The Benefits Of Sous Vide In A Commercial Kitchen | The Tool Shed

The Benefits Of Sous Vide In A Commercial Kitchen

Sous vide was once seen as something that you would only see in the five-star, high-end restaurants of the likes of Gordon Ramsay and Heston Blumenthal, but as professional-grade equipment becomes more affordable and more chefs become familiar with the method, we’re seeing it in more and more commercial kitchens.

Here we’re going to take a quick look at some of the major benefits that sous vide can offer in a commercial restaurant setting.

Quicker Execution

Especially in a larger restaurant where you’re struggling to meet multiple orders at once, sous vide can be a lifesaver.

This is because it allows you to prepare large quantities of ingredients at once which can then be quick chilled and refrigerated without any loss of quality.

Then, all you need to do is reheat the ingredients and quickly sear to finish before serving, saving valuable time and personnel.

Greater Yield

While the specifics will be unique to every restaurant, using sous vide can ultimately result in greater yields for your restaurant.

While there will be an initial outlay to get the equipment that you need for sous vide cooking, they can start to pay back and start making increased revenue within a year.

Not only can you afford to charge higher prices for your ingredients, as your customers are receiving a higher-quality product, but you’ll also enjoy less portion shrinkage, be able to turn cheaper cuts of meat into more premium products, and spend less on seasoning and staff costs, all of which will help increase profits in the long run.

Flavour & Nutrition

Sous vide allows you to achieve consistent results which would be very difficult to achieve through traditional cooking methods.

Because the ingredients are cooked evenly and for a much longer period of time, you achieve a much evener texture, while traditional methods will always leave your ingredients more overcooked on the outside than they are on the inside.

The method also provides nutritional benefits by reducing the harmful loss of nutrients and minerals that arise from cooking at high heat. By locking all of the ingredients in a sealed pouch, you don’t just lock in all of the great flavours, but the nutrients too, all of which gives your customers greater trust that you’re providing high-quality and healthy dishes.

More Time for Other Tasks

Because food cannot be burnt or overcooked when being cooked sous vide, it frees up the chef and their staff to carry out other tasks.

All they need to do is set the sous vide equipment to the desired temperature and it can be left to cook without any loss in quality, meaning that you can spend more time on other tasks such as training other members of staff.

Reduces Cross-Contamination

Some people have concerns about the safety of sous vide cooking, but it is, in fact, a very safe way of cooking.

Vacuum sealing the ingredients helps to reduce cross-contamination between different ingredients and allows them to be cooked at the same time (providing you have room in your water bath or chosen vessel).

Increased Shelf Life

Cooking sous vide will also help to increase the shelf life of your ingredients and ensure that wastage is kept to a minimum.

Any food which is cooked but not immediately served can simply be quick chilled in an ice bath and refrigerated ready to be reheated and served over the next couple of days and the exact same quality, resulting in reduced wastage and lower operating costs.

Greater Consistency

Sous vide involves cooking your ingredients at a consistent, low temperature for a long period of time without overcooking.

This means that once you’ve worked out the perfect temperature and cooking time for your ingredients, you can achieve those same great results every single time, which will translate to satisfied customers.

These are just some of the benefits that sous vide can have in a commercial kitchen, both financial and to make the lives of chefs and their staff easier.

And with sous vide equipment more affordable than ever before, why not consider introducing sous vide into your kitchen?

Post by Chris Holland

Our Chef Director Chris Holland worked as Head Chef at the prestigious Alderley Edge hotel before joining us. He has a passion for using the best produce and never compromises on quality. Author of our best selling book Sous Vide The Art of Precision Cooking, Chris is a expert on the sous vide technique.During the later part of my school days at Wardle High School Rochdale I always wanted to be a chef . I knew from the very start that my path to work was never going to be academic it was always going to be something practical and hands on.

As a young boy growing up I was inspired to cook with my Grandma who was and still is an inspiration to me . I have memories of helping make the cakes that she always had made for visitors and family alike . She made the most amazing cakes and I loved nothing more than eating the sweet raw cake batter straight from the bowl . We used to fight over who got to lick the bowl/spoon after the cakes were made. My grandma’s philosophy for cooking even on a shoe string budget was always to use fresh and seasonal ingredients either home grown or bought from the market.

School was somewhat of a drag for me as I was itching to learn to become a chef.

I started at Hopwood Hall college as a chef and instantly fell in love with it .To me it was the only real time I excelled in something and this inspired me to really get my head down and put in the hard work. College was the first time I really excelled in something and gave me the opportunity to laugh at the teachers who said I would never make something of my life!!!!

During the three years at college I also took on a part time position in a local hotel working the bar and restaurant first and then the kitchen. These were great days and gave me the opportunity to see how the industry ticks. I learnt a lot from those days both good and bad !! But I have to say I was itching to work only in the kitchen but it was a good insight into the catering world .

After completing college I moved away from Rochdale for a full time roll at one of Cheshire’s most talked about Hotel restaurants The Stanneylands Hotel. This was the school of hard knocks for me as I quickly realised that although excelling at college meant nothing in “The Real World”.

I loved every minute of the 18 hour days 6 days a week on minimum wage . Although difficult I feel that without this grounding I wouldn’t have achieved what I have today. After 18 months of hard graft I left Stanneylands and went with the Head chef to open a fine dining restaurant at Mere Golf and Country Club. The opportunity to work alongside Matthew Barrett was too good to turn down. I learnt so much from the ex-Ritz chef and working in a much slower paced role helped me develop a much better understanding of how to organise and run a kitchen. We were a very small team and teamwork was and still is the only way to go for me.

After 2 years at Mere I got the opportunity to go into The Alderley Edge Hotel as Junior Souschef. The Early days at the Edge were all about learning new styles of cuising which is invaluable in any role as a chef. I got the opportunity to grow and learn all aspects of every section which was inspiring . I was offered the opportunity at the age of 29 (2004) to take the role of head chef. For me this was when I really started to develop my own style of food.

After 9 years at the top winning Cheshire restaurant of the year , Chef of the Year and appearing on GBM amongst many highlights including cooking for many celebrities and famous people I decided to move on into development with Sousvidetools.

The main inspiration for this was to train and educate people . I always had a great passion for education but could never really see myself at a college . The job is super rewarding and I am proud to say we have become the leading light in sous-vide education in the UK . This is something I am very proud of . Food is my biggest passion and this is what keeps me interested the most . I love to travel and try out other countries cuisines. I am constantly inspired by ingredients and the pursuit of getting the best out of them without destroying their natural flavour .It is super important to me to continue to try and be at the forefront of the food scene this is what inspire me and the team to keep driving forward .

Technology is now widely used in the industry and I am super proud to say we have been a big part of spreading that message.

I am very lucky to be in the position I am and the drive to constantly improve our training and links to the next generation of young budding hospitality chefs.

TI feel that my experience over the last 25 years really enables me to get close and educate the “next generation” of chefs .

The industry which I love is really struggling to bring through new recruits and if I can help that process I will be immensely proud.

The food seen in the Uk has improved dramatically over the last ten years and I feel this will continue with the correct education. What happens next only fate will tell us...

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