Taste Life

By Danielle Cardozo

I’m a working mom of three. Let’s face it; the crockpot is one of my best friends. Set it and forget it, right?  Well, move over crockpot. I have just discovered your steroidal big brother, and I think we’re going to start dating exclusively.

I introduce to you, the Sous Vide Supreme!

As some of you know from my social media, it was a big day when Cedar Lane Culinary delivered my new Sous Vide Supreme this week! Sous vide is a culinary technique in which vacuum-sealed food is immersed in a water bath and cooked at a very precise, consistent temperature. It definitely has its place in the professional kitchen. I’ve watched Dave Bohati (Executive Chef, Market, Calgary) use this technique to make the most amazing confit trout and pernod carrots. I will be using it at my next dinner to do my own spin on Chef Bohati’s trout. However, I wanted to see if it was as useful at home for home cooks. If it’s home value was equivalent to its price of $549.00 (which includes the Stainless Steel Sous Vide Supreme, vacuum sealer, cookbook, and two rolls of bags for the sealer.

I will give it this to start; it’s the perfect on the counter appliance. I’d easily compare it to a bread maker, as it really doesn’t take up too much space. I was having friends over for dinner that night, and so I decided on some nice rib eye centre cuts. Notice the marbling! I chose to use the Sous Vide Supreme for steaks first because it advertises on the packaging that you can have the perfect steak in four easy steps. Want to test a product? Test it with the thing it claims to work best on. If it says it cooks the perfect steak, try it with a great steak. Chances are if it fails on its greatest claim, the product is a dud.

Step 1: Season. I seasoned them up with a very basic homemade steak spice. When it comes to proteins, I am a firm believer in less is more. I like to season it in a way that brings out the beef flavor. I do not support beef being a vehicle for barbeque sauce (but that’s just me).

Step 2: Seal. Vacuum sealing is pretty straightforward. You place the steaks in the bag. Then place the open end of the bag up to the sealer as the directions show. You press the top of the sealer down until each side click. Then you press the ‘Vacuum Seal’ button. It does its thing until you hear it stop. You pop it open and voila! Steaks sealed in a bag. It’s not rocket science by any means. Have I mentioned I like simple?

Step 3: Sous Vide. I wanted a medium rare steak. The directions told me 56.5 degrees Celsius. So I set the Sous Vide Supreme to exactly this temperature. I place the steaks in the water bath and set it for three hours. I could have set it for one, or up to four hours. I had three hours worth of house cleaning. That’s the only reason I chose three. 

I took the steaks out and check their firmness. I’ve cooked enough beef to be able to tell the doneness by its firmness. They felt pretty bang on, so I was impressed. I wasn’t prepared to cut into one, as I still have step four to undertake once the guests arrive. I think that was my favorite part.

The steaks were ultimately cooked and dinner would be ready to set on the table once my guests arrived. No cooking them and then guests arriving late causing cold cooked steaks. No waiting for my guests to arrive before I start cooking. It truly left me with a lot of flexibility!
Step 4: Sear. This step couldn’t be easier. Throw some seasoned oil in the pan. Crank up the heat so you can get a nice sear. I didn’t get a picture of the steaks in the pan, but it’s pretty straightforward.

And the result was this that it appeared to be nicely seared. The true test would be what was inside. So I cut it open, to find it was pretty darn close. I say close because it was just a tad cooked past medium rare. I might attribute this to the amount of time I seared it. However, I then compared the times and temperatures to those in a book that I find quite reliable, which is Modernist Cuisine. Its suggestion is 55 degrees Celsius. I will try that next time. Like any new kitchen equipment, you can be the best Chef and still have to play around a little and possibly divert from the standard instructions.

Next came the taste test. Texturally, the steak was spot on. The slow cook in the hot water bath truly works magic on that meat. Yes, rib eye is typically quite tender (the marbling really helps with that), but the texture was almost that of tenderloin. I was thoroughly impressed, as were my guests. Flavor wise, you cannot question the power of a vacuum sealer! The pressure of the seal forces the seasoning into the meat.

My current conclusion? I love this piece of equipment. As a single, working mom I am really looking forward to the convenience it provides. In particular, I already have plans to vacuum seal some seasoned proteins and leave the in the fridge/freezer. I can easily grab them out of the freezer after work (without even taking them out of the bag), throw them in the sous vide, and take the kids for a hike up Eager Hill. It’s ready by the time I get home, cooked to a perfectly tender texture. Who knew there would ever be a piece of kitchen equipment more convenient than the crockpot? Well there is now. Speaking of crockpot, does anyone need one? Looks like I might just be retiring mine…

For those of you who are getting excited for barbeque season, I really encourage you to try making your own barbeque seasonings. Start here, as you truly cannot go wrong with this recipe:

•2 tablespoons paprika

•2 tablespoons crushed black pepper

•2 tablespoons kosher salt

•1 tablespoon granulated garlic

•1 tablespoon granulated onion

•1 tablespoon crushed coriander

•1 tablespoon dill

•1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes

Combine ingredients and mix well. Feel free to play around with your ingredients! You just never know what new flavor combination you’ll come up with!

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