Sous Vide Burgers: a few questions

JayHawkEye

I mixed some ground beef up with a few obligatory burger ingredients (oyster sauce, wooster, dp-redeye), made them into 1/3 poundish patties, and then food-savered them. NOW, how long do they need to be in the bath and at what temp? How long can they be at said temp? Do they need to be thawed? I am also curious as to trying some jucy lucy burgers this way but was wondering if it was safe to do with the cheese. Thanks, all.

BigWader

I don't own a sous vide - but I'm not sure I would do what you are suggesting either and here's why...

If beef is best cooked to lower temps (125-145) you haven't reached the magic number to kill E. Coli.  If you are buying store bought ground you have no way of knowing if there is any cross contamination that you need to worry about.  If you are grinding yourself there is still risk but it would be much less since you know the cut of beef used to make it.

Grinding meat that might have some contamination is worse than whole muscle because the process of grinding increases the surface area and distributes the nastys into every nook and cranny on the inside where you don't want to raise the heat too much.  Whole muscle gets seared on the outside way over 160'F so you take care of that. 

Putting potential nastys into a warm water bath would be like incubating a micro experiment that you then do not intend to raise to a safe temperature.

Others may disagree...

gdenby

Check this out.

I haven't tried it myself, but I've followed his instructions for various other things, and they have turned out well.

The only thing I can comment on is that I find SV generally increases the impact of many herbs and spices. The other ingredients you've added may end up being too much of a good thing after SV.

Little Steven

BigWader said:

I don't own a sous vide - but I'm not sure I would do what you are suggesting either and here's why...

If beef is best cooked to lower temps (125-145) you haven't reached the magic number to kill E. Coli.  If you are buying store bought ground you have no way of knowing if there is any cross contamination that you need to worry about.  If you are grinding yourself there is still risk but it would be much less since you know the cut of beef used to make it.

Grinding meat that might have some contamination is worse than whole muscle because the process of grinding increases the surface area and distributes the nastys into every nook and cranny on the inside where you don't want to raise the heat too much.  Whole muscle gets seared on the outside way over 160'F so you take care of that. 

Putting potential nastys into a warm water bath would be like incubating a micro experiment that you then do not intend to raise to a safe temperature.

Others may disagree...

That isn't true. The pasteurization points that we are given as safe are for almost instant death to the bad guys. Prolonged exposure to lower heat is just as effective at killing bacteria

IrishDevl

Why not just grill them?

The Cen-Tex Smoker

IrishDevl said:

Why not just grill them?

because you can cook them SV at 125 for a few hours and they are perfectly safe to eat med rare. I've done it many times and it's awesome. worry free ground beef

You don't have to thaw and I think 2 hrs is the number but look up the SV time and temp charts online and you'll get your answer. As a matter of fact, i freeze before sealing so the vacuum does not flatten out the patties and pinch donw the edges.

Go for it, they are great.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

IrishDevl said:

Why not just grill them?

and you do grill them or sear them after the SV bath. best burger you will ever eat............but kind of a PITA for burgers. I make a bunch ahead and freeze them. Then they are ready after a quick 1 minute sear. 

JayHawkEye

Thanks for the input. Did a little more research and I think I'm good to go. Another question though: would it be dangerous to stuff the burgers jucy lucy style before freeze/seal/sv'ing them? I didn't find any info on dairy products while looking around.

Little Steven

No, you will be fine. Ground beef is about the worst for harbouring bacteria.

JayHawkEye

Burgers were great. Stayed in the water for 3.5 because of work, but seared on the grill they came out just outstanding. Flavors added prior didn't overpower, and SWMBO gave two thumbs up. Thanks again.

IrishDevl

I need to get a sous vide