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wrote:

> I'm getting interested in cooking Sou Vide (the French-developed low
> temperature cooking in vacuum bags).
>
> However, since you cook at very low temperatures (eg, fish at 140 degrees F.
> for 30-40 minutes, until the internal temperature gets to 135 degrees), you
> don't kill organisms by temperature (although even with normal cooking of
> fish, you don't get that hot anyway).

If you're at a center temperature of 135°F and surfaces are at or above
140°F, you've killed most of the critters. Temperatures even this low
are bacteriostatic.

> It works great for fish, even, moist
> results, tender.
>
> If anyone has scientific knowledge about this to impart (not just opinions),
> that might be a good topic in the FAQ.

It's a complex and very fussy culinary approach. Too many hazards for
the imprecise. It takes a fair amount of money to do it correctly.

> I gather the FDA has done some work on this, in order to review and approve
> its use by food service/airlines. I just don't know where that information
> can be located.

I used sous vide, before it was called that, in my restaurants. The
applications available to commercial users are outside the scope of most
home kitchens because of the steady-state precision necessary. The
largest percentage of foodservice application isn't really sous vide
cooking. It's rewarming (rethermalizing! Love jargon.) already cooked or
partially cooked foods.

Pastorio