When it comes to foodie trends, there’s a good chance that most of us would be able to name some of the top contenders. In fact, some of the most popular trends are difficult to forget: unicorn bagels, matcha-coloured everything and, perhaps the worst of all, the spaghetti doughnut fad.
However, there’s one food trend that has largely been flying under the radar, despite its popularity in professional kitchens since the early 1970s. And, unless you’re an avid viewer of Masterchef: The Professionals, it’s probably safe to say you won’t have even heard of sous vide cooking.
Translated from French as ‘under vacuum’, sous vide 5 Tips cooking uses vacuum sealed food and precise temperatures to cook food in a water bath, achieving great results every time and allowing you to incorporate a technique of the experts into your own home.
Sous-vide also produces much healthier results too and, with that in mind, we’ve found three of the top health benefits to cooking sous vide.
Less added seasonings
One of the main health benefits of sous vide cooking is that it reduces the need for any extra added seasonings.
By vacuum sealing your food into the plastic bag, the natural juices that would normally be lost through the process of cooking are retained in the bag and act as a natural marinade.
As a result, rather than losing most of the flavours in the pan or through evaporation, your food takes on these flavours and has a much punchier taste, thus reducing the need for any extra salt or butter to liven up the dish.
This makes the end result much healthier by reducing your consumption of bad fats and salt.
For more tips on reducing your intake of these two ingredients, check out how adding herbs and spices to your food can help.
Retains its original nutrients
Similarly, the process of sous vide cooking also lends itself perfectly to preserving the natural nutrients found in food.
Many of the best bits of food, such as nutrients that give us more energy or boost our immune system, are actually lost or destroyed in the cooking process by the exposure to heat, water, and oxygen.
However, by vacuum sealing your ingredients, the food isn’t exposed to any oxygen or water and heat is kept to a minimum in the water bath, meaning those healthy vitamins and minerals are locked inside the bag. As a result, you benefit from the full range of healthy nutrients in your food.
This post by Sous Vide Tools has some more information on the health benefits of the technique.
Reduce the risk of getting ill
Finally, proper sous vide cooking increases your general at-home food safety and reduces your risk of getting ill.
According to this post by Anova, as long as you meet the minimum cooking times and cook red meat and poultry above a certain temperature, sous vide cooking pasteurises your food and effectively kills off any potential bacteria.
This massively reduces your risk of food poisoning and can improve your overall health in the process!
We hope these tips have given you the boost to try sous vide cooking for yourself!
