Sous vide in the oven ?

Hi chef steppers ,
Was wondering if it is possible to sous vide in the oven, or maybe even in a heated trolley ? Do I need the water bath ? In all most every place I work do they use the same method of preparing meat, first searing the meat, then in the oven with 60oC until desired tenderness. We do have a vacuum sealer and as I said a heated trolley, where we can adjust the temperature, so I'm actually interested in the differences of thes methods and the possibilitys of the equipment we already own ?

Thx

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Comments

Chris_Young_80640

There are two issues with ovens for sous vide cooking:

(1) Humidity control. Most ovens don't have any. So it's critical that you vacuum pack the food so that the plastic skin prevents evaporation, which causes cooling and dries the product.

(2) Temperature control. Most ovens have very poor temperature control below 250 °F / 120 °C or so. You can see temperature swings of 10% or more, which causes problems for delicate ingredients. At a minimum, you should use a second digital thermometer to try to control the temperature of an oven being used for sous vide cooking.

Bj_rn_Olfenius_39604

@chris

ok i get you point, if i´m going to have a water bath inside the oven( i can control the temperature with plus minus 1°C ) it might work ?

Simon_Andreas_Petutschnig_34596

@björn if you can controll the water temperature there is no reason that it should not wok

Chris_Young_80640

Yes, a water bath will help dampen fluctuations in the temperature. I would be surprised if you can control to +- 1 °C, but you might get to within a couple of degrees.

Bj_rn_Olfenius_39604

Ok ... Going to try it out , and let u guys know

Leigh_Jones_66597

I've seen sous vide cooking done very effectively using equipment as simple as a deep chafing dish and cans of Sterno for heat. It takes close attention, good digital cooking thermometers, etc., but a big pot full of water in an oven at the right temperature should be manageable. Graph the temperature over time. The meat will draw the temperature down more quickly at first. If above target, add ice or cold water cut the heat and open the oven door for a bit. Measure temperature often. If below target add a bit of boiling water from a teapot. Equip yourself with thermostat or PID controller soon and CrockPot or Rice cooker. Sous vide should reduce your work preparing food!