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food + heat + plastics doesn't sound very appealing...
by pepon 12y ago
food + heat + plastics doesn't sound very appealing...
- budgi3 12y agoThis is what is holding me back on getting into sous vide. Any non plastic alternatives?
- scarboy 12y agoYou can use mason jars if you are worried about plastic.
- tptacek 12y agoThat works for things that perfectly fill a mason jar, but not well otherwise; the giant air pockets are an issue.
- scarboy 12y agoI completely agree, I'm just stating the alternative. Sometimes standard freezer ziploc bags aren't even big enough. I was doing a large prime rib a while ago and has to use the larger size freezer bags that aren't normally available at my grocery store. If you used something else you would need a large amount of butter/liquid to get rid of the air.
- jpp 12y agoI find it generally easier to cut items into portion sizes before cooking them sous vide. - It makes the size more manageable in your water bath. - You don't have to worry as much about temperature ramp-up time between outer surface and core of food item. - For delicate proteins, means there's less handling of the item post-cooking. -Jeff
- eropple 12y agoYou can get differently-sized jars, though. I've got a pretty wide variety of sizes for different stuff. I still use bags most of the time, because I don't think running a cooker at 55 deg C with bags rated for 90 deg C is going to be an issue.
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- jpp 12y agoYes: you can use glass jars with liquid (oil, marinade, etc.) inside them. Make sure the jar isn't too large; there's potential safety issues with ramp-up temperature of the center of the jar vs the outside.
- alkonaut 12y agoI fully expect plastics labelled with e.g "up to 90 degrees C" to not release anything unwanted into my food if I stay well below that temp. I'd also expect the label to have a wide margin to dangerous temperatures. In theory you can use anything that handles the temperature, such as silicone. You could in theory force your food into a jar with a bit of oil.
- dpeck 12y agofood in jar with oil = confit, a fairly popular, and very long lasting, preparation in the sous-vide at home world.
- pflanze 12y agoYou might be making matters worse with a jar: those with screw-on lids have a plastic lining in the lid that's traditionally PVC with plasticizers which are considered to be bad for health. To make matters worse, oil will support the migration of the plasticizers out of the plastic.
- bluedino 12y agoAre plastics known for breaking down at 134 degrees f?
- tptacek 12y agoAdditives to plastics break down at lower temperatures. EVA breaks down at around 149f (you meant f, right, because nothing is cooked sous vide over boiling temperature).
- joezydeco 12y agoThere's a silicone bag available: http://www.amazon.com/Lekue-1-Liter-Fresh-Bag-Clear/dp/B0049EU670 http://www.amazon.com/Lekue-1-Liter-Fresh-Bag-Clear/dp/B0049...
- tptacek 12y agoThe point of this mode of cooking is that it's low temp, below the temperatures at which plastics in high-quality freezer bags become an issue (Ziploc confirmed this to Dave Arnold earlier this year).
- scarboy 12y agoI was looking for the quote and found an old hn post that has the cooking issues link and information: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7631985 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7631985
- jpp 12y agoIt's been confirmed a number of places (see http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/11/harold-mcgee-on-eggs-trans-fats-and-sous-vide/ http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/11/harold-mcg... for another). Make sure you're using Ziploc specifically -- as in that brand. Other manufacturers may have their own formulations for their plastics, including non-heat-stable plasticizers. I contacted Trader Joes, for example, when writing Cooking for Geeks, and they disclosed that their plastics are NOT heat safe.
- calbear81 12y agoSous Vide is used in high end restaurants to make some of the most delicious food in the world.
- ha292 12y agoAnd that makes it safer?