Freezing Beef Brisket

Canugghead · January 4

@alaskanassasin Agree, nice catch

I stand corrected on that, with liquid you want the opening elevated higher than the contents, gravity baby! I was thinking of pulled pork and brisket.

MaskedMarvel · January 4

Right. I’m definitely sealing while hot (but before it boils under lack of pressure), and am “inverting” the lip of the bag when filling to keep that clean.

Everything else I’m doing as listed. Grrr.

Canugghead · January 4

Sometimes we invert the lip to keep it clean too, without issues. In your case I think the heat deformed/compromised the seal zone.

JohnInCarolina · January 5

If gravity’s not an option, you can always use magnets.

MaskedMarvel · January 5

Canugghead said:

Sometimes we invert the lip to keep it clean too, without issues. In your case I think the heat deformed/compromised the seal zone.

Just did a half chicken and reduced the heat time to 1.4. No tunneling. Maybe I was going way too long there for the 3.5 mil…

JohnInCarolina said:

If gravity’s not an option, you can always use magnets.

Some machines have a “bar” that helps hold the opening to the heating element. I guess they figure I didn’t need that in this one.

xfire_ATX · January 6

Ive cooked and

Vac Seal and Chill and reheat a few days later in a cooler with multiple warm water dumps, came out fine.
Vac Seal and Freeze for up to 6 months. Defrost in Fridge and sliced into smaller slicers and used Sous Vide.

Both methods were w a Costco Wagyu and they were perfect.

stever1888 · January 6

Once at serving temperature, I cut the brisket into chunks. About 6-7 slices worth of flat, or 4 slices worth of point. Immediately wrap each chunk in Saran Wrap, and refrigerate overnight. Easier to do all that while you've made the rest of the cooking/serving mess, and your future self or your customer can slice it when ready to serve. The next day I remove the saran wrap and vacuum seal each chunk, then freeze. To serve: I thaw in fridge for a couple days. If I want to heat up the whole package, I either put it in the sous vide for a few hours, or boil for a few minutes then let sit in the hot water for 30+ minutes. When open the vacuum seal package after all of that, it typically comes out with great texture and moisture. If I only want a few slices, then I'll just open the package and slice while cold, and heat up some other way.

Canugghead · January 7

guilty as charged, bad seal caused by overfilled bag, fixed it with Foodsaver asap before leakage...

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/q1/v1elm6k6owaw.jpg

alaskanassasin · January 7

I just pop it back in the chamber and hit stop immediately @Canugghead, what’s wrong with that method?

fishlessman · January 7

this will sound like blasphemy. sous vide to 120f or water bath on low... remove from vac pack. light gasser on high.

spritz with beef broth, salt pepper, vinegar, and a little sweetener of choice and baste on high while continuously flipping in the flames to rebuild the crust. never done this with brisket but have done this with ribs after seeing famous daves do hundreds of racks at an all day event. i would give it a try. i like some good caramelized crust so i think a little sugar may help. granted im from new england so my crowd is not the purist

the crisping part is quick

Canugghead · January 7

@alaskanassasin I figured the 'wave' that caused the failure was still there so why take another chance. With the old style Foodsaver I can press the lid down hard to almost guarantee a good seal.

alaskanassasin · January 7

Canugghead said:

@alaskanassasin I figured the 'wave' that caused the failure was still there so why take another chance. With the old style Foodsaver I can press the lid down hard to almost guarantee a good seal.

Give it a try. I can tell you if you let the clock run the bag will fill back up through the leak so just be quick about it.

MaskedMarvel · January 27

Well, I had major issues sealing a bunch of brisket today

I’m going to increase “cool down”time next and see if that setting is too short

Canugghead · January 27

alaskanassasin said:

Canugghead said:

@alaskanassasin I figured the 'wave' that caused the failure was still there so why take another chance. With the old style Foodsaver I can press the lid down hard to almost guarantee a good seal.

Give it a try. I can tell you if you let the clock run the bag will fill back up through the leak so just be quick about it.

Will try that next time.

Canugghead · January 27

@MaskedMarvel Darn, what happened?

alaskanassasin · January 27

Bags inflating?

MaskedMarvel · January 28

Canugghead said:

@MaskedMarvel Darn, what happened?

alaskanassasin said:

Bags inflating?

The SEAL is giving way. Both sides were “melted,” but they didn’t stick. My new theory is they’re getting some steam in there and interrupting the bonding before the pressure is reintroduced.

So - longer melt and longer cool down…

alaskanassasin · January 28

Hmm. Seal time is too long possibly? Mines 1.6 seconds if that helps and cooling for 2.8. I’ve never had to change it from that.

alaskanassasin · January 28

3 mil bags

Canugghead · January 28

My DP - 3 mil as well, 1.1 sec seal, 2.2 sec cool.

MaskedMarvel · January 28

I’ll check those times when I get back in a few here… I’ve been screwing around with them so much I can’t remember where they’re set off the top of my head.

MaskedMarvel · February 5

Quick follow up -

I’m now convinced the sealer REALLY struggles with food that’s steaming when sealed. I know.. boiling temperature and pressure.. but it’s a balancing act to get pressure low enough for the VACUUM part of “vacuum sealer” to avoid, and chilling the food first, IMHO, isn’t as high quality when reheated.

So, I’ve changed my strategy when sealing, and hitting the STOP button if I see any evidence of boiling beginning. I really only need this to be boil-ready. The advantage is some things seal BETTER, because I’m able to let it go a little longer. And I haven’t had a single failed seam, since. Even when the wrinkle appears afterwards.

Like I said - work in progress. Not what I’d call perfect, yet. But the learning experience has been very educational.

Canugghead · February 10

I'm always ready to hit the manual stop even when sealing cooled liquid. Regarding sealing food hot vs. chilled, not sure if you're doing this already... let the meat rest (cool down) so they don't steam too much when pulled/sliced. Excessive steam means moisture loss. By minimising moisture loss you don't need to seal while still hot, to preserve quality? Just my two cents.

Canugghead · February 10

alaskanassasin said:

Canugghead said:

@alaskanassasin I figured the 'wave' that caused the failure was still there so why take another chance. With the old style Foodsaver I can press the lid down hard to almost guarantee a good seal.

Give it a try. I can tell you if you let the clock run the bag will fill back up through the leak so just be quick about it.

Sealed about 20 bags of chicken parts yesterday, 1/20 had the wrinkle problem.

Tried resealing with a quick manual stop before the bag had a chance to puff, didn't help:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/c5/z9jnmbp1776o.jpg

Foodsaver saved the day:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/pr/ysth45o53aej.jpg

btw, with one filler board and a small bag of food, I got this at 40 sec. Maybe I don't need SeaFoam:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/op/3hqv9dge7zs5.jpg

MaskedMarvel · February 11

Canugghead said:

alaskanassasin said:

Canugghead said:

@alaskanassasin I figured the 'wave' that caused the failure was still there so why take another chance. With the old style Foodsaver I can press the lid down hard to almost guarantee a good seal.

Give it a try. I can tell you if you let the clock run the bag will fill back up through the leak so just be quick about it.

Sealed about 20 bags of chicken parts yesterday, 1/20 had the wrinkle problem.

Tried resealing with a quick manual stop before the bag had a chance to puff, didn't help:

Foodsaver saved the day:

btw, with one filler board and a small bag of food, I got this at 40 sec. Maybe I don't need SeaFoam:

Bizarre.

40 seconds?!?!

I need to experiment with a straight up bag of ice cubes.

Canugghead · February 11

You've lost me, care to elaborate please?

alaskanassasin · February 11

I vacuum seal and walk away if it’s dry goods or something with out a lot of liquid @Canugghead. My problem is I forget and leave perishables out all night!

36 seconds fwiw

MaskedMarvel · February 11

Canugghead said:

You've lost me, care to elaborate please?

I thought you meant you were running the vacuum for 40 seconds to get to that pressure level.

alaskanassasin · February 11

MaskedMarvel said:

Canugghead said:

You've lost me, care to elaborate please?

I thought you meant you were running the vacuum for 40 seconds to get to that pressure level.

we are. how long does it take for you to pin the needle if you will?

alaskanassasin · February 11

Going to need a decibel reading too @MaskedMarvel

Freezing Beef Brisket

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