Sous-vide cooking photoshoot - Slow cooking in a waterbath - Meat and Fish!
I was asked to take photos of a few sous-vide machines and the end results of several pieces of meat and fish prepared with this technic. They had a chef on side preparing the dishes. I would like to share some of the results with you guys. The job was done for free. I'm not a professional photographer. The equipment I used to create these shots you can find on the bottom of the post.
Salmon made in a sous-vide machine. (® exyle)
What is Sous-vide Cooking?
Sous-vide is a method of cooking in which food is sealed in airtight plastic bags then placed in a water bath or in a temperature-controlled steam environment for longer than normal cooking times (usually 1 to 6 hours, up to 48 or more in some select 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 and higher for vegetables. The intent is to cook the item evenly, ensuring that the inside is properly cooked without overcooking the outside, and retain moisture.
This is a sous-vide machine for a home chef.
In front of the sous-vide machine is a Picanha.
This machine is for professionals and cost around 3000 euros.
The machine is filled with water and can regulate the temperature upto two decimals. It's insanely accurate.
Vacuum sealing the meat before it goes in.
The chef at work preparing lamb chops.
The cheapest sou-vide 'machine' you can buy. It's basically a rod you stick in your pan and it will regulate the temperature. If you look closely you can see the meat in the bag in the background.
When the meat comes out of the machine it doesn't look very appetizing. This is duck breast. It's perfectly cooked on the inside but it has no crust.
With a blowtorch, you can quickly create that crust.
Food Results.
Sous-vide steak seared with the blowtorch. Perfect redness all around.
Sous-vide duck breast, with purple tomato mash, grilled carrots and a wine sauce.
Sous-vide salmon with couscous, grilled asperges and a passionfruit sauce. (personal note it was the best salmon I ever tasted).
Sous-vide lamb chops with sweet potato mash and green beans with a meat sauce.
Equipment used:
Nikon D50
Sigma 70-200mm
Nikon f/1.8 35mm
2 lamps with umbrella
Sources used:
Wikipedia
@exyle I don't eat red meat but you got me reading because of the sous-vide machine. I saw that in the masterchef and I'm curious how that works. A friend of mine has one - but hesitating to have it myself.
Your took very good photos - even though I don't eat red meat they look very appealing to me.
I wish you've joined this, too, there's but 4 hours and half before it closes.
Keep writing :)
Thank you for your nice words. The salmon made in the sous-vide machine was the best I ever tasted. It was moist all the way trough and had tremendous flavor. Just for that, I'm considering getting one. (I'm not the best skilled at frying fish)
But cooking sous-vide is pretty boring in general I think. I like the fire and sizzling sounds when cooking. Also, you don't get any nice smells when cooking sous-vide. What you do get is perfect results every time, but if that kills the fun....i'm not sure.
All in all, it was nice to see all the machines in action and taste the results of sous-vide cooking.