
9
Cooking menus overview
The Espressions Duo has 2 cooking menus.
Sous Vide cooking
Sous Vide has been a popular cooking method
in restaurants for several years. Sous Vide is
a French term which means ‘under vacuum’
and describes food placed in vacuum sealed
pouches and cooked in a water oven. Food
slowly cooks at precise low temperatures over
a long period of time to achieve succulent,
superb tasting meals. Sealing foods inside
pouches allows it to cook in its own juices in
addition to any marinades, seasonings etc.
you wish to add. Vitamins, minerals and juices
are retained within the food and natural
flavours are intensified. This allows the food
to be healthier, more tender and flavoursome.
Meats cooked in a sous vide tend to be more
tender, tougher and mostly cheaper yet flavour
filled cuts of meats such as chuck steak can
be used.
As sous vide cooking requires foods and
meats to be sealed individually, yet cooked
at the same time; it is perfect for families
and entertaining when there are people with
varied tastes and nutritional requirements.
It is difficult to overcook using the Sous Vide
method, although textures can change slightly.
As it's difficult to overcook, it allows food to
be cooked ahead of time, perfect for family
meals and entertaining.
Temperatures. The Espressions Duo has a
40°C to 90°C temperature range, with 1°C
increment selection. Different temperatures
are required for different types of food and
for different degrees of doneness. See the
'Sous Vide temperature and time guide' on
page 13).
Time. The cooking time depends on the
thickness of the food, rather than the weight
of the food. The default cooking time is 1 hour.
Time can be set from 1 hour to 24 hours. See
the 'Sous Vide temperature and time guide'
on page 13 for more information.
Ideal foods for Sous Vide cooking. Meats are
ideal to cook using the sous vide method as
they are more tender, succulent and flavour
filled.
• Red meats - Lamb, beef and pork.
• Poultry - Chicken, turkey, duck.
• Fish and Seafood - Fish, lobster tails,
scallops.
• Vegetables - Root Vegetables. Potato, carrot,
parsnip, beets, turnips.
• Vegetables - Tender Vegetables. Peas,
asparagus, corn, broccoli, cauliflower,
eggplant, onions, squash.
• Fruit - Firm Fruits. Apple, pear.
• Fruit - Tender Fruits. Mango, plum, apricot,
peach, nectarine, papaya, strawberry.
Steps to Sous Vide cooking
Step 1. Seasoning your food
To enhance the flavour of your food, you may
wish to marinade or add spices, herbs, butter
or oil to your vacuum pouch prior to sealing.
Step 2. Vacuum sealing your food
Sous vide cooking requires food to be vacuum
sealed inside pouches to ensure excess air
and moisture are removed, so the natural
taste and nutritional quality of the food is
captured. Vacuum sealing also assists in
opening the pores in food such as meat,
poultry and seafood so that marinades and
seasonings are more readily absorbed for
highlighted flavour.