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I will make this review very short, but I must respond to a few of the negative comments. Also, some have raised the safety implications of cooking sous vide. I just received my copy of this book and I am absolutely thrilled. Thomas Keller has been my go-to authority on cuisine for as long as I've know of him. First, this is a rant. There is a great description of a "ghetto sous vide" technique in the book Momofuku. If you are serious about cooking and exploring the your personal unknowns then you can easily find these products on sites such as willpowder or simply google which ever hydrocolloid you need, you will surely find it. You too are a moron and don't deserve to own this book.
I cannot wait to cook from this book. Well, moron, sous vide is not a fad as it has been popular in Europe for over thirty years. Second, this book is amazing and beautiful; a first of its kind and should be revered as such. If you have actually looked into the book and READ a little you may see the 3-4 pages of sous vide safety with each type of bacteria handled separately. Someone complained that this book was part of a trendy fad and that they were disappointed that Keller would endorse said fad. Also, someone complained that this book includes ingredients not easily obtained. If you are a home cook and you don't have a vacuum sealer or an immersion circulator (I have neither) then you could simply buy the siploc vacuum bags and use a calibrated thermometer to achieve great results. Check it out.
It is beautifully photographed and very informative. I bought this book for my husband, who is a chef, for Christmas. He LOVES this book. His restaurant just recently bought a sous vide machine so he was anxious to get some ideas. I would definitely recommend this book for the professional chef.
This volume was given to a chef as a gift. He was pleased to get it, since this is a new and up-and-coming way of preparing food that he wanted to learn about. He said the book is a great learning tool.
the book is very informitive. KELLER explains all about Sous Vide Cooking. The recipes are also good
I always think of that high school girl who put some plastic wrap in olive oil, microwaved it and sent it to a lab for testing resulting in some really nasty results.So why would I cook Sous Vide knowing this. If you are looking to cook meals in 30 minutes, buy Rachel Ray's cookbook and be done with it.If, on the other hand, you are an experienced chef and are looking for a completely new cooking technique then you are looking in the right place. Where do I get beef, chicken or pork that I would consider safe to be eaten raw. Yes, there are some ingedients that you'll need to get by mail order but that's no problem.
The only cookbook I have that is more complicated is Alinea.I've made many of the recipes in this book and I've adjusted some of the cooking times to my liking. I'm sure if you're reading this you've ordered stuff from the web before.There is one thing I'm trying to rationalize and haven't fully come to terms with yet: Is cooking with plastic safe. With the exception of Sous Vide, I NEVER cook my food in contact with plastic. First of all I'm going to address the topic of whether or not you need this cookbook. The blow torch is used to brown up meat to make it look more like conventionally prepared meals.Update 1/4/10: I replaced the Handi Vac with a FoodSaver V2840 Advanced Design Vacuum Food Sealer because the bags melted sometimes with the Handi Vac at temperatures over 135 degrees. Hmm.
Botulism thrives between 90 and 100 degrees Farenheight so stay away from that but other food-born bacterias can survive temperatures up to 155 degrees. Generally, most bacteria can't survive temperatures over 130 degree so I feel safe enough.Under Pressure was not written for a beginner cook; rather, it's just the opposite.
If you're using liquids than you have to freeze them a little before pulling a vacuum and sealing. There is an investment required to get the bare minimum equipment needed but you can buy everything you need for under $250.In order to cook Sous Vide, you need the following: 1) A PID temperature controler like the SousVideMagic 3rd Gen 1500C which costs $139 plus shipping 2) A rice cooker like the Black & Decker 20-Cup Rice Cooker - Stainless Steel (RC866) for $40 3) A vacuum food sealer like the Reynolds Consumer Produ Handi Vac Starter Kit 00590 for $14 4) A propane torch like the Bernzomatic - Turner Brass Propane Torch Kit (TU100K) for $19 5) A fish tank air bubbler for under $20That's everything you need except for the food ingedients.
I like the technique but be prepared to wait a long time (up to 2 days) for your food to cook.If you were wondering about my equipment list, the PID temperature controller regulates the rice cookier to within 1 degree. The answer is two-fold: first, I'm not subjecting the plastic to high enough temperatures to cause it to leach too many chemicals into my food and second there's simply no other way to do this.The other concern is bacterial growth during the cooking process.
They get around this by saying to use foods you could eat raw. The air bubbler helps to circulate the water.
FoodSaver does not endorse using their product for Sous Vide.
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