# Sous vide food truck



## sousvidetruck (Apr 7, 2014)

Hello everyone let's talk sous vide street food.

As my username denotes, I'm in the process of planning a food truck based around modernist cooking styles.

I several advantages to this and have a fair amount of experience with utilizing sous vide, vacuum sealing, fluid gels and so on in food applications.

I'm really curious about every bodies ideas on what food I should do.

No idea is too crazy.










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## genemachine (Sep 26, 2012)

While I have nothing against modernist/molecular techniques, my first question would be if you really see a market for this in the street food business.


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## french fries (Sep 5, 2008)

It may depend on the area. Here in L.A. there are areas with hipster foodies where such a truck would probably make a killing, at least for a while. I like that photograph you posted, beautiful plating.


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## sandsquid (Dec 23, 2013)

It would certainly make a lot of practical sense to be able to prepare everything and then just drive around or post up in the trendy hipster & high tech ubergeek sections of town with your steamy tank of ready to eat goodness, if you have customer base to support it.


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## foodnfoto (Jan 1, 2001)

Do your market research first and plan what neighborhoods you will be permitted to vend in.

Then determine the demand for what you have to offer.

Know your customers! and what they want!

While hipsters may say they want the latest trend in food, do they have the $$ to pay for it? and how often are they willing to buy it?

Successful food trucks make their money on VOLUME of sales and repeat business.

Sous vide IMHO is too precious a cooking style to offer to those who want a quick meal from a mobile unit.

It's something that few in the larger market are going to go out of their way for on a regular basis.


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## pollopicu (Jan 24, 2013)

What does the photograph above have to do with sous vide? it's watermelon, avocado, radish and feta.... I don't believe that's sous vide-d.

a sous vide food truck...

why?

But most importantly...why?

I appreciate modernist/molecular food techniques as well, but in the appropriate setting, with proper presentation. A sous vide food truck to me sounds like a Grab n' GO at the WaWa, and I'm sure that's exactly what it's going to look like.

First of all, not many people (non-professionals) have even heard of the term _sous vide_, and when you describe what it is, like I did to my husband, it doesn't sound right, it sounds like over-manipulated food that's not fresh to begin with because it comes from a food truck. We in the food industry understand what it is and can appreciate, and even embrace it.

There's already somewhat of a bad connotation associated with food trucks, and then you're going to throw vacuum sealed food to the mix?


> While hipsters may say they want the latest trend in food, do they have the $$ to pay for it? and how often are they willing to buy it?


this is exactly what i was thinking. A lot of hipsters spend all their money on skinny jeans, tattoos, starbucks, and exorbitant rent in gentrified neighborhoods, and doubt they'll be able to afford what you'll have to charge for the effort you put into the concept of a sous vide food truck.

I could see it being a temporary novelty though.. but not one that will last, and it's not to put your idea down at all, it's about proper marketing, and using the money you're willing to invest in a food business to good use, with a concept that has a very good chance of succeeding.


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## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

foodnfoto said:


> ...
> 
> Successful food trucks make their money on VOLUME of sales and repeat business.


Absolutely, and may I add a third important factor; low cost.

Streetfood also sells by its nose; the smell in the street does the trick. Maybe I'm wrong but I would suspect little smell coming from sous-vide food? There's a couple of Belgians in New York who are quite successful with their "Wafels en Dinges" food truck, selling waffles. Maybe take a look there, they will happily share information.


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## michaelga (Jan 30, 2012)

Lots of good advice - another thing to note is some jurisdictions have very specific rules regarding sous-vide cooking.

Some have very rigorous standards that must be met - and will not likely be accepted / approved if you are working out of a commissary kitchen (or shared space).


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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

I would imagine sous vide would lend itself well to food truck applications over a wide variety of cuisines. I just wouldn't market it that way though because i don't think the broad appeal you need to make a food truck successful is there for sous vide.

Chalk it up to lack of knowledge on the part of the general public. Say sue what...? Nothing wrong with using techniques and just not elaborating about them to the public.


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## sousvidetruck (Apr 7, 2014)

Cheflayne: grasps the idea for what it is better than anyone else who has commented. Perhaps my original message was vague. 

I plan to utilize these techniques not to make them the cornerstone of my marketing campaign. If you have a good understanding of these techniques they lend themselves to being used in a non tradition kitchen because you can do a large part of it without fire or gas simply electricity and it's a lot of set it and forget it. 

I was simply looking for other chefs ideas on utilizing sous vide techniques in a street food setting. What would you serve or cook? Maybe think of it like this sous vide opens up the ability to do some foods other trucks cannot. 

I just want food ideas from other culinary minded people. 


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## michaelga (Jan 30, 2012)

Well I hope you're not in NY or another jurisdiction that has some crazy specific rules wrt Sous-Vide...    good luck though.


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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

Curries (pork vindaloo), stews (goat birria), braises (lamb shank kokinisto), corn on cob,...etc....anything half way wet in preparation because it will still need to be brought back up to temp or kept at temp for service.


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## stephenammieray (Mar 11, 2014)

I am really leaning towards sous vide on my mobile kitchen. The implications are limitless not just with meat.


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## dcarch (Jun 28, 2010)

StephenAmmieRay said:


> I am really leaning towards sous vide on my mobile kitchen. The implications are limitless not just with meat.


Sous vide has to use electric power, one small setup will be around 1000 watts. How many setups will you have? how are you going to supply the electric power? Also, the power should be continuous and steady. Many sous vide systems require resetting if the power is interrupted. Then you still need power for refrigeration, etc.

To other comments:

Sous vide will not give you the finished product. It is only part of the cooking process. Yes, there will be plenty of good smell when the food come out from the SV cooker and grilled, fried, or whatever.

dcarch


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## stephenammieray (Mar 11, 2014)

dcarch said:


> Sous vide has to use electric power, one small setup will be around 1000 watts. How many setups will you have? how are you going to supply the electric power? Also, the power should be continuous and steady. Many sous vide systems require resetting if the power is interrupted. Then you still need power for refrigeration, etc.
> 
> To other comments:
> 
> ...


I would do most of it at a physical location. Utah has laws dampening the amount aloud to be cooked on the truck. But I will be running solar power and a cng generator. But the food truck needs to wait until I get the physical location going first.


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## someday (Aug 15, 2003)

My advice...sous vide is all well and good. Sous vide is something to utilize in the service of whatever product you choose to cook for your food truck. Not the basis for a food truck.

For example, you shouldn't have a "sous vide food truck" because, really, what the f*** is that anyways? You should have, say, a sandwich food truck (or whatever), that utilizes sous vide to make awesome roast beef, or chicken thighs, or what have you.

This sounds gimmicky, pretentious, and destined to fail. Not to be harsh, but I think you should flesh out some ideas and think about what style or focus of cuisine you want to capture (and no, sous vide is not a style).

I would also say, that while a "modernist" food truck might appeal to some people, most people want fast, delicious, grab n go food from their food truck. They don't want Alinea to go. Are you going to go out and make dessert on their picnic tables? ( 



 )


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## dcarch (Jun 28, 2010)

"----But I will be running solar power and a cng generator. But the food truck needs to wait until I get the physical location going first.---"

Solar power is good for PR, not a practical electric power source. A solar panel oriented exactly optimally towards the sun will give about 10 watts/sq. ft. Not useful for cooking use. The roof of your truck will only be big enough for less than 200 watts, and a blender can take 1000 watts. Solar power will need very heavy storage batteries and inverters, otherwise everything stops when a cloud passes by.

Then there are rainy days and tall buildings blocking all the sun.

dcarch


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## stephenammieray (Mar 11, 2014)

The sous vide would be to get the food cooked right for what I need. The food truck concept is completely different. The sous vide is just a preparation


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## someday (Aug 15, 2003)

Lol sorry. I was responding to the OP, I didn't realize this thread was a few months old.


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## rick alan (Nov 15, 2012)

Stews, braises and confit also; I guess carrots, string beans, etc; how are sous vide potatoes?; but more than anything else I would say melt-in-your-mouth meats from the likes of chuck, brisket, round, flank.  Something that resembles steak tatar or kibi, but is actually fully cooked.

Rick


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## hamiltonbarnes (Jul 3, 2014)

Sounds like a great idea to me.  I live in a hipster/gentrified area of Atlanta.  The food truck scene is the foodie scene.  I have definitely spent as much at a food truck as at a restaurant, if not more.  There is one truck that grinds grass fed organic short rib for burgers.  I would go to that truck.


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## bryan wiarta (Dec 20, 2012)

i think sous vide is a good idea, it can be perfectly for prep ingredients and half cooked it . If we sell something with sousvide name on it on street i think people will think the food are get too much modified and seems not fresh . so selling some bbq,sandwich and so on can be better using SV machine


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## Chef Sheldon (Aug 25, 2019)

I am considering the same cooking method on a taco truck (without it being the focus of the truck's marketing). The advantages are numerous. The protein cooks to precise internal temp without overcooking or undercooking. You can package it into single servings so you don't cook too much or too little. They will hold at serving temp without drying out or toughening.


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## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

Was there a memo that I missed? Did sous vide all of a sudden become fast? How much product are you willing to risk to have enough to serve on spec? Do you think there is a market of food-truck diners that are willing to wait any given amount of time other then regular standing-in-line time?


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