More Restaurants are Using Sous Vide Food Sous Vide Prepared Meals
Sous vide is an innovative new cooking method that’s quickly taken off for both at-home chefs and within many restaurants worldwide. Sous vide is a French term pronounced as soo-veed, which translates to “under vacuum”. It’s the process of sealing food into an airtight, vacuum-sealed bag and then submerging it into a preheated water bath. The sous vide process works to preserve food’s natural integrity, as the dish’s juices are released into the vacuum-sealed bag throughout the cooking process, thus allowing the dish to absorb more of its natural flavors.
This provides its own unique benefits, as little to no preparation work is required, meaning that seasonings, tenderizers, and marinades also aren’t required. The sous vide method is also great for dishes typically thought to be tougher in texture, especially cheaper cuts of meat such as chicken, duck, and turkey. It’s no surprise why several restaurants today are quickly jumping on the sous vide prepared meals bandwagon and offering these dishes within their facilities.
Why Are More Restaurants Using Sous Vide Food?
Aside from the fact that the sous vide cooking method results in flavorful and tender meals, there are several other unique reasons why many restaurants are beginning to offer sous vide dishes on their menus. There are companies today that specialize in the preparation of sous vide food for commercial use such as Cuisine Solutions. Cuisine Solutions offers hundreds of different options for sous vide prepared meals. Restaurants can easily choose which meal offerings they’d like to add to their menu, and the company will handle all of the preparation work.
By the time the meals end up at the restaurant, all that’s left to do is simply cook them. Sous vide prepared meals provide quality and consistency to restaurant chains, thus allowing them the opportunity to expand upon their menu offerings without having to add additional staff to do so. Outlined below are a few of the many reasons that so many restaurants are now offering sous vide prepared foods on their menus.
Better quality
Quality is essential in the restaurant setting, and sous vide prepared meals work to deliver just that. As previously mentioned, the sous vide method helps to preserve food’s natural flavors and overall integrity. These prepared meals require little to no preparation work beforehand. No additives are needed such as marinades or tenderizers simply because the sous vide method works to maintain the food’s true essence and flavors. According to Toast Tab, many restaurants favor the sous vide cooking method over alternative cooking methods because it’s also extremely cost-efficient.
The sous vide method can break down even the toughest cuts of meat, meaning that cheaper cuts of meat can end up just as juicy and delicious as more expensive cuts. When it comes to sous vide prepared meals, there is no sacrifice between flavor and cost, which is an integral reason why the sous vide method is being used in many restaurants today.
Versatility among dishes
The sous vide method also offers extreme versatility when it comes to the dishes being prepared and the menu offerings available in restaurants. Today, there is a preconceived notion that the sous vide method is only to be used when preparing cuts of meat. However, that isn’t true at all. In fact, the sous vide cooking style can be used to cook just about anything. Listed below are a few of the many dishes that restaurants are offering today using the sous vide cooking method.
- Steaks
- Seafood
- Potatoes
- Pasta
- Vegetables
- Custards
- Cheese
- Ice Cream
- Cocktails
- Eggs
- Custards
- Yogurt
Waste reduction
The sous vide method also helps to cut back on the waste within the restaurant setting in terms of food waste. Many restaurants today admit that they waste far more food than they’d like to on a day-to-day basis, whether it be from food that was prepared incorrectly, portion leftovers, or food that’s reached its expiration date before it was ever used.
However, the great thing about the sous vide method is that waste can be avoided. Sous vide prepared dishes come prepackaged and vacuum sealed, helping them to have a longer shelf life. Ultimately, sous vide prepared meals help restaurants to achieve optimal order-to-serve time and profitability because of their ability to help eliminate food waste.
Customized meals
When ordering your sous vide prepared meals from companies such as Cuisine Solutions, they can also work with you to customize meal offerings for your restaurant based on your own unique preferences and needs. They have an innovation and research team that works with each client to test different meal offerings and menu items. Their ultimate goal is to help create new and unique dishes that your restaurant’s guests will love!
It shouldn’t be any surprise as to why sous vide prepared dishes are becoming so popular in the restaurant setting, as they make a great addition to any menu. The first step is to give the sous vide cooking method a try or to order sous vide prepared meals for your restaurant!