Is Sous Vide Right For Your Operation?
Many fine dining and casual upscale chefs and KMs who were once resistant to the notion of "cooking in a pouch," have dramatically changed their tune. What's turned them around? The outstanding flavor, wonderful textures, consistency, precision control of the cooking process, and attractive savings in labor dollars.
We're hardly talking "boil-in-a-bag" here. it's a precision process called Sous vide; a vacuum sealing and cooking technique developed in France about 30-years ago. It literally translates to "under vacuum." The process involves cooking wrapped, sealed food, under conditions so precise that it maintains fresh texture, color, and minimizes shrinkage from moisture loss.
These sealed packages are slowly simmered in circulating baths of water held at very low temperatures-- generally around 180-200 degrees.
Early on, the sous-vide process was embraced by large institutional kitchens, and casual family dining and quick service operations. Only in recent years have we seen operations in segments farther up the food chain begin to test these waters. Today, many of the country's top rated chefs have incorporated sous-vide in their kitchens. That news may seem surprising. But the sous-vide process was originally created for a dish fine dining chefs hold very dear to their hearts; it was developed by a French chef to better handle the delicate, touchy process of preparing foie gras. Cook With Better Control This is a slow-cook method, and that makes it easier for cooks to take action at the precise moment when, say, proteins gel or collagens are about to denature. It also provides the perfect environment for vegetables to maintain their moisture, texture, original color and nutrients. That means, plate after plate arrives on your guests' tables with the contents cooked to their peak perfection. And it also means that this level of consistency occurs regardless of the expertise of your line cooks, or the number of orders the line happens to be coping with at a given moment. Less Stress On The Line The sous vide process can greatly change the pace and rhythm of your day to day BOH operations. Your cooks have already essentially cooked the ingredients for your customers' meals over the course of several hours. For instance, when a server enters an order for your spice-rubbed pork loin that everyone raves about, your line cook merely has to remove the meat from it's circulating bath, sear it in a hot pan for a moment, plate it and sauce it. Contrast that to the typical race against the ticking clock that line cooks experience every time your line is hit with a rush. Stress in the kitchen is reduced, and the disappointing compromises in quality every kitchen makes when their line gets in the weeds become a thing of the past. Labor Dollar Savings The ability to cook well while coping with the hectic pace of a line in the midst of a rush, is a rare skill. KMs and head chefs frequently tolerate weaknesses in ability, behavior, even attendance, in cooks who possess this special talent; and often end up paying through the nose for the privilege of doing so. Sous vide cooking doesn't require these type of skills; and that can mean labor dollar savings for you. In the words of renowned chef, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, it allows an operation, regardless of the skill level of their kitchen staff, to "cook with an accuracy and precision never before possible." Because the process requires that your kitchen crew is constantly cooking throughout the day, your most valuable players will instead be those with the work ethic and discipline to stay constantly busy. Is Your Current BOH Operation A Good Match? Leisurely strolling through a Saturday night rush may seem like a bit of heaven. But don't forget that much of your staffing decisions, as well as the layout of your kitchen, are currently based upon the realities of dealing with the need to prepare food with blazing speed. Many people get things done simply because they feel the pressure of an approaching deadline. Your crew is accustomed to being pushed to perform by the realities of the ticking clock and ticket times. Sous vide methods, on the other hand, absolutely require that BOH crews cook throughout the day so that the line doesn't run out of menu items in the middle of a meal rush. That requires people in key leadership roles who possess outstanding organizational skills. That might not be the strong point of your current management staff, or their crew members. Retooling both your kitchen layout and your crew makeup would likely be costly. Now throw in the cost of the spendy thermal bath equipment that makes sous vide cooking possible. It may well add up to more than you were bargaining for. Do keep in mind, though, the aforementioned potential for overall labor dollar savings. Potential Health Concerns The chefs and foodies of New York have embraced sous vide cooking with an exuberance that has no rival anywhere else in the world. However, New York's health department recently put a damper on this enthusiasm. They unexpectedly began impounding sous vide equipment during restaurant inspections, and tossing out prepped food that had been vacuum sealed. Restaurant operators reacted with alarm and shock at the suddenness of this decision; particularly since the department offered no evidence that anyone had ever been made sick by this cooking process. Department spokesmen explained that the ban was not prompted by any determination that the process itself is dangerous. It was due to the fact that the department had never established guidelines that allowed them to test and evaluate kitchen staff as to whether or not they have been properly trained for what they say is really a food manufacturing method. The low temperatures that are a necessity in sous vide cooking are not sufficient to absolutely ensure that microbe contamination will be killed off. The fear is that improperly trained employees may make mistakes during the vacuum sealing process that could result in such contamination. Once the health department establishes their guidelines, it's expected that New York chefs will be allowed to return to their sous vide methods. However, the department isn't the only government agency that has expressed health concerns. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is also on record warning of potential dangers associated with this cooking technique. The FDA acknowledges that food products are better protected from contaminants when they've been vacuum sealed. But they caution that unless proper procedures are followed during the sealing process, the package could potentially be contaminated with the bacteria that causes Botulism. It's important not to discount both the cost and health concerns. Despite that, though, sous vide appears to have a bright future in our industry. Indeed, it's easy to conceive of a day in the not so distant future when restaurants like yours will be offering trademarked dishes direct from the kitchens of the world's most renowned chefs.
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