Bacteria and Botulism.

Should I be as concerned with bacteria and botulism when cooking sous vide vegetarian? It seems mostly for meats, but I'm cooking mainly with organic vegetables and protein alternatives. the first real meal I've prepared a few days ago to include come organic carrots, "chicken"(fake meat) cutlet a little oil and seasoning chamber vacuum sealed. I plan sous vide them within a week. I'm also concerned with the vacmaster bags that I have. Should I wash them before I use them?

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David_C_78141

Botulism is ubiquitous meaning its present everywhere and you will still find a little bit of bacterial present on your vegetables even after you wash them. Botulism cases occur mostly in canned products many of which are vegetables, so it won't be a matter of whether your sous viding meat or vegetables. The temperatures that you are sous viding vegetables will be high enough to kill any bacteria present and the botulism toxin is inactivated rapidly at 80 degrees C so you should be safe.

Your vacmaster bags should be safe assuming that you haven't contaminated the inside of them. Provided you clean your vegetables and keep them vacuum sealed in the fridge you should be perfectly fine.

Rick_Ruiz_125018

Thanks much David! I was wondering about the temps and if it was enough to kill any bacteria present.

Brandon_Byrd_40557

Vegetables aren't inherently safer or less prone to pathogens than properly processed meat is. If you look at the CDC's list of e. coli outbreaks, there have been a number of recalls of clover sprouts, ready-to-eat salads, organic spinach/spring mix blends, romaine lettuce, and hazelnuts. A 2009 e. coli outbreak caused by eating raw Nestle cookie dough is believed to have been caused by the flour rather than the animal products in the batch. The list of vegetable-linked salmonella outbreaks is even longer, including bean sprouts, nut butter, organic sprouted chia powder, raw cashew cheese, tahini paste, cucumbers, mangoes, cantaloupe, pine nuts, papayas, alfafa sprouts, pistachios, rice/wheat breakfast cereals, tomatoes, and Veggie Booty(!) Last year, vegetables were responsible for more food-borne salmonella outbreaks than poultry. That said, the likelihood of purchasing tainted food - be it animal or vegetable - is extremely low today. Just be sure to wash your produce and follow recommended food-safety practices and you should be fine.