Lesson Learned -- Make sure those bags are sealed

[HackingBBQ]

I used half of a pork shoulder for Indian food earlier in the week, so I decided to take the other half and give a go cooking it sous vide style. The plan was to put it in the bath for a long while and then throw it on the smoker for a couple of hours to develop some bark. It had been in the water bath for about 12 hours so I got the pit lit and was getting ready to transfer it when I realized disaster had struck. The seal on my bag had popped, and the thing was completely waterlogged. I tried putting it on the pit anyway to see if I could salvage it since it was already fired up, but the texture was pretty much destroyed.

The lesson here? Make triple and quadruple sure those bags are sealed tight!

[freddh]

HackingBBQ you're absolutely correct! I always double seal on the same point. Then I move the bag about 1/2 inch then double seal that as well. No leaks, no fuss.
freddh

[badf00d]

Double sealing can sometimes weaken the first seal and compromise the bag. I like the idea of the separate seal slightly off from the first, though.

[Potkettleblack]

Rolling the bag top out when putting food in helps keep the seal area clear of particles and liquids, ensuring a good seal.

I like doing the offset double seal for things that go hot (like veg) and things that go long.

[Tri0de]

Another Sous Vide person!

Love doing my chicken this way, pork loin more than anything; it stays so moist, then I just grill it with some smoke for the bark.

[HackingBBQ]

I'm just now starting to experiment with sous vide. I've done a whole lot of steaks and pork loins with it, including some beautiful berkshire pork chops the other day. It's quickly becoming my go to method for those cuts. I'm hoping to spend more time working with traditional BBQ cuts in the water bath. I'd love to get to a point where I can do a combination of mostly SV + minimal smoking on the traditional smoker to optimize that process.

[Ernest]

That's my go to way of doing pulled pork or any pork shoulder cook. SV+KBQ

[David Parrish]

Closed bag = Sous Vide

Open bag = Soup Vide

[Potkettleblack]

You can do a lot of things with open bags. Just clip the top of the bag to the edge of the pot above the water line.

[David Parrish]

Sure but as far as the water is concerned that bag is for all intents and purposes closed

[Huskee]

Could you just place the sealed bag into a ziplock and seal it, for double protection?

[Potkettleblack]

Gotta do the Archimedes trick to get the air out of the ziplock, else the bag will float AND insulate the meat from full contact with the water. Sub optimal solution.

[Huskee]

Potkettleblack Yes, get the air out of course. Seems to me to be a cheap and rather fool proof solution. But alas, I don't sous vide.

[Potkettleblack]

Would probably work better with the ziplock as the first layer. But two vac bags aren't a bad idea. An 8" in a 12".

[Atalanta]

I learned the lesson of cheap bags - I used a non heavy duty freezer bag and made the mistake of using it more than once. I was doing corn (182F) and when I went to pull up the bag after the second round, it broke and dumped the corn and butter into the pot. I quickly pulled out my circulator and got that cooled and cleaned, rinsed and re-buttered the corn, and dumped and washed the pot.

Now I only use the heavy freezer bags I get at the restaurant supply and I only use them ONCE!

[EdF]

Reminds me of the time I pulled something that I didn't recognize as a candle holder (with a bit of candle in it) as a weight for a bag. What a mess! Circulator survived, though.

[Atalanta]

You were lucky. That could have been all sorts of bad.