Home Sous Vide Gets Chilly Reception

Posted by The Editorial Desk / Monday, October 26th, 2009

(Image: SousVide Supreme)

Kitchen gadget collectors got served up a doozy on Friday with the release of the SousVide Supreme–a home water bath being marketed by “Protein Power” proponents Drs. Michael and Mary Dan Eades.

The high-tech oven was designed to introduce home cooks to the health benefits of sous vide, a commercial cooking technique that involves preparing vacuum-sealed foodstuffs in meticulously regulated tanks of water. The practice originated in industrial kitchens (our own Cuisine Solutions remains a global powerhouse), but has gained much greater traction with celebrity chefs (Heston Blumenthal is on the current promotional tour) in the past decade.

But is Suzie Homemaker ready to take the immersion cooking plunge?

Cookbook devourer cum techno-prep wiz Carol Blymire, she who battled her way through every French Laundry creation and parlayed her ongoing Alinea project into a spot on Grant Achatz’s line, hopes the SousVide Supreme instruction manual has been more carefully researched than the web site.

“The biggest thing that seemed off, or misguided, is the notion that you don’t have to worry about time when cooking … that you can just walk away and let the food sit in there as long as you want, which isn’t the case,” she warned. “With meats especially, you can leave it in there too long … the color of the meat won’t change, but the the texture will, which will alter taste and texture when you eat it–it’ll look rare, but will taste overcooked.”

Meanwhile, food blogger Melissa McCart imagines the space age appliance would just collect dust on the average cook’s countertop.

“I think it’s like a sausage maker: for the technical geeks, for super committed cooks. But really, a whole lot of work for someone who still buys chicken stock,” she posited.

At press time, Eades Appliance Technology had not responded to inquiries about when the Sous Vide Supreme pre-order price ($399) would expire.

–Warren

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