Sous-vide - Slimming world lifesaver!

We cook a lot of chicken using the sous-vide method. It sounds posh, but it's just really a version of boil-in-the-bag cooking.

The good things:

• No fat used or any burnt bits (free on SW!)
• Flavour is awesome! really really nice...
• Perfectly cooked every time - soft enough for kids.
• Easy - can be ready whenever the veg is done!
• Will last for several days in sealed bags in the fridge, and can be easily re-heated.
• Easy to bulk-cook.
• Very hard to mess up.

Bad :

• A bit of a faff at first.
• *ideally* you need two machines - a sous vide cooker (£99) and a vacuum sealer and bags(£30-40), and probably a thermometer.
• Meat can sometimes look a bit pale - can be browned off in a hot pan (or with a blowtorch) for that proper 'crispy' outside.
• Needs a bit of planning.
• Most things take a few hours (like a slow cooker)

The theory is simple : seal the food and seasoning inside a plastic bag, and none of the flavour can escape. Then put it in a bath of water at a set temperature, and you can safely cook the food without overcooking, burning it, or causing it to go dry and chewy.

In practice it's pretty much that simple. There are only two things to worry about:

* Air trapped in the bag. If there is a lot of air inside the bag, it tends to float, and also doesn't transfer heat properly - leading to warm and cold spots *see below.

* Temperature control is critical. Nasties grow well in food between about 5C and 50C - with the worst being room temp 22C / body temp 37C - and we want to kill any nasty bacteria, not grow more. 

So, therefore the vacuum sealer (to remove the air) and the sous-vide (to keep the temperature controlled). 

It's possible to cook this way without equipment : for example, you can use a zip-loc bag (or even a good strong bag clip) and either remove the air by squashing the bag, or by placing the bag partly under water (leaving the top out) so the water pushes out the air, then sealing the bag. 

Likewise, it's possible to cook the bags in a slow cooker full of water on low - but I would *highly* recommend you have a thermometer and check the temperature is above 60C every hour or so.

I cooked a few batches in a slow-cooker to start with, and they were successful enough that we invested in a proper water bath. 

There are some really good technical guides and books - worth doing some research if you're interested.

We have it down to a regular routine now:
Saturday - is shopping day, and I get the meat for the week. Mostly chicken breasts from Lidl, and sometimes beef or pork - or turkey works well.
Sunday -  I trim any fat off the meat, and split into meal-sized bags (about 2 large chicken breasts per bag)

 I add about 1/2 to 1 ground up stock cube, and about 2 tsp of seasoning to each bag - for example Korma spice mix, Chargrilled chicken, plain sage, honey and mustard, jamacian jerk - whatever you like.  Close the top of the bag and shake to coat the outside of the chicken.

Vacuum seal the bags, and label so you know which is which :). I also write the 'best before' date on it so I know how long it's been in the fridge.

This is my latest new kitchen gadget - the sous vide cooker. Boil the kettle and fill the tub (saves time waiting for it to warm up) and set the temperature, then throw in the sealed bag.

We cook our chicken at 61C for about 4-5 hours (well over the minimum safety margins).

If not eating straightaway, you take it out and put it in a washing up bowl full of cold water and ice, or ice packs - to cool it down as quickly as possible (leave it for at least half-hour to make sure the centre is cold). Then transfer to the fridge, where a sealed bag will easily keep for a week or two. 

We normally cook a couple of bags for cold chicken lunches, and then 2-3 more for main meals. However, it disappears quickly, so your mileage may vary!

It's delicious straight from the fridge, or you can add it to a hot sauce or gravy to warm up, or put the bag back in the sous-vide cooker to warm for half an hour. If you plan a little bit, you can even put a bag on in the morning and cook while at work - the come in to perfectly cooked meals!

Cooking for 8 hours or more does not affect the result very much - it's still great!

I cannot recommend this method enough. It's one of the easiest ways to get really nice meat without any oil or fat, and really fits well with the slimming world free foods.