Sous-Vide is a low and slow pasturing method of cooking that allows you to precisely control texture and moisture content by not having to worry about bringing food up to the ridiculously hot traditional 2 second standard doneness temperatures which not only effectively destroys pathogens in 2 seconds it also destroys delicate protein cell structures which causes the cells to release their moisture..

For example Chicken breasts are perfectly safe to cook to an internal temperature of 131.5 degrees ala sous-vide. The problem with this is that sometimes you just can’t teach old dogs new tricks and in this case it seems like many old timers just can’t seem to get past the old 2 second doneness temperature standards..

Although its perfectly safe to cook poultry ala sous-vide to an internal temp as low as 131.5 most people prefer the texture of chicken breasts cooked sous-vide at about 140 or so.. The main benefit here is that 140 degrees is just below the point where protein cells begin to rupture and release their moisture content yet high enough to kill all those nasty pathogens given the proper time..

For example there’s no other cooking method that can safely compete with Sous-vIde in producing a tender moist skinless boneless chicken breast without the risk of under cooking.. You would need to cook a chicken breast up to 185 internal to make it as safe to eat as the Same chicken breast cooked Sous-vide at 140 for 1.5 hours, Now which one do you think is going to be moist and tender and which one is going to be saw dust.

All cooking is a form of pasteurizing which kills the nasty pathogens that make you sick. Now those pathogens can either be killed by high temperatures maintained for 2 seconds or low temperatures maintained for much longer period of times. All normal food related Pathogens that can be eradicated at 165-185 degrees can also be eradicated at 131.5 which is the lowest temperature that will eradicate them.. Of course the main pathogens we are concerned with here are Listeria, E-coil, Salmonella and Botulism

Once again Pasteurizing is time and temperature variable, Once you understand this Sous-vide opens up a whole new world of amazing flavors and textures but its one of those cooking methods where you need to be at least 10 percent smarter than the equipment you’re using

Totally agree about red meat benefiting the most from the method, but you should try some peeled asparagus maybe. Or some chunked potatoes and turn it into mashed potatoes. That way you can play with the science and cook a little bit too.

(confession – i used to heat up purchased cookie dough in the microwave)

Like an entire pork shoulder.

Or a watermelon.