Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest  |  Youtube  |  Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.

Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch

Sous vide bags keep breaking?

busmania
busmania Posts: 414
in EggHead Forum
what am I doing wrong?  I have a vacuum sealer and use the bags with the same brand (foodsaver?). I double bag each food and I triple seal each side of the bag and yet I keep getting water in both bags ruining the food. Help?  Was making carnitas overnight and woke up to a bag full of water, food trashed.  On this one I could see water pouring out from holes in the side of the bag when I lifted it from the water. Those holes weren't there when I started...it had an ice vacuum when I started. 
· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • Lit
    Lit Posts: 9,053
    I have had issue before if liquid is being sucked into the part that is being sealed. That's the only time I have seen that happen. I hit the stop button on mine as soon as I see it getting all the air out.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 34,592
    ive only seen meat liquid, and one time air which must have been a little off gassing. never seen holes in the bag unless they were sliding around in the freezer for a few years
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Lit
    Lit Posts: 9,053
    @doubleegger that's a good idea
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • poster
    poster Posts: 1,348
    Has this been all off the same roll? Maybe you got a bad roll by chance? What temps does this happen at? I've gone as far as 180 with vegetables and haven't had any issues yet. Same foodsaver brand bags
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • bigbadben
    bigbadben Posts: 397
    I tend to vacseal my meat that frozen from my meatshare. Never an issue with a seal going bad.

    Could you double seal the same spot?

    could you seal, freeze, then vac seal? 
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Skiddymarker
    Skiddymarker Posts: 8,528
    What temp are you cooking at, assume under 160ºF? Why seal the bags at all? Ribs (cooked at 150ºF) go into the bag with some sauce and rub, and like @DoubleEgger, the unsealed edge is clipped to side of the pot. When first putting th bag into the bath, you might have to displace the air using the water displacement method. Check out ChefSteps for hints, they seldom seal any bag. 

    Corn on the cob or sprouts  will float so I do seal the bag and then clip a weight to the bottom of the bag. I cook those at 85ºC/185ºF and have never had a bag break or leak. Wonder if the triple seal is the issue? 
    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • OhioEgger
    OhioEgger Posts: 994
    Sure sounds like bad bags to me. Can you make a bag with one side open and blow into it like a balloon? That should tell you something.
    Cincinnati, Ohio. Large BGE since 2011. Still learning.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Canugghead
    Canugghead Posts: 13,713
    Was there any sharp bone/edge sticking out that could have created a weak spot in the bag?
    canuckland
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • busmania
    busmania Posts: 414
    No sharp spots. The outside bag failed spectate from the inside bag. Did not have time to investigate why inside bag broke. This is a new role. Maybe it's defective. MYbe I am vacuuming too tight. I have had food (potatoes) where I thought the bag failed but in the end it seemed like the liquid in the bag was reabsorbed by the food after sitting on the counter. 

    For this cook cook that sparked this thread, I was cooking at 175. 
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Photo Egg
    Photo Egg Posts: 12,137
    busmania said:
    No sharp spots. The outside bag failed spectate from the inside bag. Did not have time to investigate why inside bag broke. This is a new role. Maybe it's defective. MYbe I am vacuuming too tight. I have had food (potatoes) where I thought the bag failed but in the end it seemed like the liquid in the bag was reabsorbed by the food after sitting on the counter. 

    For this cook cook that sparked this thread, I was cooking at 175. 
    If you are double bagging, the vacuum put on the outer bag could break the seal on the inner bag.
    Thank you,
    Darian

    Galveston Texas
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 26,455
    call me cheap, but I never use FS bags for my sous vide cooks. Instead I use gallon sized storage bags which are 10 x 14. I push out the air and seal with one of the twist ties that comes with them. Then rather than to let them float around I clip to the side of my vessel. I have yet to have one leak or melt.
    Re-gasketing the USA one yard at a time 
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Lit
    Lit Posts: 9,053
    RRP said:
    call me cheap, but I never use FS bags for my sous vide cooks. Instead I use gallon sized storage bags which are 10 x 14. I push out the air and seal with one of the twist ties that comes with them. Then rather than to let them float around I clip to the side of my vessel. I have yet to have one leak or melt.
    I think zip lock bags are more expensive Ron.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Photo Egg
    Photo Egg Posts: 12,137
    Lit said:
    RRP said:
    call me cheap, but I never use FS bags for my sous vide cooks. Instead I use gallon sized storage bags which are 10 x 14. I push out the air and seal with one of the twist ties that comes with them. Then rather than to let them float around I clip to the side of my vessel. I have yet to have one leak or melt.
    I think zip lock bags are more expensive Ron.
    He is not using zip lock bags.
    Thank you,
    Darian

    Galveston Texas
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 26,455
    Lit said:
    RRP said:
    call me cheap, but I never use FS bags for my sous vide cooks. Instead I use gallon sized storage bags which are 10 x 14. I push out the air and seal with one of the twist ties that comes with them. Then rather than to let them float around I clip to the side of my vessel. I have yet to have one leak or melt.
    I think zip lock bags are more expensive Ron.
    True - zip lock bags are - but what I use are very inexpensive! Some brands label them as bread bags. I just buy generic Kroger bags.
    Re-gasketing the USA one yard at a time 
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • busmania
    busmania Posts: 414
    Hm, link to said bags? I'm a visual learner. 
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Skiddymarker
    Skiddymarker Posts: 8,528
    RRP said:
    Lit said:
    RRP said:
    call me cheap, but I never use FS bags for my sous vide cooks. Instead I use gallon sized storage bags which are 10 x 14. I push out the air and seal with one of the twist ties that comes with them. Then rather than to let them float around I clip to the side of my vessel. I have yet to have one leak or melt.
    I think zip lock bags are more expensive Ron.
    True - zip lock bags are - but what I use are very inexpensive! Some brands label them as bread bags. I just buy generic Kroger bags.
    Interesting how we all approach this. I reuse the unsealed Foodsaver bags, depending on what was in them, but generally a quick rinse and some dish soap followed by another rinse and it is good to go, again. 
    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Lit
    Lit Posts: 9,053
    Man you guys put a lot of thought and effort into this. I get probably 150 uses out of a $30 box of food savers bags from Costco I will continue to sacrifice the 20 cents when I want to use the sous vide.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 26,455
    busmania said:
    Hm, link to said bags? I'm a visual learner. 
    How about this? Use one once and toss it!

    Re-gasketing the USA one yard at a time 
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • FATC1TY
    FATC1TY Posts: 888
    Lit said:
    Man you guys put a lot of thought and effort into this. I get probably 150 uses out of a $30 box of food savers bags from Costco I will continue to sacrifice the 20 cents when I want to use the sous vide.
    For sure.. I'm kind of taken back how people wash and re use a food saver bag... But will buy any and every accessory for their eggs...

    I get plenty of use from my FS. I use ONLY FS bags, and I haven't had a leak, ever.

    But if you do get a leak from your bags in SV.. don't buy your condoms where you buy your SV bags!
    -FATC1TY
    Grillin' and Brewing in Atlanta
    LBGE
    MiniMax
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • caliking
    caliking Posts: 19,780
    RRP said:
    busmania said:
    Hm, link to said bags? I'm a visual learner. 
    How about this? Use one once and toss it!

    I use these for bags, but never thought of using them for SV. They hold up well for long SV cooks ? They seem kind of thin.

    #1 LBGE December 2012 • #2 SBGE February  2013 • #3 Mini May 2013
    A happy BGE family in Houston, TX.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 26,455
    caliking said:
    RRP said:
    busmania said:
    Hm, link to said bags? I'm a visual learner. 
    How about this? Use one once and toss it!

    I use these for bags, but never thought of using them for SV. They hold up well for long SV cooks ? They seem kind of thin.
    not the best picture, but here was tonight's 10 wing pieces (5 flats and 5 dummies) precooked and then frozen. I took them out of of our freezer and placed frozen in one of those cheap-thin bags and reheated for 3 hours at 130º. No bag failure and then tossed the bag! BTW I for one never re-use a Food Saver bag again - EVER - whether for raw meat or cooked meat and especially chicken! I don't care to have a chance meeting with those weird country cousins  "Sam & Ella".  LOL 

    Re-gasketing the USA one yard at a time 
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • mtasker
    mtasker Posts: 88
    did my first sous vide cook  last night.  2 chicken breast.  zip lock bags.  no issues,  turned out great.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Categories