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Are you looking for a great Christmas gift for someone who either loves to cook or has to cook?
There are a lot of Kitchen tech gadgets on the market but a sous vide precision cooker is
hands-down the best device to come to home kitchens since the microwave oven.
Maybe you’ve heard of sous vide. It is the process of cooking food by immersing it in
water. It was exclusive to commercial kitchens, restaurants, and steakhouses and now it’s in
many home kitchens.
Anova precision cookers are an option. These wands circulate water at a precise temperature.
So if you want a medium rare steak, it’s medium rare after it’s finished cooking (usually 1-2
hours). You just have to sear it on a grill or cast iron.
A new option is from Typhur. It is an all-in-one sous vide station. It has a water tank, a wireless
vacuum sealer that stays charged and connected to the cooker, and a video screen. There’s
also a Typhur smartphone app with recipes you can send from your phone to the sous vide
station.
The large video screen displays recipe options, and chef’s favorites, and contains how-to videos
for most of the choices.
Videos guide you through all the steps. First, Select the food, I chose thick chicken breasts that
are always difficult to cook at the right temperature. You’re prompted to choose how you want it
cooked. Do you like your chicken soft, or stringy? You’re guided to place the food in a
vacuum-sealed bag to remove the air, attach weights to the bag to keep it from floating, and
then to drop it in the water tank. Once the water reaches the selected temperature, the sous
vide station circulates the water and cooks the meat.
Sous vide is the best way to cook thick cuts of meat as it cooks thoroughly from end to end, at
the precise temperature you select. It can’t overcook. The video suggests how long to keep it in
the bath. Then just season and sear.
One feature of the Typhur, is you can start dinner in the morning and it’s done when you get
home from work. Place ice and the meat in the vessel and when you want it done. It’ll begin
heating, melting the ice, and then cooking the food. The ice prevents the meat from gathering
bacteria.
Sous vide is especially good for cuts of beef that tend to be tough, like chuck roast and
shoulder. A few hours in the bath tenderize the meat. I’ve cooked chuck roast in a sous vide
bath for 36 hours and it has the same texture and tenderness as prime rib.
One of my friends and family’s favorite sous vide desserts is crème brulee which takes less than
an hour in the bath and is very easy to make.
The Anova Sous vide precision cookers are generally around $150 but you can find them on
sale through the holidays. The Typhur Sous Vide Station is currently $1,000 online.
