# Vacuum Sealing



## gonavy (Sep 3, 2016)

Just curious if anyone has made extra smoke foods and vacuum sealed them for later where they could be heated up by boiling in the bag.  Did you do the whole rack, or made into individual meals...Seems like a good idea, just wondering if anyone has done this,  how did you go about it.  Thinking maybe a couple extra racks of ribs, or chicken when I smoke..etc...how long did you boil to heat up, how did it taste afterwards etc...never done this vacuum sealing thing before, but got one on order, mostly for buying multiple steaks when on sale, and the extra smoking thing popped into my mind, need some guidance here..lol...


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## rexster314 (Sep 3, 2016)

Works great. When I do briskets, I smoke on my 6' offset smoker. It's not worth it to just do one since I can do 3 at a time using the same smoke. Also put on several racks of spares, and maybe a couple of spatchcocked chicks. 

When all is done, I separate the briskets by the flat and point, trim out the points. They'll go into seal bags and into the freezer. If done correctly, we've eaten brisket over a year old with no loss of flavor or quality. Chicken, ribs and sausage get the same treatment although we'll go through this stuff faster. Nothing like Smoked King Ranch Chicken


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## cksteele (Sep 3, 2016)

here is a great article on the subject by the BBQ guru  Daniel Vaughn hope it helps 

http://www.tmbbq.com/the-best-method-for-reheating-barbecue/


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## johnmeyer (Sep 3, 2016)

GoNavy said:


> Just curious if anyone has made extra smoke foods and vacuum sealed them for later where they could be heated up by boiling in the bag.  Did you do the whole rack, or made into individual meals...


Yes, that's exactly how I do it. For pulled pork, I pull the entire 7-9 pounds, and then use my scale to weigh out 10-12 oz. individual servings.This is perfect for a 2-person meal, assuming a few sides. I then put that amount into individual Foodsaver packets, freeze the packets and, after they are frozen, I then do the vacuum packing. If you run the vacuum while the food is still warm, the liquid sucks out and makes it impossible to freeze the bag, so you pretty much have to freeze it first.

When vacuum packing Tri-tip, brisket and other cuts where I finish at 130 instead of 200 degrees and therefore slice instead of pulling, I don't pre-slice the meat and instead use the scale to measure out 10-12 oz cuts. This means I have to use my slicer for each leftover meal, but I think the meat stays a little fresher this way. However, for the ultimate in convenience you can use your slicer to pre-slice ALL the meat and then vacuum pack the sliced product.

When reheating, I use my portable induction cooktop to heat the water bath used to heat the still-sealed pouches. I do this because it has a temperature control setting, and I heat the water to 125 degrees, which is a pretty decent temperature for reheating. For pulled pork it doesn't matter much because it has already been heated to 200 degrees, but for meat that was sliced rare or medium rare, you don't want to heat it much beyond 135 degrees. You could also use a sous vide machine for reheating, if you have it.


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## dward51 (Sep 3, 2016)

If you have a sous vide unit, that is also perfect for reheating anything in a vacuum bag. Much more precise control than just using boiling water. This also allows you to reheat and hold. Plus it makes the sous vide unit into a multi-tasker as Alton Brown would say.


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## parman (Sep 4, 2016)

I also do the same with brisket. I have an order for 30 people and I'll pre-cook the brisket... slice and vacuum pack as they would like.

All they have to do is reheat in water or micro for a very short time to reheat.


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## mab007 (Nov 5, 2016)

Has anyone experimented with using less vacuum?  For example, using the WET setting, or manual to not extract all of the air (and moisture) from the bag and meat.  Does this yield a moister product when it is time to thaw, reheat and eat?  Does this impact its longevity?

I have VacPacked smoked red meat, turkey, chicken, and cheese.   but I have only used the automatic setting, and I notice that there is quite a bit of moisture escaping from the meat......you thoughts?

Vac Seal is such a wonderful thing!


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## crankybuzzard (Nov 5, 2016)

I did it last night. 













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Drop the bags, still sealed into a pot of tap water, turn it to high, let it come to a boil, turn off the burner, let it rest a few minutes, and open up the bags.  

You can see the steam and the melted cheese.   Tasted almost Locke it did when it came off the pit.


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## wade (Nov 5, 2016)

If you are going to boil in the bag it is best to make sure that the bags you are using are rated for sous vide. Some of the standard bags can occasionally get soft and burst in boiling water. It does not happen often but I have ended up with weak soup a couple of times













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__ wade
__ Jan 25, 2016


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## wade (Nov 6, 2016)

dward51 said:


> But with sous vide, most people are not taking the bags to boiling temps, even when reheating. It's not going to be the same sort of shock test a "boil in bag" would get dropped in boiling water at a rolling boil.  I've never checked my bags, but also never had an issue.
> 
> After reading the above, I just double checked and the pre-cut Ary VacMaster bags I've been buying from http://www.webstaurantstore.com do state they are for sous vide, boilable and microwave safe.


Yes I agree about the sous vide temperatures - I use sous vide alot - but the sous vide bags are usually rated to 120 C (250 F) and so are also safe for use as boil-in-the-bag.


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