Before long, it will be time to dust off those German recipes and celebrate fall. So we thought, “Why not experiment with them and try making traditional Oktoberfest foods sous-vide?” In our experience, it’s a great way to reduce labor costs, improve product yields, maintain food safety and serve large crowds consistently amazing meals.

So which Oktoberfest foods may be made sous-vide? Warm, German potato salad is one of the classic dishes at the top of our list. For the best results, consider swapping out the red bliss potatoes for russets. They seem to hold up better than the bliss, especially when you go to toss the finished salad right before serving it.

German potato salad isn’t the only Oktoberfest side dish that may be made with sous-vide cooking techniques. Red cabbage will cook up perfectly too. As a matter of fact, it gives the cabbage a beautiful color that really stands out during plating. You may also want to sous-vide your sauerkraut in beer for an extra added touch.

The sous-vide preparation of main dishes may be achieved as well. We have found that emulsified sausages, like bratwurst and weisswurst, work exceptionally well in food warmers made with our Fluid Shelf® Technology, as do other German wursts. They cook through evenly and the casings tend to stay intact far better than they do when using other methods (e.g. boil and grill)

In most instances, one to three hours at 140°F will render perfectly cooked pork sausages. If you plan on using veal or beef based sausages at your catering site, drop the temperature down to 131°F and keep the previously mentioned cook times. Once you take the sausages out of the food warmer, be sure to brown them quickly to get that look Oktoberfest patrons crave.

To learn more about food warmers and preparing Oktoberfest foods using sous-vide techniques, please contact us today.