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Sous vide fail: advice please

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    Sous vide fail: advice please

    I had a moment of weakness and picked up a joule. I was captivated by the apple braised pork shank recipe and bought some large food grade marinating bags from amazon so I could cook up a big dinner for the family.



    Turns out that there seems to have been a reverse osmosis thing going on and the liquid in my cooking bag doubled in the 24 hour cook. So, no sauce, meat was actually tender but not a lot of flavor.

    I know I could probably double or triple bag to reduce the amount of liquid seeping in the future but I am curious what everyone else is using to cook with. I am dying to try the rib end chuck roast but am cautious at this point.

    Is there a bagging solution for large portions that works better?

    #2
    Did you reduce the glaze till it was really thick before SV? It is quite normal for meat to release some juices during a SV cook and the Chefsteps recipe also recommends (after SV) to strain and simmer the glaze until it has turned into thick sticky sauce.

    Comment


      #3
      vacuum sealing works best for guaranteeing no liquid gets into or out of the bag. If you are using zipper bags, try keeping the sealed edge above the water line if you can.

      Comment


        #4
        Since you're cooking at higher temperatures, you either need to use dedicated vacuum seal bags or ziplock freezer bags. Many bags, such as ziplock storage, are not adequate for high temp/long cooks sous vide.

        Comment


          #5
          A good vacuum sealer is part of the necessary buy in for SV cooking. You can play with learning the idea with zip-lock bags but... you're going to have some leakage now and then. There's no leakage with a vacuum sealed bag.

          Comment


            #6
            I don't know if this would work for large portions but it is cheaper than a vacuum sealer.Click image for larger version

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            Comment


            • Potkettleblack
              Potkettleblack commented
              Editing a comment
              you ain't getting a pork shank in that.

            #7
            If you're serious about sous vide, just get a decent sealer. It'll save you trouble. In case you think you might want to dry age some beef, check the models they list here: https://www.drybagsteak.com/vacuum-sealer-support.php

            Comment


              #8
              I found that in a pinch, oven bags (like you'd bake a turkey in) worked okay on a 28 hour roast. I doubled them up for extra measure, but I think one would've been fine. All of my other cooks have been 4 - 12 hours and zip-locks held up well. I have a vac sealer and sealer bags, but I have not used them for SV, maybe wondering if the seals will hold up in hot water.

              Comment


                #9
                You have hit upon a very good question and one that I have wrestled with since I got the SV. Others have reported similar results here. I love my SV machine and have used it for a bunch of different cooks. However, I have found that the flavors I normally get from rubs/marinades are diluted greatly in the process. I have even done the scrambled egg thing SV style. I added onions, jalapeños and cheese in the same portions that I would to a normal scramble. Normally, the eggs come out with a bite from the jalapeños and a sweetness from the red onions. SV'd the flavors washed away until I doubled the portions of peppers and onion. With steaks, texturally, I have found that things out of SV come out beautifully uniform but there is a loss or "wash-out" of rub flavors. I often times wonder if there should be a recipe section for BBQ that takes this phenomenon into consideration. I vacuum seal everything prior to cooking SV.

                Comment


                  #10
                  tbob4 ...

                  My SV'ed steaks don't get any Rub on them at all. I salt them for dry brining and then vacuum seal them in a bag overnight. The next day I put them in the bath tub for 4 to 8 hours and then I remove them from the bags, blot them dry and coat them with beef love. I sear them to get the crust I like and then hit them with some fresh ground pepper. No Rub on steaks.😬

                  Comment


                    #11
                    I have had good luck with Tri Tip SV style. Also tried bacon SV overnight which was very good after a light sear. The scrambled eggs with peppers and onions I did only once but they were ok. Probably need a little more practice on the eggs. HOWEVER last week I did some boneless pork chops cut 1.5" thick. They were terribly dry, just the opposite of what I thought I'd end up with. Anyone have a good idea for boneless pork chops?

                    Comment


                    • Mikey C
                      Mikey C commented
                      Editing a comment
                      What time and temp did you do the chops at?

                    #12
                    https://www.chefsteps.com/activities...y-and-sourcing

                    "At temperatures above around 158 °F / 70 °C, the seams of ziplock-style bags can fail, exposing your food to the water in the bath."

                    The bag you used is not designed for high temp. They say it will hold boiling water, but I suspect that is a short term thing, for the assembly of brine, rather than a prolonged soak in fairly hot bath water. Yeah, you need something with a better seam and a better plastic for long and hot. 158* is about the peak of what you can use a freezer ziplock for.

                    I would recommend something like this:

                    A sealer is pretty useful, though you can use these bags for some applications "sans-vide"... Vegetables are good sans-vide, as they can give up some gas that makes vac bags float. 24 hour pork shanks... not so much.

                    On the pork chops... time and temp? I prefer 135 for just long enough to cook it. Others like it whiter and dryer. 140 is what they like.

                    Comment


                      #13
                      Yes, be careful of the bags you use. I made the mistake of re-using a bag for corn on the cob and it broke. Ewww. Learned NEVER re-use a ziplock bag and ONLY use freezer bags.

                      Comment


                        #14
                        I use freezer bags and clothespin the seal part at the top of the pot. Never had a leak in Food Saver vacuum bags.

                        Comment


                          #15
                          I use ZipLocks for anything below 140°F or so. (I know, 158°F is supposed to be Ziploc's limit, but I'm extra cautious). After that, it's Food Saver Game Saver Heavy Duty all the way.

                          Kathryn

                          Comment


                          • Potkettleblack
                            Potkettleblack commented
                            Editing a comment
                            I have found that my ziplock 2 gallon bags inspire more confidence than the 1 gallon freezer bags, so I'm good with them up to about 150 or so. Having eaten some things that had leaky bags, I'm not that eager to do so again.

                          • fzxdoc
                            fzxdoc commented
                            Editing a comment
                            Plus the fact that food products leaking into the water that then is circulated by and through part of the sous vide machine would require some pretty deep cleaning of the sous vide machine, I would guess. It's one thing for the Joule, for example, to unscrew the foot and rinse out the inside after every use but to try to get food particles out of the inside might be more of a challenge. The leaky/broken bag scenario is not one that I want to experience. Sorry to hear you've had to face that, Potkettleblack . Ugh.

                            Kathryn

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