Passion Meets Precision: Inspired by Anova, MERIT Brewing Serves an Entire Sous Vide Pig

MERIT Brewing, based out of Hamilton, Ontario, opened just 6 months ago – but they’re already making a splash in the culinary industry. Between the day-to-day craziness of running a brewery, restaurant, and bottle shop, co-founder Tej Sandhu wanted to bring two passions together: brewing and sous vide. “We built MERIT as a place to experiment, both in the brewery and in the kitchen,” says Tej Sandhu, co-founder.

About a year ago, after receiving an Anova Precision Cooker as a Christmas present, sous vide became a big part of his life (or as Tej says – an obsession). “While we stared into the swirling pot of water in our Brew Kettle, we quickly realized that we didn’t just have a brewhouse; we are the proud parents of a 2000L temperature controlled, steam heated, circulating sous vide machine. Standing there, we dreamed of ridiculous recipes for not only beer, but slow cooking meat, vegetables, fruit, and even hops.”

Fast forward a bit, and MERIT Brewing regularly serves up some awesome sous vide sausage at their restaurant – but they wanted to change it up for one BIG night. Inspired by a local annual hog roast, the team decided to cook an entire pig sous vide (broken down and bagged), and they came up with some amazingly creative dishes.

Pig Flight

Sous Vide Citrus Glazed Pork Belly with Fennel Slaw, Sous Vide & Applewood Smoked Tenderloin with Peach Chutney, and Deep Fried Trotter Terrine

Smoked & Sous Vide Pulled Pork Shoulder Sandwich

Provençal Style with Lemon, Capers, Garlic

Quebecois Style Beans

Navy Beans with Maple and Sous Vide & Smoked Ham

Pig Face Poutine

Braised Jowl & Crisp Ears, Ontario Curds, Fries, Pork Gravy

Customers loved it – the sandwich and the Pig Flight were the most ordered items of the night. MERIT Brewing plans to continue experimenting with “Brewhouse Sous Vide”.