You probably use your oven’s bake setting for fluffy sheet cakes and convection for crisp, caramelized veggies and proteins. But there’s another setting worth trying if your oven has it: air sous vide.
It sounds fancy, but air sous vide is surprisingly simple to use and can help evenly cook proteins, eggs, and more. The feature is showing up more in new wall ovens and ranges, including several models we’ve tested.
As a contributor and product analyst in the Good Housekeeping Kitchen & Cooking Lab, I wanted to learn more about how air sous vide works and if it’s worth using. So I spoke with experts from three major oven brands and tried it out myself.
What is air sous vide?
Usually, sous vide cooking requires an immersion circulator, a water bath, and a vacuum sealer or zip-top bag. To cook with air sous vide, however, you only need your oven. “Air sous vide is a cooking method that uses precisely controlled low-temperature air instead of a water bath to cook food gently and evenly over time,” says Nick Ritchie, executive chef for SKS, a subsidiary of LG, which makes our best-performing gas range.
With air sous vide, your oven holds a very steady temperature for hours at a time. Unlike regular bake or convection settings, which naturally fluctuate as they heat, air sous vide stays consistent to help food cook more evenly. It also uses lower temperatures than standard baking or roasting—usually under 200°F. And unlike traditional sous vide, there’s no need for a vacuum sealer or water bath—you can cook food directly in a Dutch oven, casserole dish, pan, or on a baking sheet.
What’s the best way to use air sous vide?
This setting works great for many of the same foods you’d use a water bath and immersion circulator—anything you want cooked to a precise temperature. Think: steaks, chicken, pork chops, and delicate seafood. “It is a great option when you want even doneness and tender texture without needing to watch the food closely throughout cooking,” says Ritchie.
Weldon Kennedy, cofounder and CMO of Copper, recommends salmon: “We love to do salmon filets, lightly glazed with lemon and brown sugar and set just above your target internal temperature,” he says. “Give it about three hours in the oven, and you’ll have some of the best salmon of your life.”
You can also use the low, steady temperature of air sous vide to dehydrate fruits and vegetables (Kennedy recommends persimmons and zucchini) for crunchy snacks.
I tried it: Air sous vide salmon
I tried Kennedy’s air-sous-vide salmon method using one 8-ounce fillet. After seasoning the fish, I placed it on a baking sheet and cooked it at 130°F for three hours. During that time, the oven temperature stayed impressively steady, only fluctuating by a few degrees.
At the end of cooking, the salmon reached an internal temperature of 120°F—close to my target of 125°F. (For reference, the USDA recommends cooking seafood to 145°F, though I personally prefer salmon with a softer, more delicate texture.)
The salmon was fully cooked, but it looked very different from roasted or pan-seared salmon. There was no golden crust or caramelization, and at first glance, it almost looked raw. The texture was very even from edge to center and a little softer than I’d prefer. Still, GH Deputy Editor Sarah Gregory enjoyed it, saying it was tender, moist, and flakier than she expected based on its appearance—though she missed the crispy skin.
To compare, I roasted an identical fillet in the Copper oven at 400°F for 15 minutes, until it reached an internal temperature of 125°F. This piece came out with more obvious flakes, more color on top, and a crispier skin, but looked a bit overcooked. The thinner end of the fillet was on the dry side; clearly, the high heat wasn’t as gentle.
The bottom line
Air sous vide is a fun setting to experiment with if your oven has it. It takes much longer than roasting or baking, but the low, steady temperature cooks food very evenly. When you have the time, I’d recommend using it for small pieces of delicate proteins that benefit from a consistent texture throughout.
That said, don’t expect much browning or color variation when you slice into your meat or seafood. You can sear the food afterward for a crust, but that adds another step after hours of cooking. For most weeknight meals, I’ll stick to faster methods like searing or roasting. And when I want a perfectly medium-rare steak, my immersion circulator gets the job done in about an hour.
Why trust Good Housekeeping?
Lizzy Briskin is a kitchen appliance analyst in the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen & Cooking Lab, where she regularly tests and writes about ranges, cooktops, and specialty kitchen appliances. She has a culinary degree from Cambridge School of Culinary Arts and has over 10 years of experience covering food and developing recipes for publication. She regularly uses an immersion circulator at home to make jammy eggs and tested air sous vide in the Lab for this story.
