In our ‘Ask our chef‘ section we received a double question regarding our pears in red wine recipe using the sous-vide method, specifically concerning the vacuum level reached and the cooking time:

“There are some products, such as pear, which we put into The Bag with the wine and the other ingredients and are unable reach 100 vacuum, generally staying at around 96… is this a problem? Then, with this recipe, is the cooking time 15 hours?”

Here is our chef’s answer:

It isn’t a problem. However, if you want to achieve a higher level of vacuum, try putting the wine in when it is as cold as possible. Also, to achieve a better vacuum, you can place the pealed pear on a plate or a tray and, subsequently, vacuum it in the vacuum bag together with the wine. This way, the fruit will contain less air and the flavour of the wine will penetrate even deeper.

In terms of the cooking time, 15 hours would be for a pear which is not very ripe at all, that is to say, one which is very hard. If you have a pear which is riper, and therefore softer, the cooking time will be much less.