Three Factors to Consider in Sous Vide
With the cooking technology going the way of a more rational and measurable scientific development, people's exploration of the science of cooking is no longer stuck at traditional cooking methods. And through continuous innovation and experiments, the concept of molecular gastronomy has gradually entered into traditional cooking. On the premise of ensuring food hygiene and safety, and guaranteeing that the nutrients can be more easily absorbed by the human body, we can start from the molecular level and make brand-new dishes with the assistance of sous vide technology and modern cooking equipment. In this process, there are three factors we need to consider that are pressure, temperature and time.
Pressure
Under the condition of low pressure, the molecular movement speed of condiments in the ingredients is much faster than that under normal pressure. And vacuum food sealers can create a relatively low atmospheric pressure environment so that the growth and breeding of microorganisms are inhibited, and the ingredients can be marinated well in a short time, with the original shape and color being not destroyed. This method is also commonly used in the modern industrial production of food. In order to achieve these effects in the cooking process, it's necessary to create a suitable low-pressure sealed environment. At pressure, vacuum packaging machines and vacuum bags are two widely used tools in sous vide cooking. As the media that produce the pressure, vacuum-sealed bags can wrap food integrally and make it squeeze evenly. Moreover, the setting of the pressure value, determined by the biological characteristics of cooking ingredients and the thickness of vacuum bags, is a very important factor to consider under the circumstances of ensuring the complete shape of food.
Temperature
Cooking denatures the proteins in the animal-based food, which produces gel substances with water holding capacity. At this time, the meat tastes tender and juicy. According to this characteristic, find out the temperature control point of protein denaturation of each animal-based ingredient, and make the cooking temperature as exact as possible, with the meat achieving the best freshness and tenderness. What's more, at the appropriate temperature, the cell wall structure of fruits and vegetables will be broken, and the juice in the vacuole will be separated out, bringing a great taste to the food. Because of the difference in the molecular structure of every ingredient, the temperature of heating and cooking will be different. Water is the most commonly used heating medium, and we usually apply sous vide cookers to control the temperature.
Time
Time and temperature are two factors that coexist in cooking. In the traditional cooking methods, the heating temperature is often higher than the optimal temperature of the cooked food itself, which leads to a very short cooking time and makes it hard to control the quality of cooked food. On the contrary, sous vide cooking reduces the difficulty of cooking and makes the temperature standardized, which is also the theoretical basis of constant-temperature heating. In general, the time to heating can be adjusted in accordance with the texture of ingredients and the characteristics of molecules, as well as the tenderness, shape and color of the food after cooking.