Sous Vide -- What to do with leftovers?

[thatjewcancook]

Hi all, I am brand spanking new at sous viding and had a question about what to do with leftovers. According to everything I am reading, if you do not serve the sous vide meat right away you need to chill it in an ice bath and keep it really cold in order to prevent serious bacteria growth.

Tonight I sous vided a pork loin, but we only ate half of it. It sat out for about an hour while we ate, what happens to the rest, do I have to toss it or is it OK to fridge as long as I reheat it using the old faithful cooking techniques?

Thanks,

Andy

[MartinH]

In similar situations, I have fridged it and had no ill effects.

(I had to smile at the combination of your kosher name + the pork loin )

[jackal10]

Its just the same as any other cooked meat

With leftover pork I usually make Bao

[dougal]

... I sous vided a pork loin, but we only ate half of it. It sat out for about an hour while we ate, what happens to the rest... ?

After its out of the bag, it should be just like any other cooked food. The same 'rules' apply.

You might find it convenient to portion, vacpack, and optionally freeze. Reheating only to serving temperature (time is maximum-thickness-dependent but probably much less than an hour in the waterbath) gives you another meal with minimal fuss.

It is when the food is still sealed in the bag after cooking, and you want to store it still seled in the same bag before eventually reheating (still in the original bag) immediately before service, that you should pay attention to fast chilling (as in a bath with only a little water but plenty ice), and also seriously cool storage, in order to maximise the safe storage life.

This is the restaurant practice of making the actual cooking stage a part of the pre-prep.

[thatjewcancook]

Thanks all, I guess the part that escaped me is that once its out of the bag, its just like any other cooked food. Awesome, now I can eat my left over pork loin without fear. Its funny how I'll go through the trouble of sous viding on a Sunday, but on a Monday at 8, the leftovers get the microwave treatment

MartinH, glad you liked it! My middle name should have been bacon

--Andy

[KennethT]

A great way to reheat without the microwave would be to put the remainder of the pork loin in a new bag and reheat in the waterbath. You can even slice it first, then put the slices in a bag in a single layer so that it will reheat much faster, with no fear of overcooking.

Another option, if you didn't want to eat the remainder of your pork loin so soon would be to put it in a new bag and recook to pasteurization. Chill fast in ice as dougal said, and if your refrigerator is cold enough, you can leave it there for a few weeks if you keep the bag sealed.