Sous Vide may sound like a fancy term, but it’s one of the most useful cooking methods for your meat. This simple technique cooks every cut to perfection.

Cooking your meat sous vide keeps a constant cooking temperature, seals in your meat’s natural flavor, and makes it extra tender. For any serious meat lover, it’s definitely a technique worth mastering.

Below are the many benefits to cooking your meat sous vide and practical tips on how to do it right, every time.

What Exactly is Sous Vide?

The technique of sous vide involves submerging food in an airtight packaging in hot water until it cooks to the perfect temperature. Usually, the package is a vacuum sealed bag, which makes sense given the term means ‘under vacuum’ in French. French chefs Georges Pralus and Bruno Goussault invented sous vide in 1974. They wanted to create a precise cooking method for meat and foie gras. They teamed up with the plastics company Cryovac to hone in their technique and equipment and the rest is history.

All over the world, chefs and busy home cooks have adopted this precise cooking technique. Once you try it at home, you too will see the benefits of cooking your meat sous vide.

Precise Cooking Temperatures

A sous vide machine, known as an immersion circulator, heats water with a metal coil until it reaches the desired temperature and keeps it circulating. When you add your vacuum sealed protein or vegetable to the water, it slowly cooks until the meat reaches the perfect level of doneness.

Without the extreme temperature changes and burning from other cooking methods, you’ll never have to worry about over or under cooking your meat. Sous vide takes the guesswork or consistent poking with a thermometer out of the cooking process.

If you’re looking for control over cooking temperatures and perfect results every time, consider trying sous vide in your home. If you’re a busy professional or preparing a meal for your family, sous vide can save you time and make your meat taste amazing.

Incredible Flavor and Texture

Smoked and fried meat tastes great but there’s nothing like the natural taste of meat cooked sous vide. Without the oils and charring of other cooking methods, you’ll taste the pure flavor of your meat.

By cooking your meat at a low temperature for a long time, sous vide makes your meat tender by breaking down its proteins slowly. It also seals in its natural juices, which, for any cook, is a really good thing.

Because sous vide uses a plastic vacuum sealed bag, you can add any marinade, herbs, or dry rub such as The Flying Butcher’s Butchers Blend Steak Rub. The bag will seal in the flavor of your seasoning, leaving you with perfectly flavored meat.

Practical Tips to Master Sous Vide

Cooking your meat sous vide involves only a few steps. Still, there are things to keep in mind when cooking your meat sous vide to get the best results.

Below are some helpful tips so you can cook your meat a la sous vide perfectly every time.

Choosing the Right Equipment

To sous vide your meat, you’ll need an immersion circulator. This small device takes water in a pot, heats it up to the desired temperature, and circulates it.

The next piece of equipment you’ll need is a vacuum sealer. You’ll simply put your food in plastic vacuum sealable bags and… Voila!

You’ll also need a sous vide sinker weight to place over the bag. This will stop your food pouch from floating to the surface and keep it submerged throughout the cooking process.

There are all kinds of sous vide products on the market. It’s important to get the equipment that’s designed specifically for sous vide cooking in mind to prioritize quality.

Understand Your Meat’s Cooking Times

To get your meat cooked to the perfect level of doneness, all you have to do is understand what temperature you’ll need. For steak such as high-quality prime beef, you can set the following temperatures on your immersion circulator:

• Rare: 120°F
• Medium-rare: 129°F
• Medium: 135°F
• Medium-well: 145°F
• Well-done: 156°F
• Chicken Breast: 145°F
• Salmon Filet: 125°F

Make sure to only cook your meat between one to four hours for most cuts. This way it will cook thoroughly without breaking down and losing its texture.

To get the perfect sous vide cooking times every time, ask our meat experts at The Flying Butcher. They will give you the right time based on the size and type of cut you buy.

Seal the Bag Correctly

Before sealing your bag, get as much air out as possible. Check for any holes in the bag to prevent water from leaking in.

Give your Meat a Quick Sear

Who wants a steak that hasn’t been seared? We sure don’t. Even with sous vide, you’ll probably want to throw it on the grill or pan to get the perfect Maillard reaction. This is when heat creates a flavorful brown crust on meat.

After cooking your meat sous vide, brown it on a pan or on the grill until you get a nice crust. It doesn’t have to be cooked for long to get all that flavorful crust around a perfectly cooked interior.

Season Your Meat Right

Don’t be afraid to season your meat before vacuum sealing. No matter if you’re using a simple salt and pepper rub or BBQ sauce, the sous vide technique will seal in the flavors.

For an easy and delicious seasoning, try using The Flying Butcher’s Butchers Blend dry rub or Butchers Blend Steak Rub. Or, simply coat your steak in salt and pepper. Your meat will soak up the flavor of anything you season it with.

Improve Ease of Use with Sous Vide

No matter if you’re cooking for a group or just your family, cooking your steak, chicken, or fish sous vide is a wonderful way to save time and effort. Your meat will come out perfectly cooked, every time.

Plus, there’s no need to clean up oils or coals after cooking. Simply dump the water and repeat.

You can also cook multiple ingredients at the same time. Simply fill your bags with meat and vegetables and cook them for a few hours until they’re perfectly cooked.

When you come to The Flying Butcher, ask us about the best cuts for sous vide. We’ll prepare your meat and make sure each cut is exact. Plus, we can help you select the best seasonings and food pairings for your delicious sous vide steak, chicken, or fish.