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Sous Vide lamb: too late for boiling water dip?


TdeV

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7.4 lbs leg of lamb with partial bone has for 2 days been in brine. Rinsed off, dried and vacuum sealed. It's been in the water bath for 2.5 hours.

 

I forgot to dip the package into boiling water for 60 seconds. Is there any point to my dipping the package into boiling water now?

 

Temp= 142F. Planning for Thursday dinner (~30 hours)

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I would be careful.  About three years ago I was doing a single muscle roast.  I forgot to put it into boiling water to get rid of bugs on the surface.  I have done this for years when cooking larger cuts.  Upon my return, the bag was floating on the surface, fully expanded like balloon.  Upon opening the bag, it was obvious it had gone off.  I have never made the same mistake again.  This was the only time in about seven years I have had problems. 

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 I don't know but it's been brining for two days in a saltwater solution don't imagine there's too many bugs growing on it.

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

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1 minute ago, TdeV said:

@Anna N, I was wondering about that . . . :B

Yeah. It's not like it would be sterilized but still I would suspect the salt is doing something towards ensuring that certain bugs don't survive.   Still wouldn't hurt next time if you remember to give it a dunk.   Easy enough to do and not quite as paranoid as having an autoclave in your kitchen.xD

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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2 minutes ago, gfweb said:

Staph aureus loves salt.

 

I was careful to say certain bugs, not all bugs.

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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1 hour ago, btbyrd said:

Not especially. After 2.5 hours @ 142F, the surface of your meat is as pasteurized as it's going to get.

 

@btbyrd, so how does this relate to the need to give large-slabs-of-meat-to-be-cooked-at-low-temp a dipping in boiling water to kill off surface bacteria?

 

Edited by TdeV
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12 hours ago, gfweb said:

Staph aureus loves salt. It'll grow in a 10% salt environment

 

But what are the bugs that tend to spoil meat and cause it to smell and produce gas?   I suspect anaerobic bacteria which staph is one of but is it the most causative? Just curious 

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Doesn't answer the immediate question, but just FYI staph aureus produces heat-stable toxins that can't be cooked out after the fact. 

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“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

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3 hours ago, scubadoo97 said:

But what are the bugs that tend to spoil meat and cause it to smell and produce gas?   I suspect anaerobic bacteria which staph is one of but is it the most causative? Just curious 

 

Staph are aerobes. But there are a zillion anaerobes. Clostridium species are the most notorious anaerobes for food poisoning. The bad smells and gas can come from either aerobes or anaerobes butu mostly anaerobes.  If loose generalizations can be made, anaerobes tend to smell more cheesy/poopy (fatty acids) and aerobes a sweeter more acrid smell.

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My only experience with bags inflating and going off was with some short ribs. No dunk.   End of day one, everything looked fine.  End of day two had some floaters.  Don't pretend to know what was going on but presume if I had done the dunk sometime during day one, day two would not have been as memorable.  (Don't EVER open a gassy bag.  Don't ask me how I know.)

 

Curious how you determined cook temp and time?  I really really don't like overcooked lamb and would have been in the 130 - 135 range myself.  

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@daveb, well, it was a lot of research over a year ago here on egullet; I could determine what it was if you really want to know. I started this cooking cycle with the conclusion I should do the leg at 131F for 30 hours, and then I looked at my notebook and upped it to 145F. In this case the meat came out fine (no off bacteria).

 

Next time I've got a smaller piece of meat I'll try a lower temperature

 

 

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SV'd does not fix everything.  I do a lot of it , and in bulk as I like to work in batches.

 

I always aim for Sales , as i have a freezer full of the stuff  ' just in case '  

 

why should i pay more , and have to by a second or third freezer for my Hobby ?

 

one think I will not ever do is SV a MeatManagers almost the sell date  special.

 

if Id get those , Id toss them of a very hot grill toot sweet.

 

which is not a decent answer to the OP.

 

most lamb in my area come in CryoVac bags.  did you lamb that gave you pause come from the butcher's and was handled ?

 

if there is any question of your heath p SV   just dump the bag  

 

however you can learn from the Meats provenance for the future.

 

personally , if you are having to Boil-the-bag first to get good quality SV

 

and that's a recurrent problem  

 

Id move to a different store and butcher.

 

and just to be very very plain :   

 

did you wash your hands ?  clean all surfaces and knives you used ?

 

repetitive hand washing in a Medical Setting  or its lack probably cost us all 

 

several billion dollars a year.  maybe  more.

 

just do it at home before SV

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  • 4 weeks later...
1 hour ago, bonkboo said:

I'm confused.  I want to do a leg of lamb sous vide for xmas dinner c. 3pm.  I'd read in Serious Eats its about 3 hours max.  But it looks like 30hrs here.  What am I missing?  Ideas for what I should I do?  

 

I've not tried leg of lamb sous vide, but I would not start with 30 hours.  There are a lot of different muscle groups in a leg of lamb.  A few hours sounds better to me, but again I have no direct experience.  Good luck.

 

Thinking about it I would just roast the leg of lamb conventionally.  Leg of lamb is not tough meat.  Lamb shanks, maybe sous vide, yes.

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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Hi @bonkboo,

 

Leg of lamb is a cut which benefits greatly from long slow cooking. I have had tremendous results with 3 days @ 145F. You don't have enough time to do that and get the dish ready for Christmas. Start the dish immediately!

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