The Science Behind Sous Vide: Everything You Need to Know | The Tool Shed

The Science Behind Sous Vide: Everything You Need to Know

Sous Vide is a method of cooking which provides incredible results for a huge range of different types of food, offering a consistent level of quality. While you can be sure of the fantastic meal you’ll enjoy from sous vide cooking, you may not be entirely sure how it works.

However, understanding the science behind sous vide may help you to become an even better cook, giving you the confidence to be a little more adventurous in the kitchen.

So, how does sous vide cooking really work?

How It Works…

When cooking sous vide, food is cooked slowly at lower temperatures than with traditional methods in a water bath. This results in meat that is perfectly tender and juicy, without any shrinkage. If you have ever cooked meat at a high temperature, such as steak, you’ll know that it can shrink drastically, particularly if you like it well done. This shrinkage is caused by cooking food at higher temperatures as the fibres in the meat begin to contract, losing a lot of the water and shrinking.

Food that is cooked using the sous vide method however, is cooked at much lower temperatures over a longer time frame, ensuring that these fibres don’t break down, maintaining the integrity and moisture of the meat. When we cook food in the oven or pan, the exposure to extremely high heat can sometimes result in drying, overcooking and food which is not cooked evenly throughout. When using sous vide, the temperature is just high enough to allow the food to cook without these drawbacks.

Why This Method Is So Effective…

The sous vide method is incredibly popular, particularly with professional chefs, both at work and at home. Not only does sous vide help you to create fantastic meals, but it also provides a consistent method which ensures that your food is never overcooked. As the temperature is kept at a low level, the food you place in the water bath won’t overcook once it reached that desired temperature, no matter how long it’s left for.

This means that you can confidently cook food for a number of hours, allowing it to become perfectly tender, moist and delicious without worrying about what will happen if it is left to cook for too long. And while with traditional cooking methods you have to cook your food from the outside in, with sous vide, the heat is distributed much more evenly throughout all of the food, whether it be meat, vegetables or any other food.

Sous-vide literally translates as ‘under vacuum’, with the food cooked in vacuum-seal bags, meaning that much of the flavour and nutrients that you might lose in other methods of cooking are kept inside, ensuring that your food is more delicious than ever.

Sous vide cooking is an excellent way of preparing food which gives you consistent and fantastic results, no matter what you are making. You can check out our blog to take a look at some of our suggested recipes as well as for advice and tips to help you get the most out of your sous vide. You can also browse our selection of tools and equipment for the home cook and the professional chef.

Post by Chris Holland

Our Chef Director Chris Holland worked as Head Chef at the prestigious Alderley Edge hotel before joining us. He has a passion for using the best produce and never compromises on quality. Author of our best selling book Sous Vide The Art of Precision Cooking, Chris is a expert on the sous vide technique.During the later part of my school days at Wardle High School Rochdale I always wanted to be a chef . I knew from the very start that my path to work was never going to be academic it was always going to be something practical and hands on.

As a young boy growing up I was inspired to cook with my Grandma who was and still is an inspiration to me . I have memories of helping make the cakes that she always had made for visitors and family alike . She made the most amazing cakes and I loved nothing more than eating the sweet raw cake batter straight from the bowl . We used to fight over who got to lick the bowl/spoon after the cakes were made. My grandma’s philosophy for cooking even on a shoe string budget was always to use fresh and seasonal ingredients either home grown or bought from the market.

School was somewhat of a drag for me as I was itching to learn to become a chef.

I started at Hopwood Hall college as a chef and instantly fell in love with it .To me it was the only real time I excelled in something and this inspired me to really get my head down and put in the hard work. College was the first time I really excelled in something and gave me the opportunity to laugh at the teachers who said I would never make something of my life!!!!

During the three years at college I also took on a part time position in a local hotel working the bar and restaurant first and then the kitchen. These were great days and gave me the opportunity to see how the industry ticks. I learnt a lot from those days both good and bad !! But I have to say I was itching to work only in the kitchen but it was a good insight into the catering world .

After completing college I moved away from Rochdale for a full time roll at one of Cheshire’s most talked about Hotel restaurants The Stanneylands Hotel. This was the school of hard knocks for me as I quickly realised that although excelling at college meant nothing in “The Real World”.

I loved every minute of the 18 hour days 6 days a week on minimum wage . Although difficult I feel that without this grounding I wouldn’t have achieved what I have today. After 18 months of hard graft I left Stanneylands and went with the Head chef to open a fine dining restaurant at Mere Golf and Country Club. The opportunity to work alongside Matthew Barrett was too good to turn down. I learnt so much from the ex-Ritz chef and working in a much slower paced role helped me develop a much better understanding of how to organise and run a kitchen. We were a very small team and teamwork was and still is the only way to go for me.

After 2 years at Mere I got the opportunity to go into The Alderley Edge Hotel as Junior Souschef. The Early days at the Edge were all about learning new styles of cuising which is invaluable in any role as a chef. I got the opportunity to grow and learn all aspects of every section which was inspiring . I was offered the opportunity at the age of 29 (2004) to take the role of head chef. For me this was when I really started to develop my own style of food.

After 9 years at the top winning Cheshire restaurant of the year , Chef of the Year and appearing on GBM amongst many highlights including cooking for many celebrities and famous people I decided to move on into development with Sousvidetools.

The main inspiration for this was to train and educate people . I always had a great passion for education but could never really see myself at a college . The job is super rewarding and I am proud to say we have become the leading light in sous-vide education in the UK . This is something I am very proud of . Food is my biggest passion and this is what keeps me interested the most . I love to travel and try out other countries cuisines. I am constantly inspired by ingredients and the pursuit of getting the best out of them without destroying their natural flavour .It is super important to me to continue to try and be at the forefront of the food scene this is what inspire me and the team to keep driving forward .

Technology is now widely used in the industry and I am super proud to say we have been a big part of spreading that message.

I am very lucky to be in the position I am and the drive to constantly improve our training and links to the next generation of young budding hospitality chefs.

TI feel that my experience over the last 25 years really enables me to get close and educate the “next generation” of chefs .

The industry which I love is really struggling to bring through new recruits and if I can help that process I will be immensely proud.

The food seen in the Uk has improved dramatically over the last ten years and I feel this will continue with the correct education. What happens next only fate will tell us...

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