Sous vide with ziplocks

Gym

I'm occasionally finding that when I remove food from the sous vide that the bag has a fair bit of liquid in it. I'm using the heavy ziplock bags. Does anyone else have this issue? It just seems like I'm boiling the meat rather then enjoying the benefits of properly cooked "sous vide" food.
Your guys expertise would be appreciated. 
Thank you.

slovelad

Well you aren't boiling the meat, because your sous vide won't reach boiling temp of 212 for a reason.

you are cooking the meat in the juices, and keeping it from losing too much flavor. It's a win win for me.

i find the most liquid comes from cheap cuts of meat like country ribs, but in my opinion it doesn't bother anything 

Photo Egg

Agree with @slovelad
Try double bagging a similar meat to find out if it's water coming in or moisture being drawn out of the meat.
It is amazing how much liquid gets pulled out of most SV meats.

Austin Egghead

You will have some liquid in the bag, even when you vac seal.  
Are you using the brand name Zip lock bags or store brand and what temp?  After a certain temp the bags seams can fail.  Also are you using the displacement technique before closing the bags?
Agree double bag if you think the bags are failing.

Gym

Yes they're brand name freezer bags. Never cooked higher then 165. I'm using the displacement method. I will try double bagging.  If there is a huge advantage to a vacuum sealer I would consider getting one but was hoping the freezer bags would be enough.

johnnyp

Gym said:

Yes they're brand name freezer bags. Never cooked higher then 165. I'm using the displacement method. I will try double bagging.  If there is a huge advantage to a vacuum sealer I would consider getting one but was hoping the freezer bags would be enough.

are you sure that this is  water leakage and not just the meat expelling juice while it cooks? 

How to tell the difference? -Does your bag leak when you take it out of the bath?  If it holds the juices in, it was also keeping the water out.

Carolina Q

FWIW, I once tried using ordinary zip bags in my vac sealer. I was able to do it, but it didn't STAY done. I assume the edge seals leaked. House brand bags, not Ziplock. Never tried it again.

Anyway, if the edge seals leak that could be your problem.

Gym

johnnyp said:

Gym said:

Yes they're brand name freezer bags. Never cooked higher then 165. I'm using the displacement method. I will try double bagging.  If there is a huge advantage to a vacuum sealer I would consider getting one but was hoping the freezer bags would be enough.

are you sure that this is  water leakage and not just the meat expelling juice while it cooks? 

How to tell the difference? -Does your bag leak when you take it out of the bath?  If it holds the juices in, it was also keeping the water out.

It seems like alot of liquid to have come out of the meat. That being said, the bath water (not in the bag) looks clear. I would have thought if the bag had a leak that the bath water would show signs of juices in it?

OhioEgger

johnnyp said:

Does your bag leak when you take it out of the bath?  If it holds the juices in, it was also keeping the water out.

Between this and your comment that "the bath water (not in the bag) looks clear", I believe you have your answer. There is always some liquid in the bag after sous vide cooking, because it comes out of the meat. Some more than others, but there is always some.

johnnyp

Gym said:

It seems like alot of liquid to have come out of the meat. That being said, the bath water (not in the bag) looks clear. I would have thought if the bag had a leak that the bath water would show signs of juices in it?

It seems you have no evidence of leakage.  In that case, I don't see a need to change a thing.  Keep on truckin

Gym

Thanks for your input. It just seemed like too much liquid to be strictly from the meat. I'll double bag to confirm this was Infact what was happening. 
Thanks again all.

Plutonium

Are you submerging the bag fully into the water?

When I use resealable bags, I force out as much air as possible using the displacement method, then I clamp the "zip" part of the bag up out of the water so it won't leak.

For my Foodsaver bags, I'll submerge those because I trust the seal.

Gym

I'm leaving the zipper out of the water. Is your food saver the electric vacuum type? I'm curious how much better these are

Photo Egg

Gym said:

I'm leaving the zipper out of the water. Is your food saver the electric vacuum type? I'm curious how much better these are

The strength of the seal, on a quality, properly sealed food saver bag, is far better than a ziplock. buying one, not even considering SV, was one of the best investments I have made for storing and freezing leftovers and bulk food. I also live on the Gulf Coast where everything rusts. I seal lots of stuff for storage.

Skiddymarker

Gym said:

I'm leaving the zipper out of the water. Is your food saver the electric vacuum type? I'm curious how much better these are

I use a Foodsaver but rarely seal the bags. Much simpler to just clip to the top of the pot. 
Advantage of a Foodsaver or other vac sealer, is you can prep the protein, like ribs, season and a touch of sauce, seal the bag and freeze it. Then go right from the freezer into 147ºF sous vide, for about 18 hours then finish on the egg or chill in an ice bath and into the fridge for a day or two until you want to finish on the grill - maybe an hour or so. 

Canugghead

Even for tough cuts like brisket or pot(chuck) roast I don't sv higher than 145-155 and still get plenty of meat juice in the chamber sealed bags... at 160-165 you'll be 'extracting' even more juice.

Gym

I have so much to learn about sv! Great ideas to prep food for later in the week. 
I never thought that the more I cook, the more I extract from the meat. 

Corvus

I have had good luck with both ziplock brand and foodsaver vac bags.  I've used them both sealed and unsealed.  The only time I had a leak is when I trusted the factory vac seal on a pound of bacon.  It did not hold up for 20 minutes and burst wide open.  I discovered that oven bags, like you'd cook a turkey in, are  BIG, CHEAP and hold up on long cooks of large cuts.

Gym

Oven bags seems like a great idea for larger size cooks. I googled this and it also showed a"steam" bag made by ziplock, although a little too small for most things.

DieselkW

Funny, I don't have a sous-vide appliance, but I do have a vacuum sealer, which I use quite often.

I've found that a gallon of boiling water in a good quality cooler, with about a quart of room temp water added, plus a vacuum sealed bag of room temp steak will hold 170º for several hours according to my Thermopen. (I lose about 5º every 4 hours, if I don't open the lid to check like I did the first time)

I call it "Redneck Sous-Vide"  works great, saves a ton of lump.

I have a pork shoulder I was thinking of trying the cooler sous vide trick, probably won't get much of a bark between 150 bath temp and 190+pull temp but it should be nice and tender.

Photo Egg

Gym said:

Oven bags seems like a great idea for larger size cooks. I googled this and it also showed a"steam" bag made by ziplock, although a little too small for most things.

The steam bags are great for steaming veggies  in the micro wave but not suitable for SV of proteins.

gdenby

Meat is about 50% water. At cooking temperature, around 126F, the muscle tissue breaks down, and the water goes loose. If the meat was brined w. salt, wet or dry brine, the salt ions in the tissue will hold and retain some of the water. The expressed juices are great on the meat after a sear if there were spices and herbs in the bag, or used as a gravy base when without.