One bath, many small jars
A sous-vide circulator holds a tank of moving water at a set temperature. With jars instead of bags it can incubate yogurt, set eggs, extract kombu and steep syrups, once you know what it does and does not control.
Modern method
Herb, flower and fruit cordial syrups
lavender syrup · lemon-rosemary syrup · sous vide syrup
Sugar syrups flavoured by holding botanicals, sugar and water in sealed bags in a 135°F (57°C) water bath for an hour, then cooling and refrigerating; several can share one bath.
Syrups made in a water bath
A botanical syrup is sugar dissolved in water and flavoured with an herb, flower or fruit. The usual route is to simmer the sugar and water, add the botanical, and steep it while the syrup cools. The method here does the same job in a sealed bag in a water bath held at 135°F (57°C), so the syrup never reaches a boil. The sugar and water and the botanical are sealed together for one hour, then the bag is cooled, the liquid strained through a fine mesh and bottled.
Both documented recipes come from an appliance maker's recipe library. The first is a dried-lavender syrup, one tablespoon of culinary-grade lavender to a cup each of water and sugar. The second is a lemon-rosemary syrup, which uses the same bath and one hour but is agitated and carries a refrigerated keeping time of up to two weeks, as the source gives it.
Sources for this section
Why the bath holds the temperature
The sources set the bath at 135°F (57°C) and give no explanation of the setting, so the reasons here are limited to what the method does. A warm bath keeps the sugar dissolved and the water from boiling off in a sealed bag, and it gives the botanical a steady hour to release its flavour without the rapid change of a pan. The circulator holds that temperature for the whole hour, which is why the method is a bath rather than a stove.
Several bags can share one bath at the same setting, so a cook who makes two syrups at once with the same time and temperature needs one circulator, not two. Other botanicals at this setting are not in either source and are a reasoned adaptation rather than a documented recipe.
Sources for this section
Storage and keeping
The lavender syrup is stored in the refrigerator, and the source gives no keeping time for it. The lemon-rosemary syrup is kept in an airtight glass container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. Neither source suggests storing either syrup at room temperature, and this page does not offer one.
Sources for this section
Open questions
The lavender syrup's keeping time is not stated. The sources print their yield only as a number of servings, without a unit, so the volume the batch makes is unknown. Other botanicals and other fruit or juice combinations have not been tested at this bath setting, and no sourced method for them is recorded here.
Sources for this section
History
The two recipes that document this method are modern sous-vide recipes published by an appliance maker. No dated source for herb or flower syrups in this form was read.
Ingredients
Scaling: source batch only
Method
Risks and precautions · Standard risk
Refrigerated storage
Control sourceNeither recipe gives a room-temperature storage. Keep the syrup refrigerated; the sealed bag is a package, not a preservation step.
The 57°C hour is a steeping bath, not a pasteurising hold. Other botanicals at this setting are untested adaptations.
- Set the circulator to 135 °F (57 °C).
- Put the water, sugar and dried lavender in a plastic zip-seal bag and close it. Put the bag in the bath and cook 1 hour.
- Let cool to room temperature, then strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl with a pour spout.
- Pour into bottles, cover with a lid and store in the refrigerator.
Conditions
Active time5 min
Temperature57°C
Temperature controlIncubated
Places
Unknown
Relationship not established · Place not establishedThe sources are two modern appliance-maker recipes and name no place of origin for this method.
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Sources
Anova CulinaryMethod
Sous Vide Lavender SyrupQuantities, 135 °F for 1 h, strain, refrigerate
Cited in: Syrups made in a water bath; Why the bath holds the temperature; Storage and keeping; Open questions
Anova CulinaryMethod · Storage
Sous Vide Lemon-Rosemary SyrupQuantities, 135 °F for 1 h, agitate, refrigerate up to 2 weeks
Cited in: Syrups made in a water bath; Storage and keeping