cookee requires hours an hours of low temp cooking in a situation where one is unable to "attend/monitor" - similar to ye' olde' crock pot -

there's an advantage.  something like a 5 pound tenderloin . . .

 

sous vide equiptments (probably) have a much less varied minute-to-minute cook temp - an oven goes up and goes down - it's a 'short termish' average temp.  important? open to question....

 

I've become a fan of oven baking/roasting at the minimum temp - perhaps 5'F above the desired finish temp. 

and . . . an insta-read thermometer at the ready.

 

bottom line, for the few instances where I see sous vide has a clear advantage , , , not worth the $ and effort to seal/etc...

[rotuts]

Im guessing there is a blend of SV use.

 

Its what's for dinner 

 

and , then  its  what's on sale  , and thus 12 , 24 , 28 hours 

 

in bulk.

 

whole Fz turkeys .  bags of corned beef .  flap meat on sale , and the like;

 

the later comes by several times a year

 

and former , SV is part of your weekly cooking.

 

might be more than you want to do every day.

Edited October 6 by rotuts (log)

[TdeV]

@AlaMoi, aren't you one of the folks with Anova steam oven? If so, you've got sous vide without the bag already.

[rotuts]

I have not done SV via steam .

 

its gong to take quite a bit longer to get to temp 

 

due to the density of the heat ( steam off the boil )  vs water .

 

so it might be fine for shorter cooks , like fish .

 

48 hr  corned beef @ 142 F ?

 

maybe , maybe not.

 

I personally feel good quality bags  (  vacumsavers )  are fine to use.

[AlaMoi]

ah,, nope, no steam oven - just a "usual" oven with broil/bake/convention broil/convection break . . .

and a timer . . .

[Bernie]

The only problem with long slow cook in a conventional oven is retaining moisture. You can fix it a bit by using an enclosed container to cook in... but it will take longer and the air around the food will take a very long time to heat up to oven temperature (because the air is enclosed and not moving). Your surface of the food will therefore be in the "dangerous" temperature" (bacteria growth) range for a longish time. The risk is developing some off odors, but hopefully normal kitchen hygiene has eliminated any of the real nasties

 

Having said that, I used "Hestons method" in a conventional oven but it was 90c (from memory..which is usually faulty) and the chicken had been in brine for 24hrs to increase the internal moisture. It was superb.

 

I do prefer a lamb roast in the conventional oven but the first hour in an oven bag (with rosemary), then removed to "brown" the outside, but the temperatures are higher else it would take forever and dry out.

 

SV is my go to for pork.

[AlaMoi]

lids.  they work wonders.

[haresfur]

My try at low and slow in the oven was a failure. For some reason the meat temperature stalled out and I had to bump the temperature up to get it to cook. And that was fan forced with a probe in the meat and another to monitor the oven, which stayed within a degree of the set point. I'm not sure I see the advantage over sous vide.