Good morning! I have some issues cooking sous vide. I’m a vegetarian and cook lots of meals without meat, mainly alternatives such as tofu and of course vegetables. Last week I tried chamber vacuum sealing (default 30 seconds, VP112) some vegetarian meat product along with some organic carrots, oil and seasonings. Stored in the fridge for a few days. Last night took it out and sous vide using the Anova One machine at 85C for 25 minutes. The first few minutes were fine, until the bag started to produce gas/air and floated to the top of the water bath. I tried everything to weigh it down but it just would not stay down. Maybe I didn’t use enough vacuum time? The seal was perfect, no leakage. Do you have any suggestions, tips or tricks? Maybe I am doing something wrong in the process?
@rjruiz Hi ! I am vegetarian - I love doing my veggies sous vide. I use a zip lock bag for my produce - it’s easier and no issues with air puffing up inside bag. Also, RE the floating - simply use a larger office paper clip & clip the ziplock bag to the side of the pot - it works like a charm Thanks & let me know if anything else comes up !
Thanks nvaughn! I have tried using the clips on the side but it just floated to the top because there was so much gas and it was sealed, I guess I should’ve just used a ziplock bag for veggies.
@rjruiz, as you’ve learned, no matter how well you vacuum seal veggies, they give off gases while cooking. I like either one of two techniques: (1) forget the vaccum sealing and use a Ziploc. Get as much air out as you can by immersing the bag and seal it just before the water level reaches the seal. Then clip the bag to the side of the cooking container. You can either periodically open the bag to release generated gases, or just leave a small opening in the seal during cooking. Option (2) - use your vacuum-sealed veggies as is, and when gases begin to cause bubbles, clip the bag to the side of the container and poke a small hole in the bag above the water level to release gases. Both methods work well for me. By the way, I think sous vide corn-on-the-cob is my new favorite veggie, 20 minutes at 183ºF.
I don’t sous vide many vegetables – but the method is ideal for cooking up a lot of onion rings for French Onion Soup – without the need to nurse and constantly stir them through caramelization. Excepting, of course, for all the gas the onions give off. So I have two suggestions which work for me. First is to buzz the vegetables at low power in the microwave until they are hot and steamy. I seem to lose much of the gas in this one step. Then I put the onions, garlic salt and some butter in a wide mouth pickle jar with a small saucer holding the rings down – and a glass of water on top of that. As the onions cook and sweat, giving off liquid, the saucer will keep the rings submerged in their own juices. Pretty soon the whole house will smell of onion soup – so make enough for all the appetites you’ll be whetting.
P.S. I stand my pickle jar on a trivet to enable circulation under the container and keep the hot water bath about an inch above the vegetables inside the jar – too much water in the bath will float the jar!
I once had a bunch of vacuum sealed carrots puff up like a balloon while cooking, which obviously was no good. I tried scrubbing with a dish scrubber under running hot water before vacuum sealing and it hasn’t happened again since. YMMV.
Thanks & let me know if anything else comes up !