Under Pressure: Cooking Sous Vide
by Thomas Keller
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List Price: $75.00
Our Price: $46.24
Your Save: $ 28.76 ( 38% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Artisan
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.587
EAN: 9781579653514
ISBN: 1579653510
Label: Artisan
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 295
Publication Date: 2008-10-15
Publisher: Artisan
Studio: Artisan
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Nature abhors a vacuum
Comment: "Under Pressure: Cooking Sous Vide" is Thomas Keller's latest coffee table book/cookbook. While "French Laundry" showed innovative takes on classic dishes and "Bouchon" offers everyday French bistro fare,"Under Pressure" takes cooking in another direction. It's a technique known as "bain marie" among the French. It's a more sophisticated version of the "boil in the bag" technique.
"Under Pressure" is fascinating when Keller discusses the science behind it. One can have superb vegetables and meat... in a matter of hours. The method itself isn't glamorous,but the science is interesting. The final recipes-the chosen few that are actually depicted--look beautiful.
"Under Pressure" is more useful to the restaurateur than the home cook. After all,does one really have thousands of dollars to blow on vacuum equipment? At least "Bouchon" had doable recipes for someone wanting to recreate the flavors of a Parisian bistro.
As food science,"Under Pressure" works. Not so much so as a cookbook--nor it is as visually beautiful as Keller's previous works.
On "Under Pressure",the barometer drops.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Above my head
Comment: This is a very interesting process and beautifully presented but too technical for me. I don't have the time or patience. It was a gift and I will pass it on to a more serious cook who I know will appreciate the techniques.
Customer Rating:
Summary: No Apologies, this is not for home cooks.
Comment: I see some disgruntled reviews here which I think are misleading, mainly by people who feel misled.
To begin with, this book is not intended to be "dumbed down" for the everyday home cook. It is for professionals, and very ambitious home cooks. The recipes are directly from 2 of the top restaurants in the country/world, and as such, they are not simple. That being said, they are detailed and descriptive, and explain everything you will need to do in order to prepare these dishes.
As for tech requirements. Yes, a water circulator would be nice, as would a chamber vac machine. But, not all of us are so lucky. As we do in professional kitchens, make do with what you have. Wal-mart carries a basic home vac machine, which will work for most of the recipes, but if you do not have one try a Ziploc. Fill it, submerge in water and seal. (Heston Blumenthal uses a bag and a vacuum cleaner as well I believe). Water circulator. They do a great job at keep a constant temp in a water bath, but so does a large pot. A digital thermo can be had for 20 bucks (probably right here on amazon), and you are one your way to Michelin stars.
As for molecular gastronomy chemicals...yes some are a little odd, but think how strange gelatin would be where we not familiar with it. Think, a hydrocolloid derived from animal hooves be denaturing it. Many of these new thickeners and binders are readily available, just as gelatin sheets and salt are, and for those that are harder to find, there is a list of suppliers in the book for all of the items which may be less common.
Best of luck to those ready to give it a try. But, be warned, this is not a Mark Bittman book. Have fun. Oh, and yeah, the book is great, with detailed recipes, precise details, and great photos.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A beautiful book, and Keller's best one yet
Comment: This book isn't really designed for the home cook. When Thomas Keller first published his French Laundry cookbook, he made a concerted effort to make it useful to amateurs and home cooks. But the very topic of Under Pressure precludes that. Few people have vacuum sealing machines and few can deal with simmering water at a constant temperature.
That being said, for the more passionate and professional cooks who might buy this, they'll be happy to know that this book is far better than either the French Laundry or Bouchon cookbooks. Recipes are better structured, more photographs are included, and it makes the imagination run wild.
Most importantly, for any chef who uses sous vide techniques, Keller offers a wealth of information, including a chart of times and temperatures, which is quite invaluable.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Professional and Prophetic
Comment: You know the pleasure you get from standing behind the stove while the aromas of -let's say- sweating onions and garlic wrap around you? Well those great cooking smells and all of their kin come at the expense of flavor in your food when it hits the plate. Suppose you could somehow trap all those aromas and taste them all it once, wouldn't you want to?
That's the promise of sous vide cooking. For most of us, this beautiful book will have to be like a catalog of sensations that we can look forward to. Right now, this technique remains (pretty much) in the realm of professional kitchens. Imagine being able to bring a steak up to serving temperature and have the entire piece of meat be medium rare. Or imagine short ribs that aren't gray and carrots that taste raw and chew cooked.
In a few years, the equipment and supplies necessary to vacuum-pack food and then cook it precisely will be available for the home kitchen. In the meantime, these recipes stand like luscious fables for the amateur and a call to action for the pro.
Lynn Hoffman, author of the highly pressured novel, bang BANG
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Editorial Reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Nature abhors a vacuum
Comment: "Under Pressure: Cooking Sous Vide" is Thomas Keller's latest coffee table book/cookbook. While "French Laundry" showed innovative takes on classic dishes and "Bouchon" offers everyday French bistro fare,"Under Pressure" takes cooking in another direction. It's a technique known as "bain marie" among the French. It's a more sophisticated version of the "boil in the bag" technique.
"Under Pressure" is fascinating when Keller discusses the science behind it. One can have superb vegetables and meat... in a matter of hours. The method itself isn't glamorous,but the science is interesting. The final recipes-the chosen few that are actually depicted--look beautiful.
"Under Pressure" is more useful to the restaurateur than the home cook. After all,does one really have thousands of dollars to blow on vacuum equipment? At least "Bouchon" had doable recipes for someone wanting to recreate the flavors of a Parisian bistro.
As food science,"Under Pressure" works. Not so much so as a cookbook--nor it is as visually beautiful as Keller's previous works.
On "Under Pressure",the barometer drops.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Above my head
Comment: This is a very interesting process and beautifully presented but too technical for me. I don't have the time or patience. It was a gift and I will pass it on to a more serious cook who I know will appreciate the techniques.
Customer Rating:
Summary: No Apologies, this is not for home cooks.
Comment: I see some disgruntled reviews here which I think are misleading, mainly by people who feel misled.
To begin with, this book is not intended to be "dumbed down" for the everyday home cook. It is for professionals, and very ambitious home cooks. The recipes are directly from 2 of the top restaurants in the country/world, and as such, they are not simple. That being said, they are detailed and descriptive, and explain everything you will need to do in order to prepare these dishes.
As for tech requirements. Yes, a water circulator would be nice, as would a chamber vac machine. But, not all of us are so lucky. As we do in professional kitchens, make do with what you have. Wal-mart carries a basic home vac machine, which will work for most of the recipes, but if you do not have one try a Ziploc. Fill it, submerge in water and seal. (Heston Blumenthal uses a bag and a vacuum cleaner as well I believe). Water circulator. They do a great job at keep a constant temp in a water bath, but so does a large pot. A digital thermo can be had for 20 bucks (probably right here on amazon), and you are one your way to Michelin stars.
As for molecular gastronomy chemicals...yes some are a little odd, but think how strange gelatin would be where we not familiar with it. Think, a hydrocolloid derived from animal hooves be denaturing it. Many of these new thickeners and binders are readily available, just as gelatin sheets and salt are, and for those that are harder to find, there is a list of suppliers in the book for all of the items which may be less common.
Best of luck to those ready to give it a try. But, be warned, this is not a Mark Bittman book. Have fun. Oh, and yeah, the book is great, with detailed recipes, precise details, and great photos.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A beautiful book, and Keller's best one yet
Comment: This book isn't really designed for the home cook. When Thomas Keller first published his French Laundry cookbook, he made a concerted effort to make it useful to amateurs and home cooks. But the very topic of Under Pressure precludes that. Few people have vacuum sealing machines and few can deal with simmering water at a constant temperature.
That being said, for the more passionate and professional cooks who might buy this, they'll be happy to know that this book is far better than either the French Laundry or Bouchon cookbooks. Recipes are better structured, more photographs are included, and it makes the imagination run wild.
Most importantly, for any chef who uses sous vide techniques, Keller offers a wealth of information, including a chart of times and temperatures, which is quite invaluable.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Professional and Prophetic
Comment: You know the pleasure you get from standing behind the stove while the aromas of -let's say- sweating onions and garlic wrap around you? Well those great cooking smells and all of their kin come at the expense of flavor in your food when it hits the plate. Suppose you could somehow trap all those aromas and taste them all it once, wouldn't you want to?
That's the promise of sous vide cooking. For most of us, this beautiful book will have to be like a catalog of sensations that we can look forward to. Right now, this technique remains (pretty much) in the realm of professional kitchens. Imagine being able to bring a steak up to serving temperature and have the entire piece of meat be medium rare. Or imagine short ribs that aren't gray and carrots that taste raw and chew cooked.
In a few years, the equipment and supplies necessary to vacuum-pack food and then cook it precisely will be available for the home kitchen. In the meantime, these recipes stand like luscious fables for the amateur and a call to action for the pro.
Lynn Hoffman, author of the highly pressured novel, bang BANG
A revolution in cooking
Sous vide is the culinary innovation that has everyone in the food world talking. In this revolutionary new cookbook, Thomas Keller, America's most respected chef, explains why this foolproof technique, which involves cooking at precise temperatures below simmering, yields results that other culinary methods cannot. For the first time, one can achieve short ribs that are meltingly tender even when cooked medium rare. Fish, which has a small window of doneness, is easier to finesse, and shellfish stays succulent no matter how long it's been on the stove. Fruit and vegetables benefit, too, retaining color and flavor while undergoing remarkable transformations in texture.
The secret to sous vide is in discovering the precise amount of heat required to achieve the most sublime results. Through years of trial and error, Keller and his chefs de cuisine have blazed the trail to perfection—and they show the way in this collection of never-before-published recipes from his landmark restaurants—The French Laundry in Napa Valley and per se in New York. With an introduction by the eminent food-science writer Harold McGee, and artful photography by Deborah Jones, who photographed Keller's best-selling The French Laundry Cookbook, this book will be a must for every culinary professional and anyone who wants to up the ante and experience food at the highest level.
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