Confit vs. sous vide: What's the difference?

The main difference between confit vs. sous vide lies in how the food is heated on the cooktop. With confit, food is immersed and cooked at low temperatures in fat, oil or (with fruits) sugar syrup. With the sous vide method, ingredients are sealed in a vacuum-sealed bag and cooked in hot water.

The techniques of confit and sous vide are slow cooking methods that are particularly useful for creating recipes with juicy, tender meats like poultry or pork, as well as other ingredients. Discover more about the differences between these two cooking styles and how to use them for creating in your kitchen.

What is sous vide?

Sous vide is a French method of heating food in which ingredients are protected in a vacuum-sealed, airtight bag and placed in hot water to cook. Often, a circulator tool that simultaneously heats and circulates the water is used, but the sous vide technique can also be performed on the stove.

The sous vide method can help you achieve more precise cooking for heating ingredients to just the right temperature, ideal for making buttery steak or flavorful pork tenderloin dishes.

What can you sous vide?

Sous vide is a versatile cooking method that can be used to cook foods from hearty proteins like beef and lamb or tough cuts of meat like brisket or chuck roast to more delicate ingredients like vegetables or eggs.

With sous vide, you can make beautifully presented dinner dishes with soft, evenly cooked salmon or juicy lamb chops, or create a delicious breakfast of velvety eggs Benedict over a toasted muffin.

Tips for sous vide cooking on the stove

With the sous vide technique, you can achieve consistent, even cooking for your ingredients. Below are a few tips for sous vide cooking that can help you understand the method and use it when you cook in your kitchen.

1. Use durable, food-grade bags

You can sous vide ingredients using regular zip-top bags or vacuum-sealed bags. To ensure your ingredients are protected throughout the cooking process, be sure to use good quality plastic bags that won’t allow water to leak in as the food heats.

Note: It can be helpful to keep the seal above the water to prevent water from seeping in during the cooking process.

2. Avoid overfilling the pot

To help prevent spills and messes, be sure to account for the size of your ingredients and avoid overfilling the pot with water. The amount of water you need to properly sous vide depends on what you’re cooking. It needs to cover the vacuum-sealed bag but shouldn’t overflow from the pot.

3. Be mindful of water temperature

Because sous vide is a temperature-controlled technique for heating food, it’s important to know how hot the water is while the ingredients are cooking with a thermometer or sous vide circulator. Small shifts in temperature can affect the end result of your meal, so it is important to pay close attention to both the recipe’s recommended temperature and the water temperature in your pot.

4. Adjust burners when necessary

To help ensure even cooking when using the sous vide technique on the stove or cooktop, adjust the burners when temperatures fall outside the 120° to 185°F range to help maintain a consistent temperature as the ingredients cook, especially after initially placing the bag into the water.

5. Sear to add flavor

If you’re preparing a protein like steak, consider searing the meat after cooking for added flavor and texture. Searing after cooking using the sous vide method creates a nice crust on the meat and helps seal in the juices for a piece of meat that’s as delicious as it is appetizing.

6. Use a cooking timer

Use a kitchen or phone timer to know when to remove the ingredients from the water bath and ensure accurate cook times according to your recipe.

7. Secure the bag during cooking

To protect the ingredients against excess movement, consider using a clothespin or clip to secure the plastic bag to the pot.

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What is confit?

Like sous vide, confit is a French method of slow-cooking meats like chicken or fish, as well as other fresh ingredients like eggplant, lemon, garlic or thyme. Simply immerse the food in fat or oil (or sugar syrup if you’re working with fruits) according to your recipe and place the dish in the oven to bake. Traditionally, it was used to help preserve food, but today, it’s often used as a popular French cooking technique.

With confit, food is cooked at low temperatures, differentiating the technique from other methods like deep frying.

What can you confit?

The confit technique allows you to get creative when cooking your favorite foods. With the confit method, you can make sophisticated dinner dishes like confit chicken or duck, or create an exciting new holiday signature with confit turkey, a different method of turkey preparation.

You can use the confit cooking method to enhance the flavor of whole ingredients like tomatoes, lemons or shallots. You can even make sweet confit by cooking fruits in juice, wine or syrup.

Tips for confit cooking on a range

You can use the confit technique to elevate the flavor of your dishes while also ensuring just the right texture through slow, even cooking. Consider the following tips as you navigate the confit method of cooking meat and other ingredients.

1. Choose the right liquid

With confit, you have a choice as to what type of liquid is used to cook your food. The type of liquid you choose can impact the overall flavor of your confit. Traditionally, some type of fat is used. If you’re making a savory confit, you can use tallow, lard, duck or goose fat, olive oil or seed oil. For sweeter recipes like fruits, you can use fruit juice, wine or syrup.

2. Use oven-safe cookware

Protect your cookware from the high temperatures by using oven-safe pots or pans when confit cooking food, like a cast-iron Dutch oven or an oven-safe saucepan and lid.

3. Use the right pot size

Ensure even cooking of the food by choosing a dish that is large enough to hold your ingredients and have them submerged in oil, fat or sugar syrup. If cooking large items like a whole chicken, be sure to use a pot that can hold the meat and all other ingredients.

4. Set and maintain the correct temperature

Setting the oven to the correct temperature according to your recipe can help you achieve consistent results when cooking confit. Since cooking temperatures will vary depending on what recipe you’re cooking, there is not one common temperature that will work universally. Consult your recipe to find the correct cooking temperature for your dish.

5. Ensure ingredients are thoroughly covered

When cooking, be sure to fully submerge ingredients in the fat, oil or syrup completely to help ensure even heating.

Confit vs. sous vide at a glance

Both confit and sous vide are cooking methods that require submerging your ingredients in hot liquid, but there are several differences between the two methods that impact the end result of your recipe. Compare confit vs. sous vide using the table below.

Confit vs. sous vide FAQs

If you’re still uncertain about whether to use the confit or sous vide method when preparing your next recipe, explore the frequently asked questions below to help you decide.

How do you choose between confit and sous vide?

Whether you choose sous vide or confit to cook your recipe depends on the flavor you’re looking to achieve. If you’re craving a rich, ultra-tender dish, you may want to use confit as your cooking method. If you want juicy, tender meat or flaky fish without the extra oil of confit, opt for cooking using the sous vide method.

Do high-end chefs use sous vide?

Sous vide is used by at-home cooks and high-end chefs alike, due to its ability to create flavorful and juicy meat and the fact that the method is controllable and precise. While it takes time to cook your food, the sous vide method requires very little prep time, making it a convenient cooking option.

What cannot be cooked in sous vide?

Whether you should or shouldn’t cook something using the sous vide method depends on your personal preferences. However, there are a few ingredients that may be better suited for other techniques, like leafy greens, large bone-in roasts or raw garlic.

What are common confit mistakes to avoid?

You can achieve delicious results when using the confit method as long as you avoid these common mistakes, including:

• Over- or under-seasoning

• Cooking at overly high temperatures

• Not letting the dish rest after cooking

What are common sous vide mistakes to avoid?

You can create delicious, tender and juicy recipes using the sous vide method, so long as you avoid common mistakes like letting the water temperature get too high, adding raw garlic or onion to the vacuum seal bag or overfilling the sous vide bag with ingredients.

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