How to sous vide and all the steps you need to do it

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• With a sous vide device, you can turn cheap cuts of beef into tender steaks that rival your favorite steakhouse, make fall-off-the-bone ribs without babysitting a smoker, and produce flavor-packed fish every time.
• If you don't have a sous vide machine yet, we recommend either the Breville Joule or Anova Nano because they both have smart capabilities, a track record of performance, and can be used with any large pot or container for cooking.
• Here's how sous vide works and how you can do it at home.
• Read more: The best sous vide machines

In the last few years, three appliances have begun showing up in kitchens across America: air fryers, electric pressure cookers, and sous vide machines. Every brand has its own device, and we've tested and reviewed nearly all of them. See exhibits A, B, and C. 

While the technology for all three of these appliances has been around for decades, they've only recently become convenient for the average home chef. Of the three, sous vide is perhaps the easiest to use, yet the most intimidating due to its ability to produce delicious results with minimal culinary experience via vacuum sealing and hot water.

Before we get into how you can make Michelin star-worthy meals in your own home, let's learn a little about sous vide cooking.

What is sous vide?

Pronounced "sue-veed," sous vide is French for "under vacuum." Sous vide cooking involves putting your food in a plastic pouch and cooking it slowly in a water bath that is kept at a low and precise temperature. The "vacuum" part of sous vide comes from the airtight, vacuum-sealed pouch the food is cooked in. Air doesn't conduct heat as well as water so removing all air is imperative. 

There are two types of sous vide machines. The more popular solution is an immersion circulator, which is what we use and suggest for home cooks. As the name suggests, an immersion circulator is immersed in a water bath in a container of your choosing and circulates the water. A heating element within the device keeps the water at the precise temperature you want.

The other machine is the sous vide oven, which works similarly to the immersion circulator except the water bath is contained within the machine. This is a good all-in-one solution, but you are stuck cooking within the oven and can't use different containers, so the immersion circulator is probably more convenient for most people.

Sous vide cooking is best for meats. If you want to cook the perfect steak, you have a short window to get it just right on the grill. With sous vide, since the temperatures are lower, you have a wider window and are more likely to achieve your ideal doneness.

Eggs and vegetables are also excellent in the sous vide. And you might also try making infused syrups, cheese, yogurt, and desserts. However, sous vide is rarely used for grains. Fortunately, it's easy enough to cook your grains on the stove with water in a pot.

Read more: The best sous vide machines

What do you need to sous vide?

• Sous vide oven or immersion circulator
• Vacuum sealer (optional)
• Container for water
• Sous vide cookbook (or any recipe of your choice)

A good sous vide oven or immersion circulator is a must if you are going to do sous vide cooking. You might be tempted to use a pot on a stove, but it's virtually impossible to keep the water at a low and consistent temperature. 

The two most popular immersion circulators are the Joule and the Anova. The Joule was introduced by ChefSteps, which was purchased by appliance behemoth Breville, so you'll likely see the item as "the Breville Joule." It's celebrated for its compact design, impressive app, and the company's outstanding customer service. 

The Anova cooker is made by Anova Culinary. The most popular model is the Nano, which is smaller than previous generations while providing the same functionality, including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth compatibility as well as on-device, smartphone-free usage.

I currently use the Chefman Immersion Circulator, which is affordable, accurate, Wi-Fi compatible, and has served me well.

You might also consider using a sous vide water oven. However, these tend to be more expensive and not as convenient to use. We think the Sous Vide Supreme Demi Water Oven is the best you can buy.

Next, we recommend buying a vacuum sealer. This puts the "under vacuum" in sous vide by removing all of the air from around your food.

We think vacuum sealers are an underappreciated kitchen appliance. In addition to using the sealer for sous vide, it also helps your food stay fresher by keeping air away. Food Saver is the big name in vacuum sealers, but you can save a few dollars by going with a lesser-known brand. For instance, I use a Gourmia vacuum sealer and am happy with it.

You can sous vide in just about any container, including a stockpot, large saucepan, plastic storage container, and a Dutch oven. A quick search on Amazon will also yield a variety of containers specifically designed for sous vide cooking. 

However, my favorite option is a $10 Igloo cooler because it has excellent insulation, which makes it so the sous vide machine doesn't have to do as much work to maintain the temp you want. You simply drill a hole in the lid of the cooler large enough for your immersion circulator to fit through with minimal wiggle room. Anova gives more detailed instructions if you choose to go with the cooler route.

When choosing a container for your immersion circulator, look at the maximum bath volume that your immersion circulator is rated for. For example, the Joule is rated for up to 40 liters. You can usually push this limit if you use a well-insulated container, such as a cooler.

When cooking food in a standard oven, you can easily take it out and assess whether it's done using a variety of methods, including checking the internal temperature. However, since your food is sealed in an airtight bag, it's much harder to tell when your food is ready. This makes it important to have accurate recipes on hand.

There are several online resources, including the Anova Culinary site, or you might want to pick up a cookbook. One of the best options available is "The Effortless Sous Vide Cookbook."

Read more: The best vacuum sealers

How to cook using a sous vide immersion circulator

1. Fill your container of choice with water
2. Place the immersion circulator in the container
3. Set the temperature depending on your protein to preheat your water bath 
4. Prepare your protein 
5. Seal the protein in a vacuum sealing machine or zipper-lock bag 
6. When protein is ready, use tongs to remove from the hot water bath
7. If you prefer a sear, chill the protein in a cold water bath for 10 minutes
8. Sear accordingly 

Here are more detailed instructions on how to cook using a sous vide circulator.

Much like you might preheat an oven, you should first preheat your water bath.

To do this, place your immersion circulator into your container of choice and fill it until the water gets close to the maximum fill line of your sous vide machine. Then set the temperature of your appliance. If you aren't following a recipe, here are some temperatures you might consider for common foods:

• Beef: 124 degrees Fahrenheit rare, 132 degrees medium-rare, 140 degrees medium, 150 degrees medium-well, 156 degrees well done
• Chicken: 155 to 165 degrees 
• Pork: 140 to 150 degrees 

For a more detailed description of what temperatures to cook meats at, check out Anova Culinary's guide.

While the water is getting up to temperature, prepare your ingredients. This might involve nothing more than covering a steak with salt and pepper or adding a dry rub to some pork ribs. With sous vide, even the most basic preparations allow prime meats and fresh vegetables to shine.

Read more: What it's like to use the Anova Nano, a $75 sous vide machine that's designed to cook restaurant-quality meals at home

Prep your protein and pat away any excess liquid.

Once your ingredients are prepared, it's time to seal your food in an airtight container. Plastic bags are most commonly used, but Mason jars also work in some situations. A vacuum sealer is best for this step. You simply put the prepped ingredients in the plastic pouch and then have the sealer remove all of the air from the pouch and seal it.

If you don't have a vacuum sealer, you can use a zipper-lock bag. First, remove as much air as you can from the bag by gently squeezing it. Then, seal the bag until there's about an inch left open. At this point, you can either dunk the bag which forces the air out or you can put your mouth to the gap and suck the rest of the air out. Whichever method you choose, seal the bag the rest of the way immediately after removing the air.

Then vacuum seal your protein, or remove all the air in a zipper-lock bag.

Once the bag is sealed and the water is at temperature, immerse your food in the water bath. Allow it to cook the recommended amount of time depending on your recipe. If you are cooking in an uncovered container for a long time (such as 2+ hours), you may want to slowly add extra water during the cooking process as water evaporates.

After the recommended cooking time, remove your pouch from the hot water bath — I usually use tongs for this — and extract your food from the bag. At this point, you can dig right in. However, with some dishes, such as steaks, you might want to quickly sear each side in a preheated cast-iron skillet. A nonstick pan will also work, but I prefer the sear of cast iron. Don't cook the meat for too long, since it's already at the right doneness. You just want it in the skillet long enough to brown each side.

If you prefer to finish meats with a nice sear, you might be concerned about it getting overdone. To combat this, after your meat is done cooking in the hot water bath, put the whole pouch in ice water for about 10 minutes while your pan preheats. This will lower the temperature of the meat and keep it from getting too hot as you sear it.

Dishes to try 

Now that you have a good idea of how sous vide cooking works, here are a few of my favorite meals:

Ribs: Rub the ribs with a spice rub — I use the Cook's Illustrated recipe — then vacuum seal them in pouches. Next, cook the ribs at 145 degrees Fahrenheit for 24 to 36 hours. When done, put the pouch in ice water to keep the meat cool while you preheat your broiler. When the broiler is preheated, slather the ribs in your favorite BBQ sauce and put them under the broiler on a baking sheet until the sauce starts to bubble. Eat right away.

London broil/top round roast: Rub the roast with a generous amount of salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Vacuum seal it. Cook in the sous vide at 132 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 to 20 hours. When done, preheat a cast-iron skillet on high on the stove, turn on your vent fans, slather the roast in mayonnaise, and sear it on all sides — about a minute per side. Slice and serve.

Pork tenderloin: Season tenderloin with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and minced garlic. Vacuum seal it. Cook at 135 degrees Fahrenheit in the sous vide for about 4 hours. When done, remove from bag and sear in oil or butter on all sides. Slice and serve.

Dulce de leche: My wife loves to put this in her morning coffee. It's also great for dipping fruit. Simply cook an unopened can of sweetened condensed milk (preferably without a pull top) in a 185-degree bath for 12 hours. The finished product stays good in the fridge for up to two weeks.

Egg bites: If you like the wildly popular egg bites at Starbucks, you can use sous vide to make them at home for a fraction of the price. Blend six eggs with salt and garlic powder to taste. Distribute evenly in six 4-ounce canning jars. Add additional ingredients you like, such as crumbled bacon, diced broccoli florets, cheese, etc. Screw the lids on the jars until fingertip tight — you want to allow air pressure to release. Cook in a 172-degree water bath for one hour. Finish by removing the bites from the jars and putting them under the broiler for a few minutes.

Read more: We compared the ChefSteps Joule to the Anova — and it's clear which sous vide machine you should get

Extra sous vide tips

• Buy extra meat on sale: When there's a sale on roasts, I'll buy a few of them. As soon as I get home from the store, I season the meat, vacuum seal it, and put it in the freezer. So, when I'm ready to cook the roast, I can take it out of the freezer and put it directly into the water bath. I also like to do this with pork tenderloins. I usually add an hour to the cooking time for smaller cuts of meat that are frozen. For larger cuts, such as a roast, I add up to four hours. 
• Use your sous vide to chill wine: Though most immersion circulators don't cool water, you can use them to chill wine by putting cold water in your container with ice, set the immersion circulator to its lowest setting, and add your bottles of wine. 
• Use your sous video to also defrost: You can also defrost meat you forgot to take out of the freezer by using your sous vide machine at its lowest setting. Make sure the meat has an airtight seal and put it in a cold water bath (don't add ice). Even larger cuts of meat should defrost within an hour.