Sous Vide Techniques & Equipment

[btbyrd]

 

[Bernie]

On 7/27/2024 at 4:56 AM, Laurentius said:

I'd like to try making a whole pork butt (about 14 pounds) using sous vide per Serious Eats.  My vacuum sealer is a budget unit from FoodSaver, and (a) there are no bags large enough; and (b) the sealing has become undependable, especially over long cooks.

 

After a little research, I've decided to try bathing this monster in its original cryovac packaging.  However, this route seems like it might suffer from not having a rub as it soaks.

 

So here's my question:  Is there a way to inject through the plastic and tape the hole shut without the tape coming off over the 18-24 hours the butt will be under water?

 

I'll rub and then smoke it afterward anyway, but if this would work, why would I not do that?  FYI, I have the requisite needles, syringes and even a "Meat Pump".

 

Has anyone tried this?

 

Thanks 

Slightly off topic but might help 🙂

I use rolls to make bags. Do a search on ebay (or amazon) for "Food Vacuum Sealer Bags Rolls 12-30cmx500cm for Sous Vide & Storage" You then make bags of any size.

Also after the food saver has finished, don't remove the bag wait a few minutes and hit "seal" again.

If your food saver is faulty (doesn't seal or vacuum properly) the plastic inside may have cracked (look really carefully for hair line cracks particularly along where the heating/sealer is).

I actually had a small crack and took it apart to find the crack was obviously a manufacturing problem and was sealed with some sort of silicon compound which had dried out.

There were three more small cracks also sealed the same way. Not good for a rather pricey bit of gear. I will NEVER buy a Foodsaver gear again. I use one from ALDI and it works fine.

You need also to check if the original packaging has those absorbent pads to mop up the juices. They (and their contents) may not take kindly to long temperatures, or may change and impart other flavors or smells.

 

[dcarch]

Interesting. I am surprised that no one has done this?

 

You can make sous vide bags practically any size and any shape, using sous vide plastic material. I have been doing this for very big items, like a turkey.

 

I use an electric heat gun to weld sous vide sheets together to make bags. The bags come out leak-proof.

 

dcarch

[Laurentius]

On 7/27/2024 at 8:55 AM, gfweb said:

So fill the carrot bag with water.  This is not difficult

It's not as simple as you again suggest. I cannot duplicate the thick cryovac plastic, in a sealed 14-pound package,  that inflates to a pressurized balloon over 24 hours without buying subrimal, turkey, etc.

 

Has NM done that work, and recommended a brand of tape that holds pressure under those circumstances?

[Laurentius]

On 7/27/2024 at 9:00 PM, Bernie said:

rolls to make bags.

 

All your suggestions are sensible.  I already buy my bags by the roll.  Neither my FoodSaver nor any rolls I've found are wide enough for this.  And frankly, the plastic is so thin it doesn't make for dependable seals on this large of a subprimal.

 

I have noticed of late that the FS rolls, when you get near the end, often have wrinkles in the plastic that prevent good seals.  Have you noticed this?

 

 

[Bernie]

6 hours ago, Laurentius said:

 

All your suggestions are sensible.  I already buy my bags by the roll.  Neither my FoodSaver nor any rolls I've found are wide enough for this.  And frankly, the plastic is so thin it doesn't make for dependable seals on this large of a subprimal.

 

I have noticed of late that the FS rolls, when you get near the end, often have wrinkles in the plastic that prevent good seals.  Have you noticed this?

 

 

I have cut and pasted to make larger bags, but it is a fiddly process. The shape ends up a bit of a nightmare as it usually wont fit in the sealer. (each side can only be as long as the sealer).

One thing to note is to let the sealer cool down a bit otherwise it gets too hot and although it still seals it melts the plastic and the mechanics  of the seal is reduced.

On wrinkles, i just make sort of stretch it before clamping in the sealer. It may mean making the bag a little longer so the vacuum process doesn't pull  on the seal surface prior to sealing.

The Foodsaver had the advantage of being a bit wider but it was obvious when I took it apart of a basic design flaw in the way the plastic was cast that the channel holding the rubber gasket was too close to the heating element.

What made me go right off the company was that rather than fix the design they chose to repair it in a way that would almost certainly eventually fail, also that further cracks were almost inevitable and just hope people wouldn't find out what they had done. Very poor ethics for any company.

The more ethical way if they didn't do a redesign was to sell them at a huge discount with a warning they had a limited life or not sell them at all.

[Laurentius]

3 hours ago, Bernie said:

One thing to note is to let the sealer cool down a bit otherwise it gets too hot and although it still seals it melts the plastic and the mechanics  of the seal is reduced.

 

I've noticed this, too.

 

In my case, my FSs (I have two) both have a spot, dead center on the sealing bar, where there's a seam or wrinkle.  If the carryover temperature isn't just perfect, that spot either doesn't completely seal, or melts through.  Either way, it's a big problem.

[haresfur]

On 7/28/2024 at 7:13 AM, AlaMoi said:

..."recommend Glad white garbage bags for cooking suckling pigs..."

 

a SV apparatus big enough to do a sucking pig . . . would be a wonder to behold . . .

 

I believe someone did a larger than suckling pig in a hot tub

[haresfur]

On 7/28/2024 at 12:54 AM, Laurentius said:

No need to be snide.  If you thought about it, you'd realize that these subprimals, even cryovac'd, expand over long cooks.  This morning, in fact, I took a 14-pound pork butt out of the bath after 20 hours, and the bag was significantly inflated/pressurized.  I'd just like to know whether Brand X foam tape will hold the seal under these conditions.  Testing the tape on, e.g., a bag of 3 diced carrots cooked for an hour isn't a meaningful test. 

 

I don't understand why you don't want to portion it, but ok. If your bag pressurises, then snip a corner off, release the pressure and reseal. That's what people do for fermenting in vacuum sealed bags. If a little of your bag liquid leaks out, so what? If a little of your sous vide water leaks in, so what? - assuming you start with a clean bath. Personally, I'd portion and use big zip locks, but whatever floats your boat.

[Laurentius]

8 hours ago, haresfur said:

don't understand why you don't want to portion it

 

I don't want to portion it because it would just multiply the work, costs  and risk of seals failing, circulators fouling, etc.

 

I've successfully SV'd a Boston Butt in is original packaging, and it works just fine, no worse than had it been portioned.

 

While I think SVing in the original packaging is a sound (and convenient) method, my OP was aimed at the idea of building on that by adding seasonings or flavorings into the original packaging.  Subsequent drivel notwithstanding, I was pleased to learn about the self-healing tape intended to seal around temperature probes.  But I'd like to find a tape product that survives the heat and counter pressure of an injection.

 

That help?

[AlaMoi]

oh.  I thought it was "presentation."

 

like , , , a whole suckling pig-on-a-platter is a very impressive thing for feeding a group . . .

could be why the pig is not chopped up into itty bitty pieces at a luau . . . no?

or an ox roast