EQUIPMENT CONSIDERATIONS FOR SOUS VIDE COOKING

The microbiological stability and safety of sous vide products is main ly determined by the different thermal treatments including heating, c ooling and reheating. Some theoretical aspects of the different modes of heat transfer relevant to 'sous vide' cooking are summarized. It is shown that computational techniques such as the finite element method and CFD (computational fluid dynamics) provide a powerful means to in vestigate the effect of modifications in the process conditions and eq uipment characteristics on the internal temperature of the food. An ad equate vacuum appears to be a major factor to obtain an acceptable hea t transfer rate. This may lead to better process design in terms of sa fety, reliability and uniformity of product quality.