Sous vide - add liquid or no in the bag?
I'm the proud owner of a new-fangled sous vide instrument. So far, I've seen mixed statements about adding extra liquid (brine or some other concoction of my choosing) to the bag. When grilling, I'm a dry rub man. But I wanted to try a marinade and thought my sous vide adventures would be a good place to start.
Is this a bad idea? Are there any recommendations, like avoiding overly acidic due to bag leeching?
Best Answer
Generally speaking meat that is cooked sous vide does not have marinating liquid in the bag, though a small amount of fat (oil or butter, for example), might be added to help with air displacement. A lot depends on what you want to achieve and the specific cut or protein you are cooking. There are several ways you can go, but dry-rub or marinate...pat dry or wipe off...quick sear...bag...cook...final grill or final sear...is often a good practice. A vacuum sealer is nice to have for extra long cooks, when you get into the multiple day range, but is not really necessary for most applications. There are many online resources you can check for guidance.
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Quick Answer about "Sous vide - add liquid or no in the bag?"
Generally speaking meat that is cooked sous vide does not have marinating liquid in the bag, though a small amount of fat (oil or butter, for example), might be added to help with air displacement. A lot depends on what you want to achieve and the specific cut or protein you are cooking.Can you sous vide with liquid in the bag?
There are a few options for applying vacuum with a liquid for sous vide cooking. The first is to freeze the liquid first, then put the frozen liquid in the bags to seal it. The sous vide process will melt the ice and introduce the marinade. You can also use a chambered vacuum sealer but those are very expensive.Do sous vide bags need to be fully submerged?
With sous vide cooking, it's absolutely vital that your bags stay submerged and that trapped air bubbles are pushed to the top of the bag and away from the food. This is the only way to guarantee that your food is heating properly, which is important for both food safety and quality.What should I put in my sous vide bag?
Here at Sous Vide Tools we often like to add a small amount of butter to the bag and find that for best results, flavoured butter works really well to add a little something extra during the cooking process. Our preference is to place butter into the bag itself, rather than on top of the product.Can you sous vide with marinade in the bag?
If using an acid or alcohol-based marinade for cooking sous vide, make sure to remove the meat from the marinade, wipe off and seal in a new vacuum bag before cooking - in sous vide cooking, no evaporation takes place, so the alcohol will not be 'cooked off' and may impart an overpoweringly strong flavour into the meat ...Is Cooking Sous Vide with Plastic Bags Safe? | Joe Rogan
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Answer 2
Salty marinades work best, both for altering the flavor profile of the protein and for adding liquid to the cut.
Since sous vide is a technique that works in a vacuum-sealed bag, liquid doesn't evaporate from the cut during the cooking process.
I would say do this:
1. Brinerade the cut for a short period of time (depends on the size of the cut)
2. Dry the meat really well.
3. Sous vide the crap out of that tasty cut!
4. Re-dry the meat, if necessary!
5. Sear the cut (browning adds flavor) in a rippin' hot pan to form a crust.
6. Enjoy!
Answer 3
There is only one reason to add liquid into a bag, and that is to displace air.
In short, liquid conducts heat much better than air. Think insulated windows, two layers of glass with one layer of air between to prevent heat transfer. The increased heat conduction is essential if not using a vacuum sealer, as extra liquid can displace packets of air.
However, if you'd like to avoid adding extra liquid to meat in a sous vide cooker, that is fine, as I am sure meat juice will leak out and fill up those cavities.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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