Vacmaster 3mil bags melting in water bath

Alright, my first foray into sous vide is off to a shaky start. I ordered a bunch of 3mil bags from Vacmaster and already had a couple melt on me. I DO have the bath set to a pretty high temp, 185º F. Is this too high for the 3 mil bags?

Thanks in advance for your comments.

-Chris

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Comments

Johan_Edstrom_5586

Are they touching elements?

They should be fine for weeks on end at that thickness.

chriswrightcycles

Not touching the heating element. I installed a stainless cage on this circulator and the bags are coming into contact with that. Vacmaster says these bags are boilable so what gives?! I'll give them a ring tomorrow and see if they can offer any suggestions.

Johan_Edstrom_5586

Please let us know - if it is a recall, wrong usage or something else.

I have a stack of them here

Brendan_Lee_56950

I agree I've never had an issue with them, I've put them in the microwave for 5+ minutes before without a problem.

When you say melting can you describe what's happening exactly?

chriswrightcycles

I think I figured out what happened.

My lady sealed a couple bulbs of fennel in the vacuum bag before dropping it in a 190º bath. I pulled it out 20 min later and saw what appeared to be air in the bag and melting plastic around the seal. Upon closer inspection it appears that the bag was sealed improperly (i.e. the plastic was folded over on itself along the seal line and must not have been laying perfectly flat along the seal bar.) Also, what appeared to be extra air in the bag was most likely a result of the fennel shrinking as it cooked as evidenced by excess water in the vacuum bag. We flipped the bag upside down to see if/where leaks were forming and we couldn't find any. I suppose the bag never melted after all.

Expect many more hasty conclusions from a newbie cooking sous vide at home.

Johan_Edstrom_5586

Ah, you;ll see the same with things like cauliflower, cabbage and so on.