I have watched many professional chefs use the Sous-Vide Cooking method on so many of the cooking shows I watch. It looked very technical and intimidating watching them use their big industrial sous-vide cooking machines. Never in my wildest dreams did I think it was something a little ol’ home cook like myself could do on a regular basis. Much to my surprise, Sous-Vide Cooking is actually quite easy. The results are outstanding, mouthwatering dishes that anyone would be proud to serve their families. It’s a kitchen tool that has been really fun for me to play around with!
Sous-Vide Cooking – It’s not just for the pros! – Pin it for later!
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This post is sponsored by Air & Water. I received the Sous-Vide Water Oven for free in exchange for my complete and honest review of the product. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own. For more details please see our Disclosure Policy.
As most of you know I love to cook homemade, balanced meals for our family. Trying new things and new techniques in the kitchen is a rush for me. I enjoy experimenting and learning something new when it comes to food. That is why when asked to try out and review The Avalon Bay Sous Vide Water Oven SVC-100 Cooker, I was beyond thrilled. I didn’t even know sous vide machines existed for the home cook.
What is Sous-Vide Cooking?
What exactly is Sous Vide Cooking? I am so glad you asked! Sous-Vide (sue-veed) is a French word meaning “under vacuum”. Sous-Vide is a method of cooking in which food is vacuum-sealed in a plastic pouch and then placed in a water bath or steam environment for longer than normal cooking times (usually 1 to 7 hours, up to 48 or more in some cases) at an accurately regulated temperature much lower than normally used for cooking (typically around 55 to 60 °C (131 to 140 °F) for meat, higher for vegetables). The intent is to cook the item evenly, ensuring that the inside is properly cooked without overcooking the outside, and to retain moisture. (Source: Wikipedia)
The Set Up
The set up on The Avalon Bay Sous Vide Water Oven SVC-100 Cooker was a snap. There is nothing to assemble, no pieces to add on. Pull the water oven out of the box, fill it to the water capacity mark on the inside wall, set your time and temperature and you are good to go. There is a cooking guide for all types of meat HERE. Once you set your temperature, you will need to preheat your water oven which does take a little time. I strongly suggest filling the water oven with warm water instead of cold, this will speed up the preheating process a bit more.
Cooking The Meat
Once your water oven has reached the desired temperature, it is time to add the meat. The Avalon sous-vide machine comes with cooking bags in 2 different sizes, but you can use any air tight resealable Ziploc bag you have on hand. Place your seasoned meat into the bags, seal it up tight and place the bags into the water completely.
Once the meat has cooked for the selected time, you are left with juicy, flavorful meat every time. Setting the temperature for the cooking process ensures that the meat will never cook any higher than that temperature. Which means you can’t over cook it! Even if you left it in for an extra hour, it would come out perfect and juicy every time.
The first thing I decided to try in the Sous-Vide water oven was chicken breast. I figured if it can cook a chicken breast to perfection it can cook anything to perfection. We love chicken breast and cook it a few times a week for me and the teens, hubby is not a fan of chicken (I know, crazy right?!?!) Whole chicken breast seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. Simple, I know. After it was cooked we turned it into the best Teriyaki chicken and rice bowl.
I preheated my water oven to 140 degrees, seasoned each chicken breast individually, placed them in the bag and cooked them for 1 hour 30 minutes. Once the chicken breast was cooked, I did sear it on both sides in a frying pan after it was done just for color. You can see how perfectly golden brown it is coming out of the frying pan.
Served on top of a bed of rice, steamed broccoli and the BEST EVER TERIYAKI SAUCE! Dinner was a huge hit! I can’t see myself making chicken breast any other way now that I have had it sous-vide.
If this sounds like something you would love to try, be sure to stop over to Air & Water.com to see all of their amazing products, including The Avalon Bay Sous Vide Water Oven SVC-100 Cooker
It does not make sense, but maybe it does because this is the best looking chicken I have ever seen. I think we will get a sous vide too, especially for chicken.
it’s fantastic Sue, I am so glad I was able to try it. We have made many things in it since. I hope you are able to get one to try too.