Well, sous vide is not "boiled in a bag" really. Cooking temps used in sous vide are usually very low between 140-160f degrees .. The water is circulated for even heating much like a convection oven. Most of the sous vide that I've seen or done with protiens is much like poaching in a court boullion ( a Flavorful liquid or stock) but the vacuum pulls the court boullion into the protien much like hours of marinating would do. The protien is then cook at a low temp in a vacuum which doesn't drive the juices out like dry heat (grill, saute, oven roasteing) would . The end result is a very moist and flavorful protien unlike anything else. Just another way to cook. No real magic. Just a little science.
Sous vide is the curse of "Top Chef" competitions---for those chefs who are dumb enough to attempt it without having used the method before. Think of it, if you are a home cook, as the equivalent of Stouffers' "boil in a bag" Swedish meatballs. Meats are given this treatment and then finished over flame. You need to know what you are doing to get it right. There are home sous vide cookers that will set you back about $500. It can turn out well if your ends in Keller.
it's a method of cooking where a protein is sealed in an airtight plastic bag and placed in a temperature controlled water bath. it can be a slower method of cooking sometimes, but yields a more moist result. (it means "under vacuum" in french.)
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