Hypodermic temperature probes

Monitoring the temperature at the core or centre of what you are cooking allows you to set the water bath at a temperature higher than the finished temperature of the food you are cooking. Bruno Goussault’s recipe for goose is an example of how this works. A small strip of closed cell tape is placed on the side of the vacuum pouch containing the food, using the adhesive on the tape to keep it in place. Then a small needle-like temperature probe is pushed through the tape into the food, where it remains for the entire cooking and cooling process. (The tape stops the vacuum inside the vacuum pouch being lost when the probe is inserted.) A temperature alarm can be set on good thermometers to make an audible alarm when a pre-set temperature is reached. Temperature probes for sous vide can be very expensive and have only been used in one recipe in this book to show how this method works. The remaining recipes in this book do not require the use of this equipment.