Sous Vide questions

[Jonathon]

Freddie So, when we first starting playing around with this Parksider and I had a disagreement on whether it was important to vacuum seal or not. He claimed that it wasn’t but I just couldn’t believe it. Eventually, I tried it without and it absolutely did not make a difference. No taste or smoke was leeched out and it did not become soggy or have any noticeable negative effect on the meat. If you do decide to vac seal it, make sure you vac seal it as close to the end of the bag as possible, then you can cut it open, check it and then reseal it. If you have a sous vide circulator that sucks water in, heats it and spits if back out then I would recommend a bag to prevent any oil, fats or little particle clogging it.

As for how long to do it, 19mm snack sticks with 172° water will get to 160 in about an hour from 130°. Important to note, if you used Encapsulated Citric Acid make sure you leave it in the water for a full hour to allow the encapsulation to fully melt.

[wdaly]

Freddie I have a Meater wireless thermometer. I use it while the meat is in the smoker. When I take the sausage out, I vacuum seal the one with the Meater in it before putting it in the sous vide with the Meater still in place. It will continue to give you an internal temperature reading through out the sous vide cycle. I don’t usually seal the other sausages and haven’t noticed any difference in taste or structure. Hope this helps. I was going to take a picture of the sealed sausage before I put it in the sous vide last time but forgot

[samspade]

Freddy look on offer up. There are great deals on sous vide unit. I got my anova bluetooth for 50 bucks (used once) in the box.

[Jamieson22]

Freddie said in Sous Vide questions:

As soon as I can find one in a brick and morter store I will own a Sous Vide machine.

Costco has an Anova kit that includes a water container as well in case you shop there.

[Freddie]

I found one at a Target for $100. I used it this weekend and the results were great. I brought my snack sticks up to about 135 then put them in the sous vide heated water (water was at 163) I left them in there for about a 1/2 hr, pulling one and checking it with my fireboard thermometers. When they registered 160 I put them in a cold water bath for 15 minutes. The only thing that I will do different next time is start my sous vide earlier so that the water will be hotter when I put the snack sticks in. I did notice that the sticks seem to taste a bit meater than before but that could be from my not doing it right the first time. I will be learning more the more I do. Thanks y’all!

[Jamieson22]

Freddie
Great to hear! What vessel are you using for your sous vide? I’d like to try this for my 25lb batches and already have a sous vide. Guessing I’ll just need a big cooler and hope my sous vide unit can heat the amount of water needed.

[JoeB]

https://douglasbaldwin.com/index.html

I’ve posted this in the past, and it is still a good read. It explains the science behind SV The book is a waste but the site has everything about how SV works. Scroll down to the table of contents. You have to NOT use your normal meat processing skills. Example: i just SV’d 2 pork butts 7 & 10lbs. Temp, 145* 48hrs. Came out perfect. Chunky not pulled, and the taste was fantastic. Now i’ve over simplified, but that’s the end game. Could have pulled pork for 60hrs, or sliced 143* for 48hrs. Good luck… The more you know, the luckier you get

[Freddie]

Jamieson22 I bought a plastic tub from the Dollar Store. It worked but I’m keeping an eye out for anything that might be a little bit better.

[JoeB]

Freddie I would make sure it was food safe. Look on the bottom and ck the marking. Leaching contaminants on your food is an unpleasant result. All plastics are molded in oil. Some made for food and some utility. Be safe

[glen]

JoeB Another reason I like to bag the meat but my batches are usually no more than 10 lbs.

[Jamieson22]

Freddie
I sort of answered my own question but ordered a Coleman Party Stacker 48-can cooler. I already have two 24-can that I use to hold bbq and ice bath snack sticks. This bigger one should be good for 25lb batches. Will just hole-saw the lid to drop the sous vide in.

[JoeB]

Jamieson22 the party stackers are the best for the money. Drill a hole in the top and go for 48hrs without water loss. Also the tops are inter changeable. Only have to prep one top

[JoeB]

Tip…. Don’t drill a 2 1/2 whole. Measure. My SV was 2 1/4. Better fit less loss.

[Ron Grisar]

JoeB I was thinking about getting a party stacker for finishing sausage etc but am concerned about safety of putting meat directly in cooler without bagging it first. Do you know if cooler is food safe plastic?

[JoeB]

Ron Grisar the cooler is food safe. Ck the bottom. It will have a code for food safe and recycle ability. I have to say (my opinion) that a vac bag or ziplock are the way to go. Just safer and cleaner. I poached a lot of sausage. Before SV in a pot there was always fat leaks and strings fm natural casings. That said it is your call. Just more cleanup without bags. Also I can use the same water for different cooks without residue. Big cooks like pork butts chicken or ribs need vac bags. No way around that

[Jamieson22]

JoeB said in Sous Vide questions:

Also the tops are inter changeable. Only have to prep one top

Perfect. Was hoping they were the same size so I could use this larger cooler for holding finished meats when necessary. Sometimes when butts are cheap I’ll load my Pitts & Spitts up and offer to friends/neighbors so cooking 9+ butts at a time isn’t uncommon.