What would be the difference between a slow cook in sous vide and slow cook in an oven at the same temperature
>>7493079
Precise temperature control.
The point of a sous vide is to bring food up to a uniform temperature throughout
In an oven, the convection heating would make that extremely slow, so you use higher temperatures to accelerate heat transfer and therefore create a heat gradient in the food
>>7493084
Yep. Most ovens have horrible temperature stability, especially at low temperatures. The point of sous vide is accurate control of temperature in a range that's below most oven cooking.
as the above posters have said, the vast majority of the time a sous vide bath is going to be much more accurate than an oven. not only is water a much more effective conductor than air, sous vide baths are PID controlled, whereas ovens are usually programmed to turn back on when the temperature falls from the input setting by a specific margin - which is far less useful.
this is not the only difference, however. sous vide bags make for a minimal amount of air circulation around the food and very little drying on the surface. the temperature is also very even throughout the bath and there are no issues relating to contact with parts of the oven which can deliver uneven amounts of heat to the food.
slow cooking in an oven can be desirable with things like roasts, which want to dry out on the surface so a very good crust can be produced at the searing stage. that's how i do it much of the time.
>>7493079
You have an oven that can hit sous Vid temps? Roughly 135F? You can't do things like dry herbs in an oven easily or correctly, same with drying figs, too much of a temp swing and you have to do stupid shit like leave the oven door open, which doesn't really work. Now if you said why can't I use a food dehydrator, then maybe possibly, but again it'll be half ass.
Pretty much what everyone else said, but for thoroughness. The benefit of sous vide is the uniformity. You cook everything at the exact same temperature slowly, and as a result get that thorough cook on the entirety of it to kill the bacteria while retaining the moisture.
The only reason it's not done on the restaurant level largely is because it's too slow, which is irrelevant to the consumer.
>>7493229
You kidding me? A massive number of restaurants use it. It's actually great from a restaurant perspective for several reasons:
1) The portions of the various ingredients for a dish can be pre-portioned, keeping all the ingredients together in a convenient bag. The seasonings, etc, are already in there.
2) The bulk of the cooking time (the sous-vide bath itself) can be done in advance rather than when the restaurant is busy.
..that makes it super simple. When an order comes in the cooks can simply grab the bag(s) for that order, sear off anything that needs searing, and then plate the food right away. It's faster than waiting for the food to cook through and the portions are already perfectly sized.
>>7493246
logically i'm sure you're aware that a system like this can only work when you can predict the orders you'll get.
>>7493380
That's not really an issue. The things you'd normally use sous-vide for during restaurant service aren't necessarily things that need predicting.
>Braised foods
Can be kept at serving temp without risk of breaking down or drying out.
Also can be individually cooked ahead of time, reheated in a pan to order. This is near perfect portion control, centralizes seasoning, and takes guesswork out of the hands of cooks.
>mashed potatoes/cauliflower/veg/root/whatever
Saves tons of time for having to heat to order without the drawbacks of using a bain marie and a 1/3 pan
>Desserts
I've seen chefs cook cheesecakes, creme brulee(just the custard), creme anglaise, basically anything that needs to be tempered or slow and steady. For cheesecakes they're obviously individually packaged and sealed, see next
>Canning
Restaurants do canning from time to time. Big harvests with really good quality produce often results in low prices higher end restaurants that use local farmers. Canning jams, tomatoes, veggies, pickles, etc. for later use.
>Cooked food pre-prep
For example, if you need pre-cooked sausage, this is very easy to do, cooks evenly without getting burnt or crispy sections like with an oven. The fat and moisture stays with the meat and keeps it easy to break up(ideal for pizzas)
>Keeping inserts warm
Similar to a bain marie, if you have, for example, a hollandaise sauce and a sous vide handy. Restaurants often just use a bain-marie for this, but if a sous-vide machine is available, they serve the same purpose.
There's more examples that I can't really remember right now. But this should answer your question as to why they're extremely popular for commercial use.
>Tempering chocolate
One of my favourite uses, can't believe I almost forgot. If you don't have a crazy expensive tempering machine, TIC's work perfectly
>>7493380
I ran out of space.
Additionally, sous-vide bags are vacuum sealed, so portions can be kept near indefintely.
I didn't intend to write so much, but here we are.
>cook life
>>7495016
>cook chill is all well and good but a restaurant worth its salt isn't gonna want to serve week old food.
Salami, hard cheese, dry-aged steaks, bottarga, honey, black garlic, umeboshi, pickles, sauerkraut, corned beef, olives, gochujang paste, sriracha, tabasco, demi-glace, preserved lemons.
I also want to point out, restaurants don't waste time predicting exact numbers, sometimes things run out, and that's ok.
>>7495310
those are cured, preserve or non-perishable products. for fuck's sake stop being so pathetically slippery. there are businesses where the implementation of sous vide is going to necessitate sweeping changes to how the kitchen is run. all i'm saying.
>>7493380
>logically i'm sure you're aware that a system like this can only work when you can predict the orders you'll get.
How so? the food gets bagged then it gets frozen. You simply grab the food out of the freezer and heat it up. Food packed in a vac bag lasts nearly forever.
Any restaurant always needs to try and anticipate customer need. This just makes it so much easier because the food can be kept and re-heated easier than traditional methods.
>>7495326
>there are businesses where the implementation of sous vide is going to necessitate sweeping changes to how the kitchen is run
Sure. But it's still easier in the end, which is why many restaurants do it.
>>7495353
>How so? the food gets bagged then it gets frozen.
this is not remotely ideal.
>>7495382
I agree with you that fresh food is preferable to frozen, but the fact is that at the vast majority of restaurants you're eating frozen food already.
>>7494839
Arrr no ya fucking idiot that's how you kill people
