OT - Sous Vide Fail - 72 Hour Short Ribs

HoustonEgger · July 2015

Not to use a flame word - but Epic Fail on this one.

Background - I just got the Anova Sous Vide and decided to take a run at the Modernist's 72 hour short ribs recipe since I had the short ribs on had. Lightly seasoned with AP rub and then vacuum sealed and submerged in the Sous Vide Saturday evening. Sous Vide was set to 140 as recommended and away we went.

Well come Sunday night/Monday morning, I noticed some air in the bag that was causing it to float - so I used another pan to submerge the entire thing - checked again Tuesday night and it was a giant balloon of air.

Cut the bag open and almost lost my lunch - it smelled worse then my 2yr olds diapers. Instantly the dogs were at my feet begging. The wife even came from the back of the house and asked me if the puppy had pooped somewhere.

The texture was right - and the meat was falling off the bone. But yuck. yuck. yuck.
Needless to say - these things went right to the trash - which went right outside.

My best guess is that they had some contamination that did not show up until after the first 24 hours. Ruined my dinner plans for the evening for sure.

Lesson learned - always have back up steaks!

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/9b/90spuawnq9ba.jpg

cazzy · July 2015

Hmmm....that is weird one right there. Were they in a vaccum sealed bag?

Little Steven · July 2015

How long could they have been floating before you noticed?

HoustonEgger · July 2015

@cazzy - yep, completely vac sealed. And the bag stayed submerged for at least 24 hours - around 36 hours I noticed the first bit of air in the bag - but no extra water or liquid in bag. My guess is that it was the bacteria gas causing it to float

Photo Egg · July 2015

Were they put in frozen?
This could keep at an unsafe temp, even at 140 water bath, long enough for stuff to grow, and then spread even after it reached 140.

Skiddymarker · July 2015

Something doesn't seem right....if the bath was foil covered the ambient container temp even for a bag floating should have been over 130º. LS might be on the right track, could there have been an issue early in the bubble bath and was your pot covered?

HoustonEgger · July 2015

@Little Steven - not quite sure on that. I checked Sunday night and there was nothing - monday morning was when I noticed the floating. But even then, the meat was still submerged. And that's when I added the weight to it.

@Photo Egg No - these were not frozen, just purchased that morning from the butcher too

JohnInCarolina · July 2015

Thank you for sharing this. I learn as much if not more from the failures people have than the successes.

Too bad it didn't work out, as that recipe sounds pretty great.

cazzy · July 2015

Skiddymarker said:

Something doesn't seem right....if the bath was foil covered the ambient container temp even for a bag floating should have been over 130º. LS might be on the right track, could there have been an issue early in the bubble bath and was your pot covered?

I was thinking the same thing too...maybe it balloned early enough that the temp in the bag was much lower.

cazzy · July 2015

Did you vac them in a single layer?

HoustonEgger · July 2015

@Skiddymarker - Yep, pot covered in foil. Only had to add some water on day 2, but that was only a cup full - so very minimal water loss.

@cazzy - yes, single layer vac sealed

Everything was refrigerated before going into the bath - and I made sure that was at temp before going in as well.

Thatgrimguy · July 2015

I've had this happen before. My sealer is cheap and I started putting two seals per vacuum bag and it hasn't happened since.

HoustonEgger · July 2015

@Thatgrimguy I have a pretty nice Food Saver that i've used for a year or so with no problems. But that may have been an issue - but then again there was no extra water in the bag, just juices from the meat

Skiddymarker · July 2015

Thatgrimguy said:

I've had this happen before. My sealer is cheap and I started putting two seals per vacuum bag and it hasn't happened since.

Agreed - have always double sealed - totally had a brain fart by not suggesting this - do it all the time for long cooks ≥4 hours.
Still, even with a leak, and a set temp of 140º, how do you get enough bacteria to cause the "worse than my 2 year old's diaper" syndrome?

Maybe something in the bath water?

Little Steven · July 2015

I always put a plate or something over the bag(s) to keep them submerged. I don't have a dedicated container and use a big stockpot most often. I read that the bags can get air just from the off gassing of the meat and it is always a concern.

nolaegghead · July 2015

Not ALL of the bag reached 140 in the first few hours, you developed gas from biological activity, which floated, thus creating more activity and gas. This happened to me once with ribs. Just a tiny corner of a bag was out of the water. This was in a cooler outside in winter. Anyway, that little bit ruined it, even though I noticed it at some point and submerged the bag with some bricks.

Little Steven · July 2015

nolaegghead said:

Not ALL of the bag reached 140 in the first few hours, you developed gas from biological activity, which floated, thus creating more activity and gas. This happened to me once with ribs. Just a tiny corner of a bag was out of the water. This was in a cooler outside in winter. Anyway, that little bit ruined it, even though I noticed it at some point and submerged the bag with some bricks.

Is biological activity like off-gassing. You are so damn clever!

nolaegghead · July 2015

Cellular respiration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_respiration

Same as that dead dog on the side of the road bloating.

JohnInCarolina · July 2015

nolaegghead said:

Cellular respiration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_respiration

Same as that dead dog on the side of the road bloating.

Eggcelsior · July 2015

First off, sorry about the cook.

Secondly, sorry that your dogs enjoy your 2-year-old's diapers. Mine does too

caliking · July 2015

Running with the faulty vac seal theory, how did you load the meat in the vac bag? If there was any liquid near the opening of the bag, that could have prevented the sealer from sealing the bag properly.

I usually roll the top of the bag to make a cuff, load the stuff in the bag, unroll the cuff, wipe the mouth of the bag dry, and seal with the FS. I've had one seal fail in the past (luckily it was for something in the freezer), so I've used this method for sealing the bags ever since.

nolaegghead · July 2015

@caliking - that's clever! I wipe the inside of the bag with a paper towel. I'll have to try that.

Little Steven · July 2015

caliking said:

Running with the faulty vac seal theory, how did you load the meat in the vac bag? If there was any liquid near the opening of the bag, that could have prevented the sealer from sealing the bag properly.

I usually roll the top of the bag to make a cuff, load the stuff in the bag, unroll the cuff, wipe the mouth of the bag dry, and seal with the FS. I've had one seal fail in the past (luckily it was for something in the freezer), so I've used this method for sealing the bags ever since.

Seal fail? You mean like this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDJl75yxskQ

nolaegghead · July 2015

When you mentioned seal fail - I thought you were talking about this: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2090707/Heidi-Klum-Seal-divorce-Supermodel-grew-tired-volcanic-temper.html

Little Steven · July 2015

As I said before....you are so damn clever!

DaveRichardson · July 2015

I'll be joining the SV club later this year. I was thinking about possibly vaccing a small aluminum nugget to act as a weight to place on the item being SV. Ya'll think that might help?

Photo Egg · July 2015

Stainless would be better than light weight aluminum.
I also use old school, weighted, Stainless, 35mm film clips. Photo below not the same as mine but similar. I clip them to the bottom of the foodsaver bag.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/ty/kmtr5r1sik7i.jpg

caliking · July 2015

Little Steven said:

caliking said:

Running with the faulty vac seal theory, how did you load the meat in the vac bag? If there was any liquid near the opening of the bag, that could have prevented the sealer from sealing the bag properly.

I usually roll the top of the bag to make a cuff, load the stuff in the bag, unroll the cuff, wipe the mouth of the bag dry, and seal with the FS. I've had one seal fail in the past (luckily it was for something in the freezer), so I've used this method for sealing the bags ever since.

Seal fail? You mean like this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDJl75yxskQ

can't watch the video at work, so this will have to wait for beer #1 tonight.

caliking · July 2015

I use a small ceramic plate which is heavy enough to keep things submerged. Usually the rack that came with my SVS Demi works well enough.

About cooties in the water - I do a "clean burn" after most cooks by letting it run at 210°F (max temp on the SVS Demi) for an hour or two.

HoustonEgger · July 2015

caliking said:

Running with the faulty vac seal theory, how did you load the meat in the vac bag? If there was any liquid near the opening of the bag, that could have prevented the sealer from sealing the bag properly.

I usually roll the top of the bag to make a cuff, load the stuff in the bag, unroll the cuff, wipe the mouth of the bag dry, and seal with the FS. I've had one seal fail in the past (luckily it was for something in the freezer), so I've used this method for sealing the bags ever since.

I actually do that as well - but I was doing it to keep the Food Saver clean, not protect the seal - but guess that's why it always works!

Little Steven · July 2015

caliking said:

Little Steven said:

caliking said:

Running with the faulty vac seal theory, how did you load the meat in the vac bag? If there was any liquid near the opening of the bag, that could have prevented the sealer from sealing the bag properly.

I usually roll the top of the bag to make a cuff, load the stuff in the bag, unroll the cuff, wipe the mouth of the bag dry, and seal with the FS. I've had one seal fail in the past (luckily it was for something in the freezer), so I've used this method for sealing the bags ever since.

Seal fail? You mean like this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDJl75yxskQ

can't watch the video at work, so this will have to wait for beer #1 tonight.

Seals are very important to us (Canucks)

OT - Sous Vide Fail - 72 Hour Short Ribs

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