Morning all,
Firstly a quick hello as I am new to the community here – but seems like such great advice here so thanks
Anyway – into my question… I’m basically tired of trying to balance heavy objects on my sous vide bags and I don’t like the idea of putting in metal forks/knives into the bags… I just spotted these weights ( http://www.amazon.com/dp/B077XYPJF5 ) and curious if people have had experience with these? Floating food bags do get annoying!
Thanks for any help or advice.
RwC
By all means, I’m sure those would work. But is there anything wrong with a few decent-sized pebbles from the garden or the nearest creek?
Personally, I think that using stainless steel and food-grade silicon is an almost criminal waste of high-tech materials when all that is needed is a few weights on top of a few pouches of food.
Hmm nope, I haven’t tried that. I usually just use whatever I have around the house, like a spatula.
I like the idea of using rocks! 
All natural. (Though definitely not organically grown! 
)
Seriously, I see no reason to go the route of silicon encased stainless steel!
Personally I just use a mug that fills up with water from the water bath and put it on top of the bag(s) for some additional weight.
Although, I feel somewhat compelled to ask, why are your bags floating in the first place? Aside from vegetables, which are notorious for floating, most other food should be dense enough to sink, or at least not break over the water level. Could there be an issue with your vacuum sealing technique? I heard it’s sometimes good to shift the food around in the bag during sealing, so that all of the air is evacuated. Personally, I’ve used the water displacement + manual sucking method on several occasions, and my steaks were able to stay completely immersed even then.
If you use weights then you also need something to lift the bags off the bottom.
I use a good old stainless steel knive from my flatware set. Does the job fits in bottom bag slides out when done.
Yes, there IS something wrong with putting rocks in with your food. They, like the soil, very often contain arsenic, which will leech into the food when when you cook with rocks in the bag.
Sure, rocks are “natural”, but so are formaldehyde, formic acid and feces. I don’t want those in my food, either.
If a cut of meat is fatty enough to tend to float, I add a butter knife or two to the bag.
Hmmm… Last time I looked, clean granite was quite non-toxic
That looks nice; expensive. I found a few flat rocks ( you can use anything) Wash it and vacuum seal and place it in your floater.
@jmack03 I’m not sure where you got that information…but it’s wrong. (Though I don’t know where you live, so maybe it’s true for stones from your area…does not seem likely though.)
You might want to do a little research. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with what you find out!
I just did a quick google search and it turns out there are rocks that contain toxins. Some might be rare, some very localized, but I’m no geologist so I wouldn’t take any chances.
I don’t ever use rocks in my cooking anyway but now I know for sure that I won’t.
Yes, these definitely all look like the typical rocks in my local creek…
I’d also be very careful with these ones. They look really dangerous:
@Anomalii Your call, and it’s of course a personal decision. It’s been a few years since my college geology classes but I think you’d have to really look hard to find any rock that would give you a problem. The article you found was on unusual rocks and crystals that have dangerous properties. I wasn’t trying to challenge you to find that there is such a thing as a rock you should not use. I was just trying to let you see that people have used rocks to cook food for thousands of years and that it is actually quite safe with only a minimal application of common sense in choosing the rocks you wish to use.
For those who feel uncertain about selecting “safe” stones you could simply use glass marbles. I’ve a friend who lives near a place where they cut granite counter tops. The scrap bits they leave outside would be fine too.
I am thinking about using a 5lbs weight to hold down food when it decides to float. Does it need to be coated/not coated (vinal?) to avoid any contamination?
If you are weighing down the food by placing a weight on the bags from the outside then it’s not really much of an issue. The food is in the bag sealed off from the circulating water.
If you are placing your 5lb weight “inside” the bag with your food then you need to worry about whatever you use as a weight being food grade/food safe. And I still would use just a couple river rocks if I were looking to weigh down my bags.
Unless they are toxic rocks. Don’t use those.
LOL! Yes! Best not to use unusual crystalline or metallic rocks! @Anomalii is right that there are places where you can find unsafe rocks - they might be hard to find but they are out there in the world.
Side note - Highest on my list to avoid would be U-238 and radium bearing rocks, even if you might be able to cook your food faster by using them! Hopefully you don’t have any of those out in your yard!
Interesting subject as I have used stone I picked up off my beach here in Nova Scotia to weigh down the corn on the cob cook the other day, put them thru the dishwasher first and after but after reading this will put them in a separate baggy just to,be safe…
Definitely can’t hurt to baggy them up to play it safe! (Though personally I would be comfortable using granite or agate in the bag - easy to find and both known safe.)