Ziplock bags filling with water

The last 3 times I used ziplock bags the bags filled with water and essentially ruined my super. Each time I pulled the bag out of the pot the water from the bag was draining very slowly from one of the bottom corners of the bag. I’m thinking the seal let go and an extremely small hole developed. Has anybody else experienced this with ziplock bags? Prior to these 3 times I used ziplock bags two other times with no water issues. The leaky bags came from a different box but when I filled them with water to test they didn’t leak water so they are coming apart while cooking. Now I’m struggling to trust ziplock bags for anything.

You could double bag for extra security.

I don’t use ziplock bags myself.

I read online that seal-type bags can lose their seal at 158F. I won’t use them for veggies or other hi-temp use. Also make sure to get the FREEZER bags, not the regulars. Actually Ive had better luck with the press seals than the zipper type.

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Which Ziploc bags? General consensus is the thicker freezer zipper bags, not sandwich or storage.

For short cooks up to about two hours, never have had any issues with the freezer zipper bags from Ziploc or Glad. For long cooks such as lamb shanks for 48 hours, vacumn bags such as from Foodsaver.


The bags are the freezer bag type

Hm, that’s interesting. I sometimes use freezer ziplock bags and they work just fine. Are you cooking food with bones poking out that could have potentially created a tear in the bag? I only had an issue once with the bag - but I believe it was my fault. I was reusing a bag and I may have created a tear during it’s wash (was trying to minimize waste). What brand were you using?

I think the bags were old, as in about 3 years old, and they developed a pin hole in the bottom corners. Took up the issue with SC Johnson, the ziplock freezer bag maker, and they were shocked to hear about the bags leaking. They compensated me well and the new box of bags I bought have worked perfectly. No bones poking through as the meat didn’t have bones. I’m convinced the bags were old and started to fail once in the hot water.

Golfguy…that’s good information. Maybe you should talk to SC Johnson and have them put a “born-on-date” or an expiration date. I mean the life insurance companies have both those tidbits on us so what the heck!

I discussed “best before dates” with the customer service rep and she agreed they should be put on. When I got a call back from someone higher up than the customer service rep, that person said that SC Johnson was planning on testing old freezer bags to try replicating my experience. I also noticed that the old bags had allowed frost into the bag after less than one month in a freezer compared to newer bags that seemed to keep frost out for months. It’s weird though because when I filled one of the old bags with hot water to test they didn’t leak. I suspect prolonged exposure to very cold air or quite hot water ( for at least 1 hour) degrades the old bags and the first area to fail is the weakest area which is the bottom corners. Found the old receipt from the freezer bags and they were bought at Costco and the receipt was dated August 8, 2015. There was 4 boxes of freezer bags in the bulk packaging and each box contained 40 bags so for a single person that is a lot of bags to use up, thus the older age of the bags. I have to commend SC Johnson because they sent me a cheque for $50 US ( I’m in Canada so the exchange added $13.00) AND 5 - $5.00 off coupons with no conditions or restrictions other than use by August 2019. I had told them that I lost about $50.00 worth of meat on the leaky bags.

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That’s a good company that would do that. Just earned my business even if I have to pay more than the competitor brand. :slight_smile:

Very nice customer service and follow-up. Impressive.

Golfguy, SC Johnson is a family-owned business and it shows.

“The goodwill of people is the only enduring thing in any business. The rest is shadow.” Herbert Fisk Johnson. c. 1926

Each time I cooked a pork shoulder (165 degrees for 18 hrs) bags Leaked. Even this last time, despite double bagging and double sealing (using Anova vacuum sealer) it leaked. I’m somewhat encouraged that the inner-most bag still seems to be in tact. There must be something to the comments about high temp, long duration cooks that compromises the bags/seal. Is there a design flaw w the Anova bags and sealer? I’d like some advice on a more failsafe approach. Thanks.