Making a liquid thicker is one of the most basic tasks in cooking. It’s a key component in making sauces, soups, dressings, and many beverages.

There are many reasons to thicken liquids. First, it helps sauces and dressings cling to food—it’s a functional benefit that improves the eating experience. Imagine the frustration of a water-thin dressing or barbecue sauce that runs off your food (and onto you) before you can eat it. Thickeners modify the mouthfeel of soups, add body to beverages, and give texture to puddings and custards. They also extend the longevity of foams and emulsions. For example, we make a vinaigrette dressing that’s thickened by an emulsion, but the emulsion is stabilized with the addition of xanthan gum.

Traditional cooking offers dozens of ways to thicken a liquid. You might already be familiar with starch-based thickeners like cornstarch, tapioca, and roux of flour and fat, as well as gelatin, which can thicken a liquid moderately or to the point of making it a solid gel. Seaweed-based thickening agents such as sodium alginate, agar, and carrageenan have been used in traditional Asian cooking for centuries. These ingredients may sound familiar as many can also be used as emulsifiers/stabilizers, in additional to thickeners.

Understanding how thickeners work can make a huge difference when adapting your own recipes. There are dozens of ingredients and techniques, so some basics will help you choose the right approach for any dish.

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The Science Behind What Thickens a Liquid 

One of the most fundamental ways to thicken a liquid is by suspending solids or bulking agents within it. Technically, these mixtures are called colloidal suspensions, or colloids. Many traditional sauces and soups use this method—if you’ve ever made gravy, then you’ve made a colloidal suspension. Applesauce is another common example.

The particles in these mixtures may be large and detectable (as in rouille or hummus) or so small they create a smooth texture without being felt in the mouth. As these suspended particles bump into and slide past one another, their interactions create resistance to flow, increasing viscosity. The more densely packed the particles, the more collisions occur, much like people crowding a subway platform during rush hour.

This thickening effect intensifies when particles—especially long, spaghetti-like polymers—temporarily tangle or stick together to form chains or clusters, a phenomenon known as steric hindrance. It’s the molecular basis for most thickening methods in cooking. Even molecules as small as dissolved sugars in syrup can contribute to viscosity. Ultimately, the degree of thickening depends on both the size and concentration of the particles, and how readily they interact with one another.

Examples of Thickening Agents

NATURAL STARCHES

Starch is the most familiar example of a thickener. You’ll come across two broad categories for starches: natural and modified. Natural starches are composed of two types of long, tangled molecules (called polymers): amylose and amylopectin. Both are large chains of glucose molecules, but amylose is better for forming gels, whereas amylopectin binds water and thickens better.

Natural starch occurs in plant cell granules. Different plants produce starches with different size granules, which is important when you’re choosing a starch to meet your goals. Corn and rice starch, for example, are very small, producing a smoother appearance when cooked. On the opposite end of the spectrum, potato starch granules are very large, turning out sauces with a grainy texture.

To get a better understanding of the different types of natural starches, take a look at our list below.

• Cornstarch is great for smooth, glossy sauces. It’s typically used as a slurry. Works well for clear sauces, puddings, and pie fillings, but it can break down if cooked for too long or exposed to acid.
• Waxy cornstarch is naturally high in amylopectin—almost 100%—which gives it excellent stability and a smooth, transparent texture when cooked. It’s often used in commercial or Modernist cooking when freeze/thaw stability or resistance to breakdown under heat and shear is needed. Like regular cornstarch, it’s usually added as a slurry.
• Wheat flour (wheat starch) doesn’t work well in slurries because it forms lumps easily and has a raw flour taste. Instead, it’s commonly cooked with fat to make a roux, which helps disperse the starch granules and eliminates the raw flavor. Wheat flour produces opaque, soft-bodied sauces like béchamel or gravy and adds a traditional richness.
• Tapioca starch creates elastic, glossy textures and is excellent for smooth pie fillings and chewy desserts. It’s used as a slurry and added to liquids before cooking. Tapioca starch is freezer-friendly and reheats well without separating, making it useful for foods that need stability through temperature changes.
• Potato starch has large granules that absorb water quickly and thicken sauces effectively but can result in a grainy or mottled texture. It’s best added at the end of cooking as a slurry to avoid breaking down under high heat. Potato starch is a good option for gluten-free baking or for thickening stews and sauces that don’t require prolonged boiling.
• Rice starch has small granules that produce a smooth, creamy consistency, making it suitable for delicate preparations like baby food, nondairy milk, or creamy soups. It can be used in a slurry or added directly into dishes, and it imparts very little flavor, allowing other ingredients to shine.

Directions for Using Natural Starch

To thicken with natural starch, you first need to soak the granules in water, which causes them to absorb water and swell. These wet granules can stick together, which causes the starch to immediately form lumps. To prevent that from happening, you must uniformly distribute the granules, a process called dispersion, and then make sure that they absorb water in a controlled way, known as hydration. You can do this by whisking or blending starch into cold water (which slows things down enough to break up any lumps) or by making a roux, which is typically done with flour.

Natural starches also require heat to hydrate and thicken, which causes it to go through gelatinization. During gelatinization, the bonds between molecules are broken, allowing water to penetrate. The starch changes from a crystalline state to one that is disordered, which allows the liquid to thicken. This step is necessary for a starch to either gel or thicken.

In short, you will need to:

1. Disperse the starch (by whisking or blending the starch into cold water or fat)
2. Once dispersed, hydrate the starch over heat to allow the starch to absorb water or fat gradually. This will gelatinize the starch.
3. Finish cooking as needed, until the desired thickness is achieved.

MODIFIED STARCHES

Modified starches, sometimes referred to as modern starches, are processed from natural starches using enzymes, heat, or chemical treatments to improve their performance. These starches are designed to overcome the limitations of natural starches, such as poor freeze/thaw stability, lumping, or breakdown under prolonged heat. Some are combined with other thickening ingredients in handy proportions to create a thickener that can do the job of several. Modified starches are commonly used in commercial food production and Modernist cooking to achieve consistent results in challenging conditions. For example:

• N-Zorbit, made from tapioca starch, becomes “wet” with oil (technically speaking, it adsorbs the oil). By stirring it in well, you can turn oil into anything from a thick slurry to a solid mass. Food manufacturers use N-Zorbit to add oil in powder form to boxed cake mixes, for example. You can also thicken oil by mixing it with another oil that has a higher melting point.
• Wondra is a prehydrated flour from General Mills that dissolves in liquids, making it much easier to make sauces and gravies. Anyone who has experienced the misery of eating lumpy Thanksgiving Day gravy can appreciate the one-step simplicity offered by modern starches like this.

Directions for Using Modified Starches as a Thickener 

Modified starches are prehydrated, making them much more convenient to use than natural starches. Different modified starches have different instructions (Modernist Cuisine Vol. 4:30 has a full chart with specific instructions for each). In general, we recommend whisking the starch by hand into the liquid to be thickened (do not use a blender, which can make the mixture gluey or stringy). Then heat to hydrate (if necessary). For example, Wondra only needs to be brought to a simmer, while others may need to be brought up to a specific temperature.

HYDROCOLLOIDS

Like starches, hydrocolloids need to be dispersed and hydrated before use. Technically, they do not undergo gelatinization in the same way as starch, but from a cook’s point of view, the process is essentially the same. Like starches, you must disperse a hydrocolloid to prevent lumps and then hydrate it before adding it to your recipe.

The most common technique is to disperse the hydrocolloid in water, and then heat slowly to promote hydration. We like using an immersion blender to disperse hydrocolloids because of the convenience, but anything that vigorously mixes the fluid will work. Some hydrocolloids can be dispersed easily, but others need more aggressive mixing to do the job. They can also be dispersed in fat, like flour in a roux. Unlike flour, they do not need to be cooked to remove the raw taste. Once mixed with water they may need to be heated in order to hydrate, although some hydrocolloids, like xanthan gum, don’t require heat.

Take a look at the list below to get better acquainted with common hydrocolloids. Many act as both emulsifiers and thickeners, depending on how they’re used.

• Agar is a naturally occurring polysaccharide that’s derived from red seaweed. It’s great for fluid gels and savory puddings. 
• Carrageenan is a type of sugar extracted from various species of red seaweed. This hydrocolloid is great for fluid gels, yogurt, and cream cheese. There are many varieties. You can learn more about carrageenan in our blog.
• Guar gum is a seed gum used often in salad dressings and ketchup.
• Locust bean gum is a seed gum used in low-fat creams and yogurts.
• Xanthan gum is a naturally occurring carbohydrate that’s derived from the fermentation of sugars. It’s incredibly versatile and commonly used in vinaigrettes, broths, and ice creams.
• Gelatin is a protein and thus chemically different from a hydrocolloid, but you use it in much the same way. You first bloom gelatin sheets or powder in cold water and then add the gelatin to a hot liquid or heat it to a specific temperature.
• Methylcellulose is derived from wood, cotton, or other high-cellulose plants. It is unusual because it sets when heated and melts when chilled. That odd behavior makes it uniquely useful in many situations. For example, this and other cellulose gums play key roles in commercial baking as stabilizers that hold food together in the high heat of the oven. Pie and cobbler fillings will not boil over when gelled with methylcellulose. You can learn more about these unusual gum gels in Modernist Cuisine Vol. 4:171.

You can find a full chart of these thickeners and their applications and notes in Modernist Cuisine Vol. 4:19, 43.

A Quick Guide to Choosing the Right Thickener 

Not all thickeners are created equal—and choosing the right one can make or break your dish. Whether you’re working on a silky sauce, a crystal-clear gel, or a frozen dessert that needs to stay smooth, here are the key things to consider when picking a thickener.

1. Consider Temperature.

Will your dish be served warm? Chilled? Reheated from frozen? Some thickeners only work within specific temperature ranges.

• Natural starches often don’t reheat well—they get gummy or break down.
• If you’re freezing a sauce, choose a thickener with good freeze/thaw stability (like modified starches, xanthan gum, or guar gum). Make sure to avoid natural starches, which will separate upon defrosting.

2. Consider Clarity. 

Some thickening agents will create different visual appearances, such as in the opacity of the results after adding. Understanding how different thickeners will alter your product can help you make the right choice.

• Gums like xanthan, cellulose gum, and guar gum are great if you want to keep liquids clear because you only need tiny amounts of them in order for them to work.
• Many starches and other hydrocolloids can make your mixture cloudy. If you are looking for an opaque appearance, consider cornstarch or potato starch.

3. Consider Viscosity. 

You have a lot of options when it comes to controlling viscosity, a measurement of how easily a fluid flows. Many thickeners can even create a liquid that is non-Newtonian, meaning its viscosity depends on the forces applied to the liquid.
Thickeners span a huge range of viscosities:

• High viscosity (like rich, thick sauces): try natural and modified starches and xanthan gum
• Low viscosity (like smooth beverages, dressings): xanthan gum, gum arabic

4. Try Mixing Thickeners. 
If no one thickening agent can achieve the viscosity you want because of temperature or other limitations, you may be able to combine two or more different thickeners and exploit a phenomenon called synergy. For example:

• Xanthan gum + locust bean gum creates a distinct gelling effect even though neither gum can, by itself, cause a liquid to gel
• Xanthan gum + guar gum enhances thickening

5. Acid Sensitivity. 

Acidity is another important factor in choosing a thickener. A low pH impairs the performance of some thickeners, so if your liquid includes acidic ingredients, choose your thickener appropriately. Xanthan gum is stable across a range of pH levels, but other hydrocolloids, including alginate, do not do well under acidic conditions.

You can sometimes work around this limitation by premixing the thickener with pure water and then heating it gently before adding it to the liquid to be thickened.

6. Watch Out for Weeping (Syneresis) 

Ever seen water pool on the surface of yogurt or applesauce? That’s syneresis—liquid separating from solids. It can happen with overcooked custards, poorly bound sauces, or foods that sit too long. To prevent it, use stabilizers like guar gum, xanthan gum, locust bean gum, or modified starches—especially for make-ahead or frozen dishes.

Some other options to explore include:

• Iota carrageenan
• Modified starches

Modernist cooking gives us access to both traditional and modern thickeners. Understanding how each performs under different conditions helps you fine-tune your technique and create sauces and textures with finesse.

Experimenting with combinations and modern methods unlocks a whole new world of culinary creativity. Whether you’re looking for silky sauces, clear gels, or stable emulsions, the right thickener is your best ally. Modernist Cuisine at Home offers many useful recipes incorporating these ingredients so that you don’t have to learn all at once—the recipes will guide you along the way and help expose you to this new realm of cooking.

FURTHER READING

• Cooking with Modified Starch—Modernist Cuisine Vol. 4:30
• Cooking with Syllables: Carrageenan
• Making Gravy with Wondra—Modernist Cuisine at Home, p. 95
• How to Make Gels and Fluid Gels—Modernist Cuisine at Home, p. 98
• Potato Puree—Modernist Cuisine at Home, p. 230
• Crispy Chicken Wings with Starch Slurry—Modernist Cuisine at Home, p. 252
• Crispy Skinless Chicken Wings—Modernist Cuisine at Home, p. 254

A pressure cooker is a game changer for cooking food quickly while preserving flavor and nutrients. By sealing in steam and raising the pressure inside the pot, it raises the boiling point of water, meaning you can tenderize tough cuts of meat, cook beans without soaking, or develop deep flavors in stews and stocks in a fraction of the time. Modern electric pressure cookers often come with multiple safety features and cooking presets, making them even more user-friendly. If you’re looking to cut down on cooking time without sacrificing taste, this is one tool worth keeping on your countertop.

Explore our collection of blogs and recipes that can help you make the most of your pressure cooker.

Before you get started, be sure to subscribe to our monthly newsletter so you never miss a new recipe, technique, or insight.

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Techniques

All About Pressure Cookers

In this blog, you’ll learn the science behind how increased pressure raises boiling points and speeds up cooking, as well as why sealed environments preserve rich aromas. The post also highlights creative uses for pressure cookers and covers essential safety tips, step-by-step instructions, and best practices for beginners. By the end, you’ll understand how to confidently use a pressure cooker to create high-quality, deeply flavorful dishes with ease and precision.

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How Pressure Cookers Work

Curious about the mechanics of the pressure cooker? This post breaks down the anatomy of our beloved tool, explaining exactly what’s happening while you cook.

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Pressure-Caramelized Soups

Discover how a pressure cooker can turn simple vegetables into deeply caramelized, flavor-packed soups in just minutes. This blog reveals the science behind pressure caramelization and how it intensifies natural sweetness without heavy cream. From carrot soup with rich, nutty depth to creative variations like popcorn-like corn or dessert-like banana purée, the possibilities are endless.

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Pressure-Caramelized Grains

Take your bread and grain dishes to the next level with rich, flavor-packed pressure-caramelized grains—made surprisingly easy with this pressure-cooking technique, which transforms simple ingredients into deeply caramelized inclusions.

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Recipes

Caramelized Pumpkin Pie

What if pumpkin pie actually tasted more like pumpkin? Here, we’ve remixed a classic by stripping away the usual spices and unlocking the true flavor of pumpkin itself. Using a clever pressure-caramelization technique inspired by Modernist Cuisine, you’ll discover how baking soda and high heat intensify natural sweetness and depth. The result is a pie with a richer, more authentic pumpkin profile than you’ve ever tasted.

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Pressure-Cooked Chicharrón

Learn how to transform simple pork skin into light, crunchy bites that are perfect for dipping, topping, or building next-level tacos. This guide will walk you through mastering this signature puff.

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Pressure-Caramelized Sweet Potato Soup

Pressure caramelization transforms sweet potatoes into a deeply rich, intensely flavorful soup with notes of caramel, pepper, and subtle aromatics. Creative garnishes like roasted chestnuts and toasted marshmallows add a festive twist. The result is a restaurant-worthy dish that’s surprisingly simple to make.

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Pressure-Cooked Carnitas

Pressure cookers can transform pork into melt-in-your-mouth perfection. From tacos to tamales, you’ll discover how this technique delivers outstanding quality results with minimal effort.

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Red Wine Glaze

A red wine glaze is a standard sauce and a favorite of many chefs, but the classical technique for preparing it is both lengthy and labor-intensive. We retooled it, using a pressure cooker, to get great results much faster.

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Barley Salad

Perfect grains don’t have to be fussy. This blog shows how a pressure cooker makes barley (and other grains) fast, foolproof, and perfectly textured without having to soak or constantly stir. Best of all, this technique will help you avoid mush, since this simple method locks in just the right amount of moisture for light, separate grains every time. Then, take your grains further with some creative twists. If you’ve struggled with grains in the past (or just want a better, easier way to cook them) this is a technique you’ll come back to again and again.

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Mushroom Comté Pizza

One of the most important components of this pizza is the pressure-caramelized shiitake puree that we use as a sauce. Not only does it concentrate the flavor of the mushroom, but the caramelization is also deeply enhanced by the method we use to make it. When we combine the effectiveness of a pressure cooker with our recipe for pressure-caramelized vegetables (in this case, shiitake mushrooms) we obtain particularly rich results. The resulting sauce intensifies the caramelization of sugars and concentrates the flavor through the alkalinity of the baking soda and the heat buildup in the pressure cooker, resulting in a delightfully unique pizza sauce.

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Shrimp and Grits

Learn how a pressure cooker transforms coarse-ground grits into a silky, lump-free base for decadent Shrimp and Grits, enhanced with flavorful crustacean stock and Redeye Gravy.

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Caramelized Carrot Soup

Discover the secret behind Modernist Cuisine’s most popular soup. This blog reveals how pressure cooking and a touch of baking soda unlock intense, silky-smooth carrot flavor with rich caramel notes. Best of all, no heavy cream is required. We also provide instructions for some versatile toppings, like coconut foam, chaat masala, and young coconut.

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Garlic Confit

Learn how to make garlic confit with your pressure cooker. We include a variety of tips and tricks, including the option of using duck fat instead of olive oil to enhance flavor and texture.

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Pressure-Cooked Vegetable Risotto

Think risotto is finicky and time consuming? Think again. Pressure cooking transforms vegetable risotto into a faster, foolproof dish without sacrificing creaminess or flavor. Learn how parcooking grains (even unconventional ones like oats or root vegetables) makes finishing on the stovetop simple, while techniques like montecato ensure rich, velvety results.

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Discover More with Modernist Cuisine at Home

If you’re looking to get even more out of your pressure cooker, Modernist Cuisine at Home is the ultimate resource. This award-winning, beautifully illustrated 456-page cookbook features an entire section devoted to pressure cooking, with expert tips, in-depth explanations, and more than 63 pressure cooker recipes. Learn how pressure cookers work with a fascinating cutaway illustration, master techniques like making deeply flavorful stocks and marinara sauce, and discover why pressure cooking is ideal for soups and so much more.

Browse through additional pressure-cooker recipes found in our cookbook below.

Pressure-Caramelized Ketchup

Modernist Cuisine at Home, p. 110

With this sauce, we exploit a little basic chemistry to make a ketchup with a deep color and subtle flavor profile that one can get only by caramelizing the sugars in the tomato sauce. That isn’t easy to do in an open pan because the sauce never gets much hotter than the boiling point of water. But the addition of a little baking soda neutralizes the natural acidity of the tomatoes and even makes the sauce slightly alkaline, which allows caramelization to occur at temperatures that a pressure cooker can generate. As with our caramelized vegetable soups and purees, the resulting ketchup delivers a wonderful combination of fresh and cooked flavors. We like to use this pressure-caramelized ketchup in our Modernist Cheeseburger, found on page 212.

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Pressure-Caramelized Peanut Sauce

Modernist Cuisine at Home, p. 111

Peanut sauce is a delicious accompaniment to countless dishes, and this version is no exception. We especially love serving it with our Chicken Breast Satay (page 263) or Rice Noodles (page 271), but its rich, savory flavor pairs well with a wide variety of meals. By pressure caramelizing the ingredients, this recipe develops deeper, more complex flavors that take classic peanut sauce to the next level. It’s a simple way to create an impressive sauce that’s perfect for your next family dinner or gathering with friends.

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Pressure-Cooked Crustacean Butter

Modernist Cuisine at Home, p. 122

The shells of lobster, crab, and shrimp turn pink or red when cooked thanks to carotenes, the same family of molecules that give carrots and tomatoes their color. You can extract these fat-soluble pigments from crustacean shells (along with lots of flavor) by cooking the shells in butter, oil, or another fat—the same way you make carotene butter from carrots. Use this highly flavorful butter in place of ordinary butter to make an amazing hollandaise or beurre blanc sauce, or stir it into soups, sauces, and sautés.

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Pressure-Cooked Vegetable Soups and Purees

Modernist Cuisine at Home, p. 180

Pressure cooking works well for making soups and purees from a wide range of vegetables. One of our most popular soups is the Caramelized Carrot Soup, but there are so many more possibilities. Below are some optional variations found in Modernist Cuisine at Home:

• Squash Soup with Lemongrass and Coconut Milk
• Cauliflower Soup garnished in Marcona Almonds, Peeled Grapes, and Chaat Masala
• Leeks and Onion Soup
• Artichoke Soup
• Bell Pepper Soup
• Mushroom Soup
• Corn Soup
• Broccoli-Gruyère Soup

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Refried Bean Foam

Modernist Cuisine at Home, p. 223

This updated version of the classic Mexican dish combines two Modernist techniques. Pressure cooking the beans directly from the dry state and in low-calcium water causes them to burst and become very tender. We then use a whipping siphon to aerate the perfectly smooth, pudding-like puree into a foam of unearthly lightness. To prevent splattering, dispense the foam into a container with high sides, and spoon the beans onto the serving plates. The foam remains stable for only about 10 minutes, so don’t dispense the beans from the siphon until you are ready to serve them. We love to pair this foam with Pressure-Cooked Carnitas.

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Modernist Cuisine at Home 

Beyond just pressure cooking, our award-winning cookbook will help you explore the science behind everyday favorites, modern cooking techniques like sous vide, and hundreds of innovative recipes, from silky-smooth mac and cheese to sous-vide-braised short ribs. Whether you’re new to pressure cooking or looking to expand your skills, Modernist Cuisine at Home opens the door to a whole new world of culinary possibilities.

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Sous vide cooking has become almost inseparable from vacuum sealing—after all, sous vide is often translated as “under vacuum.” But despite that literal interpretation, food prepared sous vide doesn’t actually exist in a vacuum. The pressure inside a sealed bag is essentially the same as the pressure outside—it’s just that the air has been removed. A more accurate translation might be “without air,” which better reflects the role packaging plays in this technique.

Why Remove Air at All?

Vacuum packing is primarily used to extend shelf life, not necessarily to improve cooking outcomes. You’ll find vacuum-sealed foods all over the grocery store—from sliced meats and cheese to coffee and ready-to-eat meals. Removing oxygen from the packaging slows spoilage in two big ways: it limits oxidation (the same reaction that browns apples and rusts metal), and it halts the growth of aerobic bacteria, which need oxygen to thrive.

In sous vide cooking, vacuum sealing has practical benefits even when safety or shelf life isn’t a concern. For example, sealed bags tend to sink in the water bath, unlike unsealed bags, which float and need to be weighed down. Vacuum sealing also helps prevent “warmed-over” flavors caused by certain chemical reactions in reheated foods.

Still, sealing food tightly in a regular zip-top bag and using the water displacement method can work just fine for short cooking times. The main objective is keeping air away from the food. Air doesn’t conduct heat well, so getting rid of it ensures better temperature control and reduces water loss through evaporation.

Choosing the Right Packaging 

We recommend bags that are strong enough to handle freezing temperatures and high-heat cooking, keep juices in, keep water out, and block gases from entering or escaping. There are many options online to choose from, but something as simple as a Ziploc bag can do the trick for simple, short cook times.

Sealing Food with a Zip-Top Bag

If you need to seal food along with a liquid, or if you don’t have a vacuum sealer, ordinary zip-top bags offer a handy alternative to vacuum sealing. This method allows you to quickly remove much of the air from the bag, and it doesn’t require much liquid in the bag to remove nearly all the air.

1. Fill a bowl or sink with water, and place the food along with some oil or water in a zip-top bag. The liquid is needed to remove as much air as possible and to prevent the bag from floating. If you’ll be cooking the food immediately, there’s no need for an extra bowl: just use the warm water bath itself to seal the bag.
2. Slowly lower the open bag into the water. The water squeezes the air out of the bag and presses the plastic tightly around the food.
3. Seal the bag when the water level is 1–2 mm below the zip seal.

Troubleshooting Sous Vide Packaging Issues

Even with good equipment, things can go wrong. Here are a few common issues and how to fix them:

The vacuum ran but didn’t seal the bag.

• The bag wasn’t placed correctly over the sealing bar—try folding the edge back and smoothing it flat.
• The sealing bar wire might be unplugged—double-check connections.

The food wasn’t sealed tightly enough.

• The vacuum level may have been set too low.
• The food could have been too warm—chill it first.
• The bag may have a slow leak or weak seal.

The food shape was distorted.

• The vacuum level was too high—delicate foods need gentler pressure.
• Try wrapping the food in plastic wrap for extra support, or use a rigid container for storage.

The bag burst or the seal failed.

• The cooking temperature may have exceeded the bag’s rating.
• Some bags weaken at temps above 85 °C / 185 °F—switch to a more heat-resistant option.

The food smelled bad after cooking.

• Bacterial growth likely occurred—discard the food.
• This could result from inadequate refrigeration or too-low cooking temperatures.

The food was too dry or had a strange texture.

• The food may have boiled during sealing—cool it before sealing and use a lower vacuum level.

The bag fogged up during cooking.

• This usually signals a bad seal or bag rupture—repack and seal again.

The plastic became opaque.

• The bag material wasn’t heat-resistant enough—try a different kind of bag.

The bag exploded during sealing.

• The bag edge may have been outside the chamber, trapping air inside—make sure the entire bag is properly positioned before sealing.

Is using plastic to cook sous vide harmful? 

The safest plastics for use with food are high-density polyethylene, low-density polyethylene, and polypropylene. Virtually all sous vide bags are made from these plastics, as are most brand-name food storage bags and plastic wraps such as Saran wrap. Concerns about the safety of sous vide bags are misplaced.

Less expensive bulk plastic wraps sold to the catering trade are not as safe, however. These products are still commonly made from polyvinyl chloride or polyvinylidene chloride, which can contain harmful plasticizers that have been shown to leach into fatty foods such as cheese, meat, or fish. Legitimate concerns exist about food exposed to these plastics at higher temperatures.

Polyethylene-based plastic wraps are available at only slightly higher cost and do not raise such concerns. Many professional kitchens use clear, rigid plastic storage containers that are made from polycarbonate. These plastics also may be a cause for concern because they contain bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical that can disrupt hormone activity and can leach into food or beverages.

Cracks and crazing due to wear and tear increase the rate at which BPA leaches out of polycarbonates. Polycarbonate containers are currently approved for food use. If you are concerned about BPA contamination, however, replace any polycarbonate containers that have cracks or crazing.

Whether you’re using a chamber sealer and multilayered bags or a zip-top bag and water displacement, understanding the materials and common pitfalls can help you avoid frustration and get the best results.

FURTHER READING

• Getting the Air Out—Modernist Cuisine at Home, p. 52
• Bags, Rigid Containers, and Jars in Sous Vide—Modernist Cuisine at Home, p. 53
• Vacuum Sealers—Modernist Cuisine at Home, p. 54
• How to Use a Handheld Pump—Modernist Cuisine at Home, p. 59

If you’re new to sous vide, it might feel like a revelation. It did to us when we first started using this technique. So much so that it was the first topic that we wanted to cover in Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking, our first cookbook. This technique is also easier than you might think. You simply seal the ingredients in a plastic bag (sous vide literally means “under vacuum” in French) and place them in a water bath (or any other cooker that can hit and hold the target temperature within a degree or two). When the food reaches the target temperature or time, you take it out, give it a quick sear or other finish, and serve it. That’s it.

Sous vide is especially useful for cooking meats and seafood, which have a relatively small window for proper doneness when using traditional cooking techniques. A venison tenderloin cooked sous vide has an unmatched juiciness and is perfectly cooked edge to edge without a gray overcooked ring. You can even cook confit using the sous vide method.

There are also benefits to cooking produce sous vide. Cooking sous vide can help create delicious sauces, oils, and purees. For example, our lemon herb oil is cooked sous vide for 1.5 hours, giving you hands-off time to focus on other tasks. We’ve also found that cooking potatoes sous vide before boiling results in exceptionally fluffy mashed potatoes, thanks to the gelatinization and stabilization of the starch granules.

Sous vide cooking offers a level of control that no other cooking method can match. It can produce results that are difficult to achieve by traditional means, especially if you’re a home cook. Chefs turn to sous vide when they want to cook food perfectly and repeatedly, with no risk of over- or undercooking. It’s one of the best tools we have for precise temperature control—and precise temperature control is one of the most powerful tools in the kitchen. It’s the defining feature of this technique.

Why Temperature Matters

Let’s say you’re cooking a piece of fish. The temperature inside that fish might be 10 °C / 50 °F, but the surface of your pan is closer to 200 °C / 392 °F. In a situation like that, the outside of the food is guaranteed to be overcooked by the time the inside reaches its target temperature. This is why fish and other delicate proteins often come out dry or unevenly cooked using conventional methods.

We love cooking with sous vide because it eliminates that problem. The food is cooked in a water bath set to the desired final temperature—so the inside and the outside of the food come to temperature at the same time. When done right, the result is fish that’s meltingly tender all the way through. There’s no need to cut into it early to check for doneness or rely on guesswork. If it’s been in the water bath long enough, it’s ready.

One of the biggest advantages of sous vide cooking is that it removes a lot of the timing pressure from the cooking process. In traditional methods, if you take food off the heat too early, it’s undercooked. If you wait too long, it’s ruined. You also have to account for carryover cooking—when the residual heat continues cooking the food after it’s removed from the heat source.

With sous vide, none of that is a concern. The water bath holds food at a steady, accurate temperature, and once the food reaches that temperature internally, it won’t overcook unless you leave it in far longer than necessary. That makes timing easier and more forgiving—food will be just as good even if it spends a few extra minutes at the target temperature. Feel free to set your food to cook and walk away, allowing you to focus on other dishes, tasks, or (if you’re hosting) guests. It’s a game changer for holidays, dinner parties, or any time you’re juggling multiple components of a meal.

Precise control and temperature uniformity has another advantage. It allows you to cook food to an even doneness all the way through—no more dry edges and rare centers.

Lastly, you can do a lot of different things with sous vide cooking. You can cook and serve food immediately; cook, chill, and store for later use; pasteurize to extend shelf life and ensure safety; or extract and infuse flavors. This flexibility makes it especially appealing for catering and batch cooking.

Consistency

Another big benefit of sous vide is repeatability. With this method, you can get exactly the same results every time. Whether you’re cooking one steak or 100, they’ll all be perfectly done if you cook them at the right temperature for the right amount of time.

That kind of consistency is hard to get with traditional techniques, where hot spots, pan temperatures, and timing can vary widely from batch to batch. A well-calibrated sous vide setup can keep food within half a degree of your target temperature for hours. That gives you incredible control over the outcome.

You can also prep ahead of time. You can weigh and portion ingredients beforehand—say, 150 g portions of salmon fillet with salt, pepper, olive oil, and a sprig of tarragon—then vacuum seal and refrigerate until needed. This method ensures that every portion is seasoned and handled the same way. When it’s time to cook, the fish goes straight from the refrigerator to the water bath.

Better Flavor, Better Texture

Preserving food and cooking food in sealed packages is ancient. Throughout culinary history food has been wrapped in leaves, potted in fat, packed in salt, or even sealed in animal bladders before being cooked. People discovered that isolating food from air—which is the case with vacuum sealing—can arrest the decay of food. Vacuum sealing limits oxidation, the chemical damage that oxygen causes when it reacts with food. Oxidation, for example, causes produce like artichokes and apples to brown, turns red meat gray, and can give fish an off aroma.

A vacuum-sealed bag also creates a fully humid environment that effectively braises the food and eliminates drying. Because food is sealed in plastic and cooked at a low, controlled temperature, it retains more of its natural moisture than it would in a hot pan or oven. Food cooked sous vide is often noticeably juicier and more tender than food cooked outside of a bag. That’s especially important for lean proteins, which are prone to drying out. A sous vide chicken breast, for example, comes out noticeably juicier and more tender than a grilled one.

This method is also great for infusions and marinades. Flavors have time to develop and meld while the food cooks in its own juices. The sealed environment intensifies those flavors without the need for excessive seasoning or added fats.

The Basic Steps

Sous vide cooking is relatively simple. There are four basic steps: preparation, packaging, cooking, and finishing. Most of the recipes in Modernist Cuisine at Home call for cooking to a specific core temperature.

1. Preparation—Gather your ingredients and prep them as you normally would. Season, marinate, or portion them as needed.
2. Packaging—Place the food into a plastic bag and vacuum seal it (or use the water displacement method if you’re working without a vacuum sealer).
3. Cooking—Select the right cooking temperature for the result you want. For example, 54 °C / 129 °F for a medium-rare steak. Then set the timer. Some foods only need to be held at temperature for a short time. Others—like short ribs or tougher cuts—benefit from longer cooking to tenderize.
4. Finishing—Many foods are ready to eat straight from the bag, but some, like steaks, benefit from a quick sear to improve texture and appearance.

Finishing Touches

Sous vide food is cooked through, but often benefits from a finishing step to improve texture and appearance. For example, a steak cooked sous vide will be perfectly pink, but it won’t have the browned crust that comes from a hot sear. Finishing it in a hot pan, under a broiler, or with a blowtorch adds visual appeal and extra flavor.

That said, not everything needs to be finished. Fish fillets, custards, eggs, and vegetables often come out of the bag ready to plate.

Some people worry that sous vide takes the soul out of cooking. But for many chefs, it actually brings more artistry into play. With temperature control handled, you can focus more on seasoning, pairing, presentation, and creativity. And there’s no single “correct” temperature for any food. One person might like their short ribs at 55 °C / 131 °F for a firm, steak-like bite, while another might prefer them at 82 °C / 180 °F for a fork-tender finish. Sous vide gives you the ability to make those choices with confidence—and to deliver the same results every time.

Sous vide is a powerful cooking method that gives you control, consistency, and peace of mind. Whether you’re a professional chef looking to improve efficiency or a home cook aiming for perfect results, sous vide opens up a world of precision and possibility. It’s not just about cooking things perfectly—it’s about cooking them the way you want—and getting that result again and again.

FURTHER READING

• Cooking Sous Vide—Modernist Cuisine at Home, p. 48
• The History of Sous Vide at Home—Modernist Cuisine vol. 1:73
• Sous Vide Lemon Herb Oil Recipe—Modernist Cuisine at Home, p. 116
• Sous Video Spice Chili Oil Recipe—Modernist Cuisine at Home, p. 118
• Potato Puree Recipe—Modernist Cuisine at Home, p. 230
• Cooking Steak with Sous Vide—Modernist Cuisine at Home, p. 192

Salmon is a common favorite among fans of seafood, but unfortunately it is frequently overcooked by both home and professional chefs. Whether you’re cooking king, coho, sockeye, steelhead, or Atlantic salmon, one rule applies: Don’t overcook it. Its proteins begin to coagulate at low temperatures, so precision is important. Sous vide cooking is ideal because it allows you to maintain just the right doneness—producing tender, custardy salmon that still tastes of the ocean. If you’ve sworn off salmon before, this method might change your mind.

First, it’s best to choose the right fish, and at the right quality. There’s a dizzying array of salmon options, but knowing a few key facts can help, such as purchasing the right fish during the right season. Salmon isn’t one fish. It’s a group of seven species, each with their own flavor, texture, and seasonality. Most begin life in fresh water, travel to the ocean to grow, and return home to spawn.

Below are some of the most common salmon eaten in the United States:

• White king (ivory king): The Chinook or king salmon is one of the best-tasting salmon varieties. Its succulent, oily flesh is usually bright pink or red, but about one in 100 have white flesh. Marine biologists think that these white specimens are missing a protein that absorbs the pink pigment of the krill that are a mainstay of the salmon diet. These fish are usually in season between April and September. Regular king salmon is usually in season from May to October.
• Steelhead: Technically a variety of rainbow trout, these fish are related to salmon and cook similarly. Just like salmon, they were born to live in the ocean. In season November to August.
• Copper River salmon: Salmon that spawn in the Copper River in Alaska must swim upstream as far as 200 miles. They do not eat during that journey, so their bodies must store lots of energy as fat. This makes them delicious to eat! Both king salmon and the smaller sockeye and coho are harvested from the Copper River during a short catch season each year. In season May to October.
• Farmed Atlantic salmon: Atlantic salmon is the most common type sold at retail. More than 95% of farmed salmon are of the Atlantic variety. Salmon are often farmed in ocean pens, and their feeding regimen and waste tend to decimate their local ecosystems; consider your options. The natural color of farmed salmon is a lighter pink than that of wild salmon; some farmed species are injected with dye to enhance their color. Tank-raised fish are the most sustainable kind of farmed salmon. Available year-round.

Tips for Cooking Great Salmon

• Brine first. This seasons and firms the fish and helps prevent the unsightly white albumin from rising to the surface.
• Sous vide for control. Cook salmon to a core temperature of 51 °C / 124 °F for a firmer texture, or slightly lower for something silkier.
• Finish with hot butter or oil. Just a few seconds in hot fat after sous vide adds flavor and improves surface texture.
• Use oil, not butter, if serving cold. Butter will congeal at cool temps, but oil keeps the fish looking and tasting appealing.
• Pick high-quality fish. This is one case where sourcing really matters—whether you’re serving it raw, sous vide, or seared.

Our Sous Vide Salmon recipe is featured in Modernist Cuisine at Home on page 276. If you don’t have sous vide equipment yet—or the book—you can still get started by trying our Sous Vide Salmon in the Kitchen Sink recipe.

This salmon recipe is a fun and approachable way to start exploring the benefits of low-temperature cooking—no sous vide equipment required. A pot of water can maintain a steady temperature for up to an hour, which is more than enough time to cook fish (and even some steaks). For longer cooking times, a picnic cooler can keep water temperatures stable for up to 5 hours!

Keep in mind that the more food you add to the water bath—or the colder it is—the more the temperature will drop. To help maintain the heat, bring the food to room temperature before cooking, and use your largest pot with plenty of water.

We love serving this salmon with sautéed asparagus and peas in the spring, or with cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, and thyme in the winter.

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Shellfish are among the ocean’s most flavorful gifts, but cooking them well requires a bit of know-how—and an understanding of the unique biology behind each bite. In this blog, we’ll explore the different types of shellfish (from scallops to shrimp), what makes them tick, and how that affects how we cook them. We’ll also share tips on selecting the best specimens and explain why timing and temperature matter so much.

Let’s start with how shellfish work.

Understanding Shellfish Biology

Shellfish vary dramatically in anatomy, texture, and flavor, but what unites them is their adaptation to life in salty water—and how their bodies handle that salinity. Many mollusks and crustaceans rely on certain amino acids, like glycine and glycogen, to balance the salt levels of their environment. These compounds contribute sweetness and umami, which help explain the complex, savory flavors of shellfish.

The catch is that cooking can diminish these flavor compounds. When exposed to heat, some amino acids get bound up in coagulated proteins, muting their contribution to flavor. Others react to form new aromas—like the distinctive cooked shellfish smell created by aromatic sulfides.

The best cooking methods help preserve their texture and enhance flavor without losing too much of what makes shellfish so special.

Cooking Mollusks

Humans have been enjoying these shellfish for millennia, and for good reason: They’re packed with flavor and require minimal cooking when fresh.

Scallops

Scallops are mostly composed of a single muscle—the abductor—which they use to swim. This fast-twitch muscle is full of glycine and glycogen, making scallops slightly sweet and perfect for quick searing. Overcooking can ruin their tender texture, so keep it quick and hot. 

Abalones

Abalones also rely on their powerful foot muscle, but theirs is packed with connective tissue. This makes them best enjoyed sliced thin and served raw or cooked very lightly. Cook them too long and they become tough and rubbery—though long, slow cooking can eventually tenderize them again. 

Oysters, Mussels & Clams

With these shellfish, you eat more than just muscle but also the entrails, which are full of flavor. Oysters and mussels anchor themselves with a small, inedible foot, while clams have a siphon that filters water from buried sand beds. Smaller clams are often eaten whole, while larger varieties like geoduck are usually trimmed down to their siphon alone.

Mussels and clams typically are boiled or steamed until they open, but by then they’re overdone. For juicy mussels and clams with an intense taste, steam them briefly in white wine, then shuck them and cook them sous vide in their own juices.

Cooking Tips

• All too often mussels end up tough, dry, and disappointing. Cooking the mussels sous vide solves that problem.
• Forget the old rule stating any mussel that doesn’t open when cooked is bad.
• A bad mussel either smells very strongly or looks dry and shriveled, so inspect them as you shuck them before cooking.
• The natural juices that come out of mussels when they open are very flavorful. Chefs use mussel juice to add depth to butter sauces for fish and soups. Be sure to save any extra juices—or at least have some good bread and olive oil handy so that you don’t waste any of this precious liquid.

For example, see our Mussels Marinière recipe in Modernist Cuisine at Home on p. 290. This is a classic dish of tender muscles cooked in wine, savory brine juices, and garlic. 

Safety Note

Because filter-feeding mollusks process vast quantities of water, they can also accumulate contaminants. This is why strict safety regulations exist for certain types of shellfish and why it’s important to source them carefully.

All About Crustaceans, such as Lobster, Crab, Shrimp & More

Crustaceans may resemble insects of the sea, but they’re culinary treasures—when picked and cooked properly. Lobsters, crabs, shrimp, prawns, langoustines, and crayfish all fall into this category.

The Enzyme Problem

One reason crustaceans are often cooked alive or immediately after death is because their flesh contains protein-cleaving enzymes that rapidly break down the muscle, creating a woolly or mealy texture. These enzymes are most active at 55–60 °C / 130–140 °F, so most crustaceans are cooked hotter to deactivate them quickly. But that high-heat approach often overcooks the meat. When possible, consider lower-temperature cooking methods and serve immediately to preserve that delicate texture.

How Molting Affects Quality

Crustaceans grow by molting their shells, and this timing greatly affects their eating quality. Just before molting, they shed muscle mass and fill with water to loosen the shell—this results in bland, watery meat. The best time to eat a lobster or crab is after it has molted and begun rebuilding muscle and shell. Look for a firm shell, deep coloration on the back, and a belly that’s slightly stained—not pearly white. These crustaceans will feel heavy for their size, a sign they’re full of dense, sweet muscle.

Crustacean Chemistry

The sweet aroma of cooked crustaceans comes from Maillard reactions, which typically require high heat. But because crustacean meat contains lots of sugars and amino acids, these flavor-building reactions can happen at lower-than-normal cooking temps. That’s great news for anyone interested in gentle cooking techniques. You’ll also notice their shells turn vibrant red or orange during cooking. That’s thanks to carotenoid pigments like astaxanthin, which are released when proteins in the exoskeleton are heated.

Choosing the Best Shellfish 

Here’s what to look for when selecting shellfish, especially crustaceans: 

• Look at shell color and firmness. When crustaceans are at their prime for eating, their topsides will be deeply colored, and their bellies will take on a stained or dirty look. The shell should be firm to the touch. Crustaceans are primed for cooking when their shells have become very hard.
• Compare size to weight. Crustaceans will feel heavy for their size because they are filled with dense muscle tissue, not tissue that is bloated with absorbed water. Crustaceans that are about to molt feel the lightest because their shells are partly empty.
• Warning signs. Avoid crabs or lobsters with greenish shells and white bellies—they may have just molted. A pinkish rust on the underside can also be a clue that a molt is coming soon.

After you’re done feasting, save your crustacean shells in the freezer until you have enough to make Pressure-Cooked Crustacean Stock (found on page 88 of Modernist Cuisine at Home). If you don’t have any shells, use whole shrimp (with heads on), which are relatively inexpensive and easy to find.

We feature a Lobster Roll recipe in Modernist Cuisine at Home on page 288. You might think it’s hard to improve on an old-fashioned lobster roll—until you taste one made with lobster cooked with precision to attain ideal sweetness and tenderness.

One of our favorite ways to prepare lobster is cooking it sous vide; it gives us precise control over the cooking process. In this recipe, we use the sous vide method to also infuse butter with lobster shells—this adds extra flavor and color to the toasted bun. Green apples and herbs freshen the lobster salad, and infused celery and tomato leather add a Modernist twist. Don’t bother messing with a boutique hot dog bun in this New England classic—go with the usual supermarket variety. Fancier rolls detract from the lobster.

Pro tip: It’s a mistake to cook a lobster whole. One way we perfect our lobster is to cook the tail and claw meat separately, at different temperatures, sous vide.

Shrimp & Prawns

Shrimp and prawns may look alike, but they’re only distant relatives—closer in appearance than in biology. What they do share, however, is a delicate texture that deteriorates quickly once they die. Protein-cleaving enzymes in the abdomen begin breaking down the flesh soon after death, turning it mealy if not cooked in time. That’s why the best shrimp and prawns are eaten as close to the moment of harvest as possible. For true connoisseurs, the most intense flavor is found in the head; many consider it a delicacy to savor the briny, rich juices within.

Our Shrimp and Grits recipe takes advantage of these bold flavors and transforms a Southern classic into something extraordinary. We elevate the dish by pressure-cooking coarse-ground grits in Crustacean Stock to intensify the savory depth, then topping them with Redeye Gravy and a soft-cooked egg. The result is a deeply comforting bowl that blends creamy texture with umami-rich layers. For a more traditional version, seared or sous vide prawns can be added instead.

Shellfish may be diverse in form, but they share a few key cooking principles: freshness matters, temperature is crucial, and timing is everything. Whether you’re searing scallops, steaming mussels, or slow-poaching lobster, knowing the biology behind your seafood can help you preserve what makes it special.

So choose wisely, cook gently, and enjoy the briny, complex flavors that only shellfish can offer.

FURTHER READING

• The Modernist Cuisine Seafood Collection
• Good Eating in an Exoskeleton
• Cooking Fish
• Shrimp and Grits
• Crustacean Butter—Modernist Cuisine at Home, p. 122
• Crustacean Stock—Modernist Cuisine at Home, p. 88
• Mussels Marinière—Modernist Cuisine at Home, p. 290
• How to Kill and Shell a Lobster—Modernist Cuisine at Home p. 284
• How to Shuck Mussels and Clams—Modernist Cuisine at Home, p. 286
• Clams in Chowder Sauce—Modernist Cuisine at Home, p. 292

Cooking fish is both rewarding and a little intimidating. If you’ve ever overcooked a beautiful fillet into a dry, mealy disappointment, you’re not alone. Fish differs significantly from land animals in structure and biology, and that’s exactly why it needs to be treated differently in the kitchen.

In this blog, we’ll explore the fundamentals of how fish are built, share general tips for cooking them, and highlight what makes tuna unique.

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Understanding Fish Anatomy

Fish live a more buoyant life than terrestrial animals. Floating in water means they don’t need dense bones or strong collagen to hold themselves up, which affects everything from how their muscles are built to how their bodies react to heat. Their collagen contains fewer stabilizing cross-links, making it much weaker and quicker to break down. In the kitchen, that means fish becomes tender faster—but go too far, and it falls apart.

Fish are also mostly cold-blooded (with the notable exception of some tuna), which means their muscle proteins haven’t evolved to withstand high heat. Proteins begin to coagulate at relatively low temperatures, so cooking fish gently is key. In fact, most kinds of fish taste best when cooked at temperatures between 42 °C and 50 °C / 108 °F and 122 °F. Go higher than that, and the flesh turns dry and chalky—even if the inside would still be considered rare by meat standards.

The one exception is tuna. Tuna stands out among fish for a few key biological reasons. They swim long distances at high speeds, so their muscles are built for endurance. That gives them a high concentration of oxygen-rich red muscle fibers filled with myoglobin—similar to red meat. That’s why their flesh is darker and fattier than that of most fish.

Some species of tuna can even raise their body temperature above that of the surrounding water, which gives them extra speed and adds even more fat to their muscle, especially in the belly. This fat acts as insulation in cold water and contributes to the rich flavor we associate with high-quality tuna.

Because of these unique qualities, tuna should be treated more like red meat than delicate white fish. It holds up well to searing, grilling, or being served raw in sushi and sashimi, where precise slicing techniques bring out its best texture.

Overall, with this in mind, we recommend a few key tips when cooking fish:

• Cook fish gently at low temperatures. Most fish are cold-blooded, so their muscle proteins are designed for cool environments—not heat. Fish flesh cooks at much lower temperatures than meat; the ideal internal range is 42–50 °C / 108–122 °F. Going higher dries it out and makes it mealy.
• Choose the freshest fish possible. Because collagen breaks down quickly after death, fish that isn’t very fresh becomes fragile and prone to falling apart. Freshness is key for texture and flavor.
• Recognize the light vs. dark muscle difference. Most of the fish’s body is made up of fast-twitch white muscle fibers used for short bursts of speed—these tend to be mild in flavor and tender. Darker muscle along the midline (the “bloodline”) contains endurance fibers, which can taste stronger and cook differently.
• Slice and portion strategically. Fish can be filleted in simple or elaborate ways. Large fish like tuna are often broken down into blocks or steaks. The shape and grain of the muscle will determine the best slicing method for ideal texture, especially in raw preparations like sushi or sashimi.
• Slice to control texture. For tougher or more fibrous seafood (like abalone or cuttlefish), use thin slicing or scoring to tenderize it and control the bite.
• Match the cooking method to the fish. Because each species has different fat content and muscle structure, some are best suited to raw or gently cooked applications, while others handle searing or braising better. Lean white fish can dry out fast; fattier fish like tuna or salmon are more forgiving. For example:
  • Black cod, mackerel, and sardines benefit from dry curing for 3 hours with 7 g of salt and 5 g of sugar for every 100 g of fish.
  • Halibut is great when seared over banked coals on the grill.
  • Snapper is delicious when drizzled with spiced oil after cooking sous vide.
  • Tuna is great when seared quickly in brown butter after cooking sous vide. We often cook at 55 °C / 131 °F, after brining the fish first and finishing with an aromatic oil.

Brining Fish

Another incredibly helpful tip is to brine fish before cooking (especially when cooking sous vide).

Salt isn’t just a universal seasoning; it also has a powerful chemical ability to help fish and meat retain moisture during cooking, as long as it’s distributed evenly at the right concentration.

Simply coating the outside of a fish or piece of meat with salt won’t do the trick—unless you’re aiming for the distinctive flavor and firm texture of cured foods like corned beef or smoked salmon. At high concentrations, salt can actually cause muscle proteins to break down.

Brining, on the other hand, has a gentler, more widely useful effect. It involves soaking the meat in a dilute salt solution until the salt gradually permeates the tissue. The goal is a final salt concentration of about 0.5% throughout the meat—much lower than curing. The challenge is ensuring the interior is seasoned as evenly as the exterior. Without care, it’s easy to end up with uneven salt distribution.

Modernist brining, much like sous vide cooking, uses a long soak—up to 24 hours—in a slightly stronger solution to achieve even seasoning without the risk of oversalting. Brining fish this way not only seasons and firms the flesh but also helps preserve its delicate color by preventing the albumin in salmon from leaching to the surface and masking the beautiful orange-red pigment with an opaque whitish color. Make sure to cook your brined fish immediately.

FURTHER READING

• The Modernist Cuisine Seafood Collection
• Cooking Salmon
• Fish Brine
• Cooking Shellfish
• Best Bets for Brining and Curing Fish—Modernist Cuisine vol. 3:172
• An Illustrated Guide to the Muscle Structure of Fish—Modernist Cuisine vol. 3:20–23
• Cooking Additional Kinds of Fish Sous Vide—Modernist Cuisine vol. 3:102
• Why Slime Is the Key to Crispy Fish Skin—Modernist Cuisine vol. 3:129
• Seaweed Fish Brine—Modernist Cuisine at Home, p. 133

Whipping siphons have transformed modern cooking, allowing chefs to craft airy foams, rapid infusions, and fizzy drinks with ease. Whether you’re looking to add a cloudlike foam to a dish, infuse fruit with flavorful syrup, or carbonate a cocktail, a whipping siphon is up to the task.

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The Science Behind Whipping Siphons

At the heart of the siphon’s magic is compressed gas. A standard whipping siphon uses gas pressure to force a soluble gas to dissolve in the liquid to be whipped. The pressure also pushes the liquid through a valve out of which the gas emerges from the solution, creating bubbles and whipping the foam.

The most common gas used is nitrous oxide (N₂O), which dissolves easily into fatty liquids and remains stable without promoting oxidation or bacterial growth. When released from the siphon, the gas expands rapidly, transforming the liquid into a light, voluminous foam.

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is another option, but it’s best reserved for carbonation, since its fizzy texture and sour flavor make it less suitable for smooth, creamy foams. For most culinary uses, especially when making savory or dessert foams, nitrous oxide is the preferred choice.

Each disposable cartridge holds 8 grams of gas. For a 1-liter siphon, you’ll usually need two cartridges, especially if your liquid is low in fat or volume. You can learn more about the anatomy of the whipping siphon at the link below.

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Creative Possibilities

Whipping siphons unlock a surprising variety of culinary creations.

• Batters: Teff injera (Modernist Bread, vol. 5:156) and tempura batter (Modernist Pizza, vol. 3:281) both benefit from the siphon’s ability to evenly aerate and lighten texture. Another example from Modernist Cuisine at Home (p. 254) is our skinless chicken wings, which uses an aerated batter to create a new spin on fried chicken (essentially a tempura chicken wing).

• Sauces: Emulsified sauces like sous vide hollandaise or sabayon hold beautifully in a siphon. During service, it keeps them warm and fluffy, also less dense.

• Infusions and marination: By increasing pressure inside the siphon, ingredients like herbs, spices, or fruits absorb liquids faster, infusing flavor in minutes instead of hours.

• Fresh soda: Using carbon dioxide, you can carbonate juices or cocktails for fizzy, fresh drinks.

• Foams: Whipping siphons were designed for aerating cream that’s high in fat. But you can foam any liquid thick enough to hold bubbles. Our Caramelized Carrot Pizza from Modernist Pizza (vol. 3:277) features a vivid coconut chutney foam made with coconut cream, mint, green chili, and cilantro. The result is an aromatic, airy topping that lifts the whole dish.

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Whipping Siphon Recipes

Sous Vide Hollandaise

Hollandaise is famously delicate, but with a whipping siphon, it becomes far more stable. By gently cooking the egg yolks sous vide and finishing the sauce in a whipping siphon, you eliminate the stress of curdling, separating, or rushing at the last minute. The siphon keeps the hollandaise warm, smooth, and perfectly emulsified, while also giving it a light, elegant texture that’s ready to dispense whenever you are. It’s a simple upgrade that transforms a traditionally fragile sauce into a reliable, make-ahead staple. Just charge, shake, and serve.

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Striped Mushroom Omelet

What makes this omelet special is the whipping siphon. By transforming scrambled eggs into a light, stable foam, the siphon allows you to prepare the mixture in advance, hold it gently at temperature, and dispense perfectly aerated eggs whenever you’re ready to serve. Instead of standing over the stove and timing everything to the second, you can simply charge, shake, and pipe, leaving more time for creativity—like a striped mushroom omelet.

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Carbonated Cranberries

This recipe reimagines a Thanksgiving classic with the help of a whipping siphon. Instead of a traditional cranberry sauce, whole berries are gently cooked sous vide, then carbonated using a whipping siphon charged with carbon dioxide. The result is bright, tart cranberries that burst with delicate fizz.

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Popping Buckeyes & Eggnog Cocktails

This recipe will take your boozy (or booze-free) gatherings to the next level. Crisp, chocolate-dipped “buckeyes” hide a creamy hazelnut (or peanut) center studded with crackling pop rocks for a surprise with every bite. Each 20 g sphere is dipped and set for a clean shell, then frozen, which is ideal for serving alongside a warm, spiced cocktail.

But it’s the eggnog foam that is the true highlight of this exciting drink. The custard base is gently cooked sous vide, chilled completely, and then charged in a whipping siphon to achieve an airy, stable foam that can’t be matched by hand frothing. Because the base is relatively low in viscosity, the siphon is essential because it creates a light, velvety cap that floats atop coffee or tea spiked with rum or cognac. The result is a cloudlike eggnog layer that slowly mingles with the drink beneath.

Finished with freshly grated spices and served to order, these cocktails showcase the power of the whipping siphon in its ability to produce an unforgettable presentation.

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Instant Infusions: Herb- and Spice-Infused Olive Oil, “Barrel-Aged” Maple Syrup, Candy Cane Vodka

With a whipping siphon, you can create bold, complex infusions that taste as though they’ve been aging for months, but in reality they came together in just minutes. These recipes create memorable, gift-worthy treats that are especially charming during the holidays, but just as perfect for dinner parties, hostess gifts, or keeping a bottle (or two) for yourself any time of year.

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Explore the Modernist Cuisine series to learn more about cooking, baking, and pizza making!

Let’s get one thing out of the way: Modernist cooking doesn’t require a lab or a $2,000 gadget. With a few smart tools, you can bring a whole new level of precision, consistency, and creativity into your kitchen.

Some of the gear we rely on might not be in your current kitchen drawer—yet. Whipping siphons, blowtorches, immersion blenders, and digital scales might sound more “pro chef” than “weeknight dinner,” but they’re workhorses we use every day because they’re versatile, affordable, and (frankly) a lot of fun.

Take the whipping siphon. It makes stellar whipped cream but we also use it to carbonate soda, infuse fruit, marinate meat, and create light, flavorful foams. Add a fine sieve and a powerful blender, and suddenly you can create purees and textures that would impress any dinner guest.

Of all the tools we recommend, two are absolutely essential:

• A reliable digital scale, for precise measurements that remove all guesswork.
• An accurate digital thermometer, for cooking food to the exact doneness you want, every single time.

These tools might seem basic, but they’re fundamental to any kitchen.

Some other favorites include:

• Pressure cooker—Cooks food quickly while locking in flavor and nutrients
• Blowtorch—Quickly sears or caramelizes food with direct high heat
• Whipping siphon—Creates foams, infusions, and carbonated drinks
• Blender—Makes smooth purees, sauces, and emulsions
• Immersion blender—Blends soups, sauces, and emulsions directly in pots
• Food processor—Chops, slices, and processes thicker or drier foods
• Microplane—Finely grates cheese, citrus, garlic, and more
• Silicone mats—Nonstick, reusable liners for baking and cooking
• Silicone molds—Easy-release molds for custards, gels, and chocolates

The best part is that you don’t need to spend a fortune. Many of these tools are now widely available at home goods or hardware stores—and you can achieve professional-level results without a pro-level budget.

Keep reading to get a more in-depth breakdown of these Modernist Cuisine favorites.

Modernist Cuisine at Home

It is always handy to have a cookbook that can guide you through every level of cooking. Modernist Cuisine at Home opens up a new world of culinary possibility for passionate and curious home cooks. Drawing on the same commitment to perfection that produced Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking, this award-winning, 456-page volume applies innovative techniques to classic home dishes. Filled with helpful scientific insights, mouthwatering recipes, gorgeous photography, and step-by-step guides, Modernist Cuisine at Home makes it easy to bring dining of the highest quality to your own dinner table.

Digital Scales

If you have been measuring ingredients only by the cup and teaspoon, now is a great time to buy a good scale and begin applying more precision to your recipe measurements. Digital gram scales are easy to find at cooking stores, and basic models are not expensive.

We recommend having two at your disposal:

• General-purpose scale that accurately measures weights from one gram or less all the way to 1,000 grams or more
• Precision scale that is accurate to a tenth or hundredth of a gram

A precision scale is crucial for measuring hydrocolloid thickening and gelling agents. These compounds are so powerful that a fraction of a gram can mean the difference between a sauce that is velvety and one that is gummy or slimy. A quality digital pocket scale does the job well (and at a fraction of the price of a lab scale).

Be sure to keep your scales clean, calibrate them regularly (check the manufacturer’s instructions), take care not to drop or jolt them, and always use them on a level surface.

Digital Thermometer

Small changes in temperature can make all the difference in cooking, so thermometers are a must. Unfortunately, many are not as accurate as you might think. The analog thermometer is all but useless at low temperatures, making them unusable for low sous vide temperatures. Sugar thermometers perform fine at high temperatures, but delicate glass can break, creating a disaster. Metal spike-and-dial meat thermometers are often slow to display temperature and often several degrees inaccurate.

Our top recommendation is the digital thermometer. If need be, a good thermometer can even serve in place of a fancy sous vide cooker! Our all-around favorite is the thermocouple thermometer (featured above), but a $10 instant-read thermometer is also fast, accurate, and easy to place just where you want it.

Pressure Cooker

A pressure cooker is a game changer for cooking food quickly while preserving flavor and nutrients. By sealing in steam and raising the pressure inside the pot, it allows water to boil at a higher temperature—meaning you can tenderize tough cuts of meat, cook beans without soaking, or develop deep flavors in stews and stocks in a fraction of the time. Modern electric pressure cookers often come with multiple safety features and cooking presets, making them even more user-friendly. If you’re looking to cut down on cooking time without sacrificing taste, this is one tool worth keeping on your countertop.

Some of our favorite ways to use a pressure cooker is to pressure-caramelize soups and to caramelize grains, vegetables, and fruits.

Learn more about pressure cookers here:

• All About Pressure Cookers
• How Pressure Cookers Work

Whipping Siphon

Whipping siphons aren’t just for making whipped cream—they’re one of the most versatile tools in a Modernist kitchen. You can use them to carbonate drinks, speed up marination, infuse fruit with flavorful liquids, or add dramatic foams to a dish. They work by using gas cartridges (chargers) to pressurize the chamber: nitrous oxide is ideal for foams and infusions, while carbon dioxide is reserved for carbonation. Each cartridge holds about 8 grams of gas and is single-use. The key to success is understanding your ratios—typically 8 grams of gas per 400 grams of liquid. Learn more about whipping siphons here.

Immersion Blender

Immersion blenders are useful for many small blending tasks. We love them because they can blend directly in a bowl or pot while it is heating. They’re also very good for foaming fatty or starchy liquids and for making basic emulsions, such as mayonnaise and vinaigrette. You can find good immersion blenders that will fit within your budget; midrange models work just as well as the expensive professional versions.

Blender and Food Processor

Blenders and food processors are staples in most kitchens for good reason—they make quick work of chopping, pureeing, and emulsifying. High-speed blenders can break down food into particles so small (under 10 microns) that they feel luxuriously smooth on your tongue. Use them for fluid mixtures, soups, sauces, or smoothies. For chunkier tasks or doughs, a food processor’s wider blade is often the better choice.

Blowtorch

Think of the blowtorch as a handheld precision broiler. It blasts a direct flame at roughly 1900°F (1000°C), making it perfect for flash-searing sushi, caramelizing sugar on crème brûlée, or giving sous vide meats that crave-worthy crust. Unlike oven broilers, which rely on radiant heat, the blowtorch uses a jet of hot gas to transfer heat almost instantly. Just be cautious—if used improperly, it can leave a fuel-like flavor on your food. Always wait for a steady blue flame before torching and never point it at your food before ignition. You’ll find plenty of creative uses and guides for this tool in Modernist Cuisine at Home (see page 14). This cookbook also contains recipes for blowtorched caramelized bananas (page 377), using a blowtorch on steak (page 198), coffee crème brûlée (page 362), and more.

Microplane Grater

If there’s one tool chefs can’t live without, it’s the Microplane. More precise than a box grater and more versatile than a zester, this tool shaves hard cheeses, chocolate, and frozen meat into fine, fluffy piles. It’s also fantastic for making delicate citrus zest or grating fresh ginger, garlic, and onions into smooth pastes. Microplane and similar brands now offer graters in different coarseness levels for everything from spices to vegetables. Whether you’re finishing a dish or prepping ingredients, the Microplane brings finesse and flavor to your kitchen in one quick swipe.

Silicone Mats and Molds

Silicone mats are practical tools in a modern kitchen. These flexible, nonstick baking sheet liners come in a few varieties—like fiberglass-reinforced Silpat-style mats, silicone-coated parchment, and pure silicone sheets. They’re great for baking, pan-lining, or making delicate items like crisps or fruit leather. Pure silicone sheets can even be cut to custom shapes (just don’t cut into a Silpat’s fiberglass core). Silicone molds, on the other hand, are ideal for setting panna cottas, custards, or chocolates—anything that needs a gentle release. While they’re not great for browning, they shine when you want clean shapes and easy unmolding.

Injector

The injector is one of our favorite tools to use when cooking poultry. The traditional method of brining the bird helps boost moisture, tenderness, and flavor, but also makes it near impossible to crisp the skin. The solution to this conundrum is using the injector to inject the brine straight into the muscle tissue. This also allows you to double or triple the rate of diffusion, as can be seen in our slow-baked chicken recipe.

Other Helpful Tools

• Meat tenderizer—Useful for tenderizing tough meat as well as for quickly perforating pastry or skin
• Dehydrator—For preserving seasonal fruits and salted meats, making fruit and vegetable leathers and chips, dehydrating pork skin for frying
• Long tweezers—Useful for creative plating and handling delicate ingredients
• Paintbrush—Useful for applying even layers of oil for baking, sauces for glazing, and for creative plating if you want to impress
• Coffee cold brewing kit—Not just for coffee, this tool can help make full-flavored extracts for use in cooking.

What about Sous Vide Equipment?

The gear for cooking sous vide can be as affordable as an adapted Crock-Pot or as foolproof (and expensive) as an industrial process controller. Water baths of various kinds are the most common tools for cooking sous vide—either noncirculating or circulating.

When we wrote Modernist Cuisine at Home over a decade ago, it was hard to find inexpensive immersion circulators, but thankfully that’s changed as sous vide cooking has become more mainstream. Circulating water baths have very accurate temperature control, which is why so many chefs use them to cook sous vide. There are a number of options for different budgets.

Countertop noncirculating water baths are less common to find than a circulating water bath. They rely on convection—the natural tendency of hotter fluids to rise and colder fluids to sink—to even out any temperature differences; however, they still develop hot and cold spots more easily.

Sous vide also requires food packaging. There are many different options to try, including:

• Chamber-style vacuum bags
• Edge-seal vacuum bags
• Retort bags
• Heat-shrink bags
• Zip-top bags
• Oven bags

You can find more information about sous vide equipment here.

FURTHER READING

• Intro to Special-Purpose Tools—Modernist Cuisine Vol. 2:285; Modernist Cuisine at Home, p. 5
• Blowtorches—Modernist Cuisine at Home, p. 15; Modernist Cuisine Vol. 2:21
• Whipping Siphons—Modernist Cuisine at Home, p. 18; Modernist Cuisine Vol. 3:207
• Blenders and Food Processors—Modernist Cuisine at Home, p. 10
• Juicers, Filters, Centrifuges, and Rotary Evaporators—Modernist Cuisine Vol. 2:334, 355–357, 361–364, 384–393
• All About Pressure-Caramelized Soups
• Caramelized Inclusions with a Pressure Cooker or Instant Pot
• All About Pressure Cookers
• How Pressure Cookers Work
• All About Whipping Siphons
• How Whipping Siphons Work