Why Cook Sous Vide? The Top 10 Reasons You Should Be

Why sous vide? It's the easiest cooking method for incredible meals with very little margin of error. Placing food in plastic or silicone pouches, releasing the air (to get that “under vacuum” characteristic that the French words “sous” and “vide” translate to), and cooking it in a precisely heated water bath results in culinary perfection. If you've been asking yourself or friends, 'what are the advantages of sous vide,' then we have the answers for you.

Anova's Top Ten Benefits of Sous Vide Cooking

10. No more overcooking.

Throughout my life, my food-loving and fantastic cook of a mother regaled me with stories of how my grandmother 'cooked things to death.' Well-done, dry, and frequently hard to chew as one would expect shoe leather to taste! She tried to make up for it by becoming a gravy expert, but being able to achieve juicy results would have saved her from this daily chore. (I can’t complain - my grandmother’s gravy was AMAZING, and I'm lucky to have learned from her). With precise control over the temperature at which food is cooked, it never again has to be dry - even if you prefer it well done! Items can be flavorful and juicy from cooking in a humid, self-braising environment. Even if you leave your food in the bath longer than the prescribed amount of time, sometimes even hours, your food will not reach greater levels of doneness. There are guidelines to help you maintain the textural integrity of whatever you are sous vide cooking, but it's already been figured out for you.

9. Sous vide saves money.

Whether it’s decreasing food waste (because you will never be overcooking again), cutting down on going out to eat because you can fearlessly prepare amazing restaurant-quality meals at home, or transforming less-expensive cuts of meat into heavenly entrées, the benefits of sous vide outweigh other cooking methods. Look at this 2-lb/~1kg boneless English roast #anovafoodnerd Thomas M. Price, Jr cooked with his Anova Precision® Cooker. In his words, '...that's a $7 roast I made look and taste like loin. I swear my @AnovaCulinary changed my life.' Even if you ate double portions of 8oz/~225g, that is only $1.75 per serving of tender, juicy, medium rare meat. Talk about rewarding!

8. Why is sous vide good? Because it's safer.

As a professional chef, I have burned myself multiple times. You can often tell a chef or baker by the burn scars on their inner arms. Cooking usually involves fire and very hot temperatures. Getting a little too close to those flames or heated metal can be dangerous and painful. 

When we cook with traditional methods, we are manipulating high external temperatures to achieve a much lower internal temperature. Using a 400ºF/204ºC oven to get the inside of our roasting chicken to reach 165ºF/73.9ºC...that’s a little wild, right? With sous vide, we choose target temperature from the get-go, most falling between 104ºF/40ºC and 185ºF/85ºC. The Anova Precision® Cooker will never reach boiling, no matter how high you set the temperature. Most of the most-common settings are still cool enough to be able to dip unprotected hands into, leaving burns much less of a concern, even if the water were to tip over.

7. Kids love getting involved with sous vide.

I can’t tell you how many parents have shared that kids, all the way down to toddlers, love getting involved in the cooking AND eating process with Anova. As mentioned in the last point, sous vide cooking is generally safer. Preparation to put food in a water bath can be as simple as sprinkling seasonings and drizzling oil – perfect jobs for little hands! Studies show that children who are take on home meal preparation make healthier choices both in and out of the home more often than their non-cooking counterparts.

Also (and this is purely anecdotal, though the stories have poured in from all directions), kids enjoy the texture of 'Anovafied' vegetables and proteins, not to mention the custards, of course! Why? Because, to put it as a parent did to me just today, 'Kids like good food, too.'

6. Sous vide is healthier.

Cooking with your Anova Precision® Cooker requires less oil, fat, and salt than traditional cooking methods. Slow-cooking preserves and makes nutrients more accessible, helping to accommodate special diets like Keto, Paleo, gluten-free, and more without problem. We devoted another entire blog post to countless sous vide health benefits.

5. You can cook (almost) anywhere.

You don’t need a full kitchen to cook with an Anova Precision® Cooker. You just need an electrical outlet, a container, water supply, and the bags of food, of course. Some customers report traveling with their immersion circulators to ensure that they're eating healthy, delicious meals wherever they go. The list of “wherever's” has included hotel rooms, hunting cabins, and believe it or not – the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers! (That was me...)
Of course, this little-equipment-needed method lends itself to the tiny-home movement, but also offers build-your-kitchen-anywhere potential.

4. Low maintenance benefits of sous vide.

Excessive amounts of attention are not required to cook sous vide. You don't have to stand over a hot stove to make sure that food avoids burning; you simply heat a bath, drop food in, and set the timer. If you use our handy app, the timer is already set and the unit will ring an alarm when food is ready. That said, you never need to use an app or smart phone if you don’t want to – you can keep cooking as simple as you please. How convenient, and perfect for people with limited mobility who still want to make and eat amazing dishes!

3. Sous vide is fantastic for make-ahead meals.

Easily prep a week or even months in advance. No longer do you have to be afraid to buy the bulk package of chicken breasts on sale. Portion them out however you choose, marinate, cook, and freeze OR marinate, freeze, and THEN cook. Check out our post on batch cooking to learn more.
You can also use your Anova to help reheat non-sous vide prepared meals from the fridge and freezer. With all of the recent concern about the safety of microwaves, isn’t it great to know that you can have a highly portable appliance help you reheat your food?

2. You can appeal to a number of palates at the same time with very little effort.

Joe likes his steak simple with salt and pepper. Chris wants his treated with a coffee rub. Julia likes hers with Montreal Steak Seasoning & Worcestershire sauce. They want to eat together at the same time. The answer? Different pouches, same water bath! With a little extra time spent cooking, you can also manage different degrees of doneness. This can make a family dinner - or even party - much less stressful. And if you choose recipes carefully, you can prepare entirely different dishes at the same time, like our #anovafoodnerd @ritsthechefwannabe, with chops, fried chicken, and wings going at the same time. We love it!

1. The Anova Precision ® Cooker makes life easier.

In so many ways is this true! From all the other ways listed, to the 8 Weird Ways to Use Your Precision® Cooker we recently shared, sous vide is a cooking method that can make life easier. You can set from your couch or fill water before you leave work. Notice fewer pots and pans to wash. The friends you invite over to dinner will think you're a culinary genius, but you haven't even broken a sweat!

The next time somebody asks you "Why cook sous vide?", we know you'll have an answer! And if this article has answered YOUR question, but you want to explore more, visit our website.