400 - 1500

THE START OF SEALED COOKING

Evidence of sealed-cooking practices appears in the Middle Ages, when preparing food within animal organs—including bladders, stomachs, and intestines—was common in what’s now Scotland and Russia.

1799

INVENTION OF THE TECHNIQUE

Benjamin Thompson, a physicist who conducted many experiments on the transfer of heat, stumbles upon the method almost by accident, while attempting to see if he could roast meat in a machine he had created to dry potatoes.

1960s

SOUS VIDE AS A PRESERVATIVE

French and American engineers experiment with food-grade plastic and vacuum packing, developing it as an industrial food preservation method. It wasn’t initially for enhancing flavor, but safety.

1971

REFINING THE METHOD

Scientist and engineer Dr. Bruno Goussault pioneers and perfects the sous vide method, developing scientific rationale, safety practices, and other refinements to aid precision.

1974

ON THE FRENCH RESTAURANT SCENE

French chef Pierre Troisgros wants to develop a new way to cook foie gras, and enlists the help of Georges Pralus. The goal? To lose as little fat as possible when cooking. Through experimentation, Pralus finds that liver loses the least fat when poached at a precise temperature while sealed in plastic.

1980s

TEAMING UP WITH TOP CHEFS

Bruno Goussault works with Chef Joel Robuchon to create a sous vide dining program for the French railroad.

1989

CHIEF SCIENTIST FOR CUISINE SOLUTIONS

Goussault becomes the chief scientist at Cuisine Solutions, an American company that specializes in sous vide food preparation and packaging, helping the company produce high-quality sous vide on an industrial scale.

1991

CREA ESTABLISHED

Goussault establishes the Centre de Recherche et d’Études pour l’Alimentation (CREA), the first step toward elevating sous-vide cooking from boil-in-bag to haute cuisine. CREA introduces the theory and technology to top chefs (and now has trained over 80% of 3-star Michelin chefs around the world on the technique).

2000s

SOUS VIDE ARRIVES IN THE U.S.

The technique slowly becomes more popular with chefs in the U.S., thanks largely to the internet. Chefs begin to acquire sous vide circulators for their kitchens in the early 2000s.

2005

FIRST IMMERSION CIRCULATOR FOR PROFESSIONAL CHEFS

Philip Preston from PolyScience helps drive the creation of several pieces of home and professional equipment. His first sale is to Mattias Merges, Chef de Cuisine at Charlie Trotter’s.

2005

MORE CHEFS USING THE TECHNIQUE

Sous vide starts to flourish. Joan Roca, a chef in Spain, writes a book about sous vide that arrives in the U.S.; Chef Grant Achatz’s restaurant Alinea opens; and chef and inventor Dave Arnold teaches low-temperature cooking classes at the French Culinary Institute.

2005

NEW YORK TIMES STORY

“Cryovacking, which is more often called sous vide (French for ‘under vacuum’), is poised to change the way restaurant chefs cook,” writes Amanda Hesser for the New York Times. “And like the Wolf stove and the immersion blender, it will probably trickle down to the home kitchen someday.”

2006

CHEF BATTLE ON IRON CHEF AMERICA

Wylie Dufresne battles Mario Batali on Iron Chef America; it’s the first time sous vide circulators are seen on TV.

2008

UNDER PRESSURE

Thomas Keller, A renowned American chef, brings sous vide to the masses when he publishes “Under Pressure: Cooking Sous Vide.” The 295-page tome on the intricacies of sous vide is nothing short of a work of art.

2009

SOUS VIDE HITS HOME

Dr. Michael and Mary Eades introduce the first household sous vide cooking appliance, the SousVide Supreme, delighting food science early adopters. It was offered for less than $500.

2012

NOMIKU LAUNCHES

Another sous vide circulator company, Nomiku, launches, selling machines for $359.

2013

ANOVA CULINARY LAUNCHES

Anova Culinary launches the Anova One, its sous vide device for the home cook. Later, the firm introduces the Bluetooth-enabled Anova Precision Cooker, the first connected precision cooking device, followed by a wi-fi-enabled version.

2016

CHEFSTEPS RELEASES THE JOULE

ChefSteps releases its own circulator, called the Joule, for just $199.

2017

CREATION OF THE SOUS VIDE EGG BITE

Cuisine Solutions creates the renowned Sous Vide Egg Bite, launching with two flavors—Bacon & Gruyère and Egg White & Roasted Red Pepper—in Starbucks locations in the U.S. and Canada.

2017

VISIONARY OF THE FUTURE

Bruno Goussualt is selected for the prestigious Albert Einstein Legacy Project’s Genius: 100 Visions of the Future initiative, an honor that recognizes the world’s greatest living visionaries.

2018

FIRST ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SOUS VIDE DAY

Cuisine Solutions declares Dr. Gousault’s birthday, January 26, as International Sous-Vide Day, broadcasting the first event live on Facebook from a studio in Paris with Bruno Goussault.

2018

INTERNATIONAL SOUS VIDE ASSOCIATION FOUNDED

The International Sous Vide Association (ISVA) is created to provide education, networking opportunities, and experiential events for both professional and amateur enthusiasts of the sous vide cooking method.

2019

THE SOUS VIDE COOKTOP

SKS Appliances launches the first range incorporating a sous vide appliance in the cooktop.

2020

SOUS VIDE IS MADE IN AMERICA

Cuisine Solutions opens world’s largest sous-vide manufacturing facility in San Antonio, Texas.

2020

CELEBRATING 50 YEARS

Sous vide’s biggest enthusiasts, supporters, and innovators from around the world come together virtually to celebrate the technique’s past, present, and future.