Chefsteps Five Basic Steps for Sous Vide

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Ingredient

Quantity

Yield

Timing

Equipment and Materials

Optional Equipment and Materials

1

Preparation

Preparation of ingredients for sous vide cooking is fundamentally no different than for any other method of cooking, but there are some tips and tricks to learn that will make preparation easier.

2

Packaging

Packaging food usually involves sealing ingredients in food-grade plastic bags and removing surrounding air. But sometimes the best way to cook foods sous vide is with no packaging at all.

3

Cooking Temperature

One of the most important questions when cooking sous vide is: At what temperature should I cook this food? This always involves your personal preference, but should be informed by what you’re cooking and food safety considerations.

4

Cooking Time

The other key question for sous vide cooking is: How long should the food cook for at the temperature I have selected?

5

Finishing

Once your food has been cooked sous vide, the final step is finishing. Sometimes this can mean portioning, repacking, and preserving cooked food to use later. More often, however, this is about using a searing step to make the food delicious.

Salmon and albumin

My family really only like salmon cooked sous-vide in oil, we also don't really have much access to good seafood in Denver unless you pay an arm and a leg.

I've done quite a bit at 50C as well as much shorter cook time at 57.5C. Is brining the best way to get rid of the albumin, if so is a typical 6.4% brine what should be used? And for how long?
Johan Edstrom

So-called albumin protein is mostly a function of cooking temperature more than anything else. Worth trying 113 °F / 45 °C to see what you think of that temperature, you will certainly see less albumin percolating to the surface of the flesh.

Adding salt via a brine tends to help retain juices in the flesh—for complex reasons that I hope to explore in a future course—and so at any given temperature you'll see less juice percolate to the surface, which means you'll see less albumin.

Have you checked out the salmon 104 °F recipe on our course page?
Chris Young

I love Salmon, Sushi first!! :) I have always Cedar Planked my salmon and have love the results. Now that I have seen the 104F video, I am going to have to give it a try.
Allen Johnson

@Johan, 43C is my favourite temp too, as 40C is barely warm once it gets served. Have the same problem in UK too with fish, salmon is great, but good seafood here costs a bomb!
Grace