Richard Russell

Not without a vacuum packer, I can't... The butcher vacuum packed it for me, but I don't think they'll dip it in boiling water before they vacuum pack it...

I am sure 130F (54.5C) was meant. If meat gets to 130C, it's inedible and dry (unless it's part of the crust on the surface).

I also like the theory about pathogens on the inside of rolled meat, but there was no evidence of anything growing on the "inside" of the roll. All the growth was on the external surface, which would have been at 56C almost immediately after being put in the water bath. Personally, I'm still puzzled as to what this could be. I am down to assuming that there was something added to the surface during vacuum packing, perhaps from the hands of the butcher? I think next time, I'll do an unrolled one, with no string, and maybe will brown or blanch it first to kill anything on the surface. This means I'll be using a ziploc bag rather than a professional vacuum packer, but also means I can add some extra flavouring.

Hi Lisa, I didn't eat it. I tasted some of the interior flesh, and was careful to avoid any that had come into contact with the juice. So far, I feel fine. I haven't come across any advice to sterilise first. I've done steaks at a similar temperature (in fact, a few degrees lower) for two hours, and they were great. I follow the water bath with a high temperature sear, as I intended to do with this brisket. Cheers Richard

Hello all, I just cooked a rolled brisket sous vide for 22 hours at 56C (132.8F). It came out with air in the bag, covered in green-brown slime, and smelling like ... baby poo. I cut away the surface to get to the meat underneath, which looked bland and tasted OK, but certainly wasn't appealing. Needless to say, it didn't get eaten. But I want to know what happened, and whether this was a health risk. The butcher I bought the cut from is well known for premium quality. They have their own farm and dry-age their meat. This was clearly aged, one edge being particularly dark. It was tied with string, as rolled brisket often is. They vacuum-packed it (with string still on) for me, and there was no air in the bag. It was a warm day, and I walked 20 mins home, then put it straight into the fridge. A few hours later, I dropped it into 56C (132.8F) water, which was kept at a constant temperature by an Anova circulator. I covered the pot with aluminium foil and some tea towels to insulate against heat loss. 22 hours after that, I opened it up, mouth watering. The bag had some air in it (maybe 50mL or so - not at pressure, but more than just a few bubbles). The meat had shrunk, and the bag had a quantity of blood and juices in it (maybe 100mL) - this was expected. Opening it revealed a rather unpleasant smell. It didn't smell entirely toxic, but it didn't smell edible (those with babies will know what I mean). There was a layer of green-brown slime on the meat. I mostly washed it off the fat, but I couldn't wash it off the meat. I cut the edges off, revealing tender pink-grey meat on the inside. The meat from the inside didn't smell bad, but didn't smell good either. Taste and texture was bland. My fingers still smell of the slime, even after washing. I did a bit of searching, and found something on another site (which Chrome currently gives me a malware warning for) here. However, there's no real conclusions there as to what happened, whether it was a health risk, or how to prevent it. They also have a photo here. I didn't take a photo, but mine was similar though less green. Maybe more yellow-brown than that. Can anyone help me out here? What happened? Was this dangerous, or just unpleasant? How do I avoid this in future? Thanks