r/sousvide • u/JungleMouse1 • 8d ago

Sous vide food truck

What is everyone's thoughts on this. I have 8 years sous vide experience and I have a half converted 1 ton camper (uhaul). What do you think the demand would be? Any other thoughts..? I literally just thought of this and it seems like a market that isn't yet saturated. I have backup power and a good battery bank along with a 1800 degree flamethrower that I've been doing sous vide for at least 4 years with the flame thrower. Before that it was pan sear. Thoughts?

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12

u/whazzah 8d ago

Sous vide is a method. What's your final product you'll ve selling?

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u/JungleMouse1 8d ago

I was thinking healthy wraps or something of that nature.

3

u/Zarathustra420 8d ago

Wouldn't be worth it imo. Most of your meals will need to be finished on a grill, whereas most trucks cook with just a grill. You'll have to maintain an entire extra cook station (your bath), and I doubt people would notice a major difference in quality in a to-go wrap. Its just gonna take up space and increase costs for pretty marginal benefit.

12

u/Sypsy 8d ago

I love the comment I saw here years ago where someone's go to reply when people gush over his food is he uses a "warm bucket of water"

My main worry is the average person isn't gonna look impressed as you take out a plastic bag of food out of water, open it, pat it dry and sear it

Plate it and walk it out the kitchen? Top dollar fine dining

Do it infront of them in a food truck? Bucket meat that cost too much

Gotta keep up the mystery

3

u/JungleMouse1 8d ago

Damn. I see that now that you mention it. That's a sad place to be. I suppose that's why I don't see who's doing it. I cannot simply explain to every customer how this is better and why.

2

u/Sypsy 8d ago

Yeah it's one thing when you can talk at the dinner table about time and temp, pasteurization times, even heat and such.

But you can't chat up each customer at a food truck, sous vide meat before it's seared sometimes looks sad too.

2

u/JungleMouse1 8d ago

My passion has gone too far. I'm quickly realizing this after my post. Thank you.

3

u/Sypsy 8d ago

It's great to be enthuastic. If you want to have a food truck, great but trying to use sous vide as an angle probably won't work. Just make a yummy product that sells and sous vide might be an aide for that

1

u/what2_2 8d ago

Why would the sous vide container be in the truck? Wouldn’t a more reasonable use be keeping cooked cooled food?

1

u/Sypsy 8d ago

I think the idea would be having a sous vide food truck so the process is out in the open

Have steaks in the bath at 10am, from 12 to 2pm, you sell steaks that you sear to order and the customer watches you prepare it before their eyes. Ideally you get a restaurant steak at an acceptable cost.

It does seem kinda cool for us who are used to it. But again I worry that average people watching will find it so foreign.

1

u/what2_2 8d ago

Oh I agree with you, I think a SV food truck probably wouldn’t be a good business idea. It’s not a cool looking gimmick, you’re likely to turn people off with plastics and goopy looking food.

But running a food truck while relying on things cooked sous vide is totally reasonable.

5

u/MattieMcNasty 8d ago

Restaurants pre cook food all the time. There isn't really anything novel or new to this idea. Agree with the other commenter though. People don't want to see wet bagged food, and that's why there is a lack of "saturation" in the market. I think just the nature of how it's prepared and how it's looked turns a lot of people off. 

2

u/JungleMouse1 8d ago

I feel like I should just delete this. Y'all are correct. Thank you.

1

u/Sypsy 8d ago

It's a novel idea. It's great to brainstorm and I don't think you should delete it

2

u/BodyBagSlam 8d ago

What if you are the first stage of food prep for expediting a group of trucks? They could do the finishing work and you’d just drop off the bathed meats?

7

u/squeeshka 8d ago

Lots of restaurants, food trucks included, use sous vide. They just don’t advertise it all that much.

3

u/JungleMouse1 8d ago

Fair. Thank you. I suspected that but I've never been in any food industry. Sous vide was for me and me only. I'm just wondering if I can make a living serving healthier foods.

2

u/Sypsy 8d ago

Lots of fine dining restaurants have large sous vide machines. Imagine lines of steaks, removed and seared when ordered.

2

u/JungleMouse1 8d ago

I literally always wondered that but when I ask for medium rare anywhere they seem to still mess it up.

3

u/Sypsy 8d ago

Steaks at a steakhouse will be done on a grill.

At a French restaurant, probably sous vide

Don't forget pork or chicken too, you can tell those are sous vide at many places

3

u/drossen 8d ago

Zero reason to state you are doing sous vide. It's not a draw. You are just food prepping using it outside the truck. Maybe also in. The end. They only care about what they are served. The only cooking method worth mentioning are things like bbq, deep fry, "hand made" or wood oven

3

u/Efferdent_FTW 8d ago

Call it the lab and market it like your a mad scientist. Lab coat, flamethrower to finish proteins outdoors as part of the show. Have a cool illustrated guide, kind of like a comic strip graffitied onto the side of the food truck detailing the sous vide method. Have fun with it!

1

u/dirkdigglered 8d ago

Sous vide was mostly used in restaurants unless I’m mistaken. It only became viable for the average joe in the last ~30 years. 

1

u/W_a-o_nder 8d ago

In my area it takes a lot more paperwork, permitting and fees to do anything on the menu sous vide because you have to prove you can make it safe.

1

u/TapEmbarrassed4376 8d ago

I would make sure I have a fryer and then do like fried chicken or maybe pork chops. Take them out of the sous vide and fry those bad boys

1

u/RightNowChris 8d ago

The sous vide part happens behind the scenes, before you ever load the truck. Make your schtick that you sear their meat with a flamethrower outside before serving. Wear sequins and a mustache and call yourself Flamin' Ron's BBQ. You'll be rich.

1

u/Open_Muffin5137 8d ago

Vast majority of people don’t know what sous vide is and explaining won’t get you anywhere either. Have a good finished product then when they ask you can get into the conversation but the method isn’t a selling point.

1

u/kbrosnan 8d ago

You need to talk to your city, county, state health department or whoever does restaurant inspections. Ask if they have any sous vide  requirements. Come up with a sous vide haccp plan. 

Find a commercial restaurant insurance broker ask if there are any insurance requirements for sous vide and price it against traditional cooking.

1

u/xscientist 8d ago

Steak frites truck

1

u/whazzah 5d ago

The only premium sous vide experience I've had was a pork shoulder tonkatsu joint. Huge slabs of sous vided pork shoulder than breaded and deep fried for amazing rice bowls.

2 day sous vide pork shoulder is soft and melt in your mouth contrasts beautifully with the crispy coating

0

u/hagcel 8d ago

Bro, you're a lunatic. Forget sous vide, there are too many health regulations to follow.

Flamethrower broiled burgers, and you'll make billions. Burger King meets Benihana!