As director of culinary technology at The French Culinary Institute in New York City, Dave Arnold introduces aspiring chefs to the sous-vide method of vacuum-sealed cookery, which is breaking new ground in the professional kitchen.
“It’s a fantastic technique,” Arnold said, noting, however, that the significant cost of professional-grade equipment can be a barrier. “You should ask yourself whether you are interested in sous vide or in low-temperature cooking that doesn’t require a vacuum,” he said. “You can cook a lot of things at low temperatures without spending all the money on a vacuum machine.”
Although sous vide has come under the scrutiny of New York’s health authorities, which are preparing specific guidelines for its use in kitchens, Arnold sees a promising future for the cooking method. “We’re still working out exactly how it’s going to work with the health department, but I’m assuming it will be hammered out and we’ll be rolling along in a safe fashion that hopefully allows chefs to get the results they want.”
What should an operator look for in a thermal circulator for sous-vide cooking?
Ask yourself if you want it to be part of its own circulating water bath or as a standalone unit. If you have space and will do this in the same place every day, get one with a bath. But I find it more flexible to have a stand-alone unit that you can move from pot to pot or into a bus tub. The only advantage of a built-in bath is that it is better insulated and can maintain a higher temperature for a given wattage. Alternatively, a lot of chefs use a combi oven for sous vide. They’re fantastic but very expensive.
What features do you recommend in a vacuum machine?
I recommend a digital readout that shows the pressure inside the machine. A quick-stop button will be your best friend when you’re learning because sauces and stuff will boil over and you’ll have to stop it. If you plan to seal a lot of small bags, consider getting two sealing bars instead of one. Also, be sure that the chamber size fits what you’re planning to put in it. Another decision is a floor model or table-top model. A floor model may have a bigger pump. Get a unit with a pump rated for at least 20 cubic meters per hour. You’ll also want a feature called soft-air release that lets the air back into the machine slowly. If air rushes back quickly, items with bones will puncture the bag. A machine that runs on 110-volt current is nice because you can use it in different places. If it will stay in one place, it’s more efficient to run it on 220 volts. Another good feature is the ability to set an extra amount of vacuum in an item. With certain things, like bones or leafy greens, once you reach a vacuum you haven’t really sucked out all the air, because it’s trapped deep inside.
How should one select sous-vide bags?
Get a bag that’s rated for cooking, not for storing electronic parts or freezing. It should be totally impermeable unless you have a product that you want to let respire. Some bags are not good gas barriers. You can tell by bagging some onions and cooking them. If you can smell the onions through the bag, then it wasn’t so airtight.