Answer
Sep 29, 2025 - 09:49 AM
Sous Vide is a technique used by top chefs to make steaks, which can easily be mastered with an Induction cooktop. The technique can only be accomplished with fine-grained temperature control. Vacuum-sealed meats are submerged in a pot of water, and heated up to, but never exceeding, the desired internal temperature of the meat (125°F for rare, 132°F for medium-rare, etc). The meat is left submerged at that target temperature for at least 1 hour, until it is uniformly distributed through the inside of the meat, but can be kept there for many hours, up until the point where it is served. To finish the steak, all that is needed is a quick pan sear at high heat, allowing the steak to be ready and served on demand.
Sous Vide has become the gold standard for chefs, because it provides some flexibility about when the meal can be started, while making no compromises on both the desired level of doneness of the steak, and the temperature at which it can be eaten. Induction cooktops make this possible in a few ways: they employ a temperature sensor that monitors your cookingware directly, working in synchrony with a heating element capable of variable watt output. When a target temperature is set, the heating element starts at maximum wattage, bringing the pot to up to temperature, then slowly tapers off its output to maintain any intended temperature within tight tolerances. This kind of control is not possible with an electric radiant element, which employs a thermostat that only has an on or off state, creating a final temperature that fluctuates significantly above or below a given target. A natural gas burner with a high variability in BTU output could theoretically pull this off, but would require complicated manual temperature monitoring and control which makes the technique infeasible. Finally, at the searing stage, Induction cooktops significantly outperform both electric cooktops and natural gas burners at heating the entire surface area of a pan to the same temperature, providing a more even pan-sear.
