How safe are 72 hour short ribs when there is air in the sous vide bag after 52 hours?

I am preparing my first short ribs (72 hour version at 59C) using my PolyScience immersion circulator.

I sealed the bag using a countertop vacuum sealer and began the process.

Now, this evening, after 52 hours, the bag has air inside of it. There are no leaks, and the seal is still intact, yet the bag clearly has more air than when I started.

Now I am not clear if the short ribs will be safe to eat tomorrow evening. Anyone who has knowledge about air (or gas???) in the vacuum bags could really help me to ease my mind.

Thanks,

VANCE

Find more posts tagged with

Everything Else

Comments

SteveM_20803

I don't think the issue is if there is air in the bag, but how much. Even with a chamber sealer, I don't think you can get all the air out of the meat and bones. It is quite normal to have small pockets of air. If the bag looks like a pillow floating on top of the water, you probably have a problem. But at the end of the cook if there is some air in there and the meat is green but doesn't smell bad, that is a good sign.

An insurance policy to keeping things from getting contaminated is to pre-sear or blanch the ribs before you seal them. I have done with and without preprocessing several times and have been successful with both versions, it just adds a little more peace of mind.

Vance_98823

Thanks for the advice Steve.

At the moment, the bag is not "floating". It is still mostly under water, but it does have more air that when I started and it is definitely not completely submerged as it was that last 2 days. Right now the ribs are more of a dark red/browish color and the blood still looks normal (as if I was cooking a steak for a few hours).

The bag is a sous vide bag from the supplier of my vacuum sealer (and not a zip lock). I am sure that it is still sealed. I have even squeezed the bag under water to see if any air escapes, and none does.

The only unfortunate thing, is that I don't have much of a sense of smell (only about 10%) so I can never tell if something is "off" or not.

Wish me luck for finding out tomorrow!!!

Joel_Esposito_114224

I believe you could be dealing with gas generated by lactic acid bacteria. When you open the bag, have somebody check for a "blue cheese" smell. I don't know whether it's a major safety concern, but it would certainly make eating it unpleasant.

If they were bone-in, it's possible (although unlikely) that the vacuum bag was kept from fully compressing around the food and some residual air space created insulated pockets, mitigating the efficient transfer of heat from the water bath and allowing some puffing of the bag due to a small amount of lactic acid bacteria fermentation in those regions.

I say all of this simply to the best of my knowledge (not trying to push pseudo-science on anyone). I would follow Steve's advice next time.

Jack_Mayer_85396

A quick pre-sear on the short ribs would have the advantage of killing any pathogens on the surface of the meat. Not sure what the CS recommendation is on pre-sear for long cooks. I've done the 72 hour short ribs many times and love it!

Brandon_Byrd_40557

MC suggests that a presear on long cooks can impart off flavors, but I've never noticed that before.(I've also never done controlled tests before, so take that with a grain of salt.) Another alternative is to blanch meat (in a sealed bag) in boiling water for 30 seconds or so to kill off anything living on the surface of the meat.

SteveM_20803

Please let us know how it goes. I hope it does work because there isn't anything like it. Also if you don't mind my asking, but since your sense of smell is off, how does that impact how you taste things?

Matthew_Snyder_68770

From memory, the only recipe on CS with a really long cook time is the pastrami. That's smoked at 149°F/64°C for 5-7 hours before cooking SV for 48 hours.

Vance_98823

Hi all!!!

So, here is the summary…

This morning (Swiss time) the bag was still puffy with air, and getting more air. So, I decided to rebag the meat. I put the meat into a new bag without the juices/blood. It looked fine and without any sort of contamination, but again I can't smell, so I just relied on eyesight.

The first attempt to seal the new bag didn't work because the juices rose to the top of the bag during the vacuum sealing. (Do I hear anyone telling me to get a chamber vac!?!?!?). The second time worked. I then put the bag back into the water bath and let it finish the final 8 hours.

This evening, I cut open the bag and took out the ribs (they were already boneless BTW). I separated them from the herbs (rosemary and thyme which were now almost part of the meat!).

First thing that I did was ask my partner (French) if the ribs smelled funny, and he said that they smelled great and full of herb scents.

So, i decided to continue the process…I then seasoned them and seared them in avocado oil (high heat) and sliced to serve. My partner (French) thought that they were great, moist and tender and flavorful.

I definitely seared the one rib just a little to long as it was more medium well from my perspective than medium rare. (Searing time after sous vide is proving to be my unknown, as I tend to go overboard as I don't seem to get the right crust quickly.) So, that will be my learning for next time.

The other rib was just fine and more medium rare. I thought that the texture of this piece was more to my liking.

So, for a first timer…i am happy with the result.

As for my sense of taste although I cannot smell, it seems that my taste buds are working just fine. I enjoy food very much, and I don't have any complaints that I "over season" foods. I get lots of compliments on my cooking.

BTW…the recipes which I have read on various sites suggest that pre-searing when you are going for a 72 hour process will result in unpleasant odors.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and interest in my first time experience.

VANCE