Hi. My second cook and after 4-5 hours my bags split. Can anyone tell what I did wrongly please? Cooking lamb leg cubes. Hercules brand double ziplock storage bags. Definitely not over filled. 80 degrees celcius for 9 hours. I did notice the writing on the outside of the bag melted off so maybe these bags can’t cope with that much heat for so long. BTW the lamb was perfectly cooked but had no more flavour because it had been cooking in 7 litres of water!
I’m not familiar with Hercules bags, I’m in the wrong country, however Ziploc bags (same concept, different brand) are not recommended for higher temperatures. The seals one the edges tend too fail around 70°C. My suggestion would be get some bags that are rated for higher temperatures. Good luck
Hm, I am also not familiar with that brand of bags - I’d try something different. The writing outside of the bag that melted off doesn’t sound like a good thing either. Look into resealable freezer grade plastic bags or reusable silicone bags. This might be helpful: Anova Precision™ Reusable Silicone Bag – Anova Culinary.
Doesn’t matter what brand you use, all of the disposable ziploc type bags are going to start softening and have an increased chance of failure at those kind of temps.
Either lower your cook temp and increase time, this is one of the principles behind this style of cooking or get a vacuum sealer that has an actual seamer (not the reusable bags that you use with a hand pump).
I’ve never used the silicone bags that @AlyssaWOAH mentioned, so I can’t comment on their sealing capabilities at those temps. Silicone doesn’t soften at the temps one can achieve with a water bath, but it still has some of it’s own caveats.
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i use the hercules bags too, but i’ve never used them for cooks longer than 2 hours, and never past about 77 degrees.
i use a vac sealer for long or high temp cooks, and i triple seal the ends.
i also have the silicon reusable bags but i haven’t tried them yet.
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