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Beef cheek fail

Shivam_Daryanani_92859

I got some beef cheek few days ago, from a well known butcher.

Vacuum sealed, and it cooked for 72hours at 56°C.

For 48 hours it was the only thing in the water bath, and for the other 24 it shared space with some lamb. Yet more than enough space for both, since they weren't in contact.

Removed it this evening for dinner, and it had this horrible smell!

It looked as expected and the texture was phenomenal. Yet the smell was absolutely horrible!! I tried a piece or two, but threw it eventually as I couldn't stand this.

Any idea what could have gone wrong?

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rene

I have to guess that the beef cheeks were lightly off at the start of the preperation - and this long preparation at a low temperature did only make this worse?

Angelo_197648

Did you try it at least to determine flavor? What was the smell, that can help tell us what is wrong.

Anyways there are a few possibilities off the top of my head.

1. The meat wasn't as "fresh" as you expected when you bought it.

2. It is possible the smell you smell is what you would smell cooking them otherwise but without the Maillard reaction covering that smell.

3. Not using proper bags.

4. Beef has a high iron content, trapped in vacuum seal, the resulting odor can't dissipate

5. I read somewhere that depending on temp, Lactobacillus bacteria doesn't usually get killed off during sous vide, ad while not harmful to you, can cause funky smells.

tshewman

Good chance there were microbes on the surface. Did you sear or blanch the meat?

Shivam_Daryanani_92859

Possible, there's no way to tell. I'll try this again in the future.

Shivam_Daryanani_92859

Thanks.

I did try and the flavor was good but the smell just made it unappetizing. I'm not sure if I can describe the smell. Strong, over whelming along the lines of bad meat.

1) possible.

2) I'll buy some more and try pressure cooking them, and see what that brings.

3) quite possibly the case. I used the bag it was already vacuum packed in by the butcher. Probably my laziness cost me.

4) another possibility.

5) I have endured some funky smells when cooking sous vide, but this took it to a whole different level.

Appreciate the answer, I guess the only way to find out is to try again.

Shivam_Daryanani_92859

I did a post sear, this didn't help with the smell

Shivam_Daryanani_92859

Oh another thing to note, not sure if this is helpful. But after cooking, the entire poly carbonate box was smelling. The water was clear though.

tshewman

Should sear or blanch (or both) the meat before long cooks to lessen the chances of multiplying bad bugs :-). See http://www.chefsteps.com/activities/pretreatments-prior-to-cooking Usually a blow torch or sear in pan works well and takes only a couple of minutes.

artstype

It also allows the sweet/smokey flavor of the maillard reaction to cook into the meat during the sous vide process.

Angelo_197648

Yeah I'm thinking the bag leeched into the meat and water. Gotta use them BPA-free bags.

douglas_bd

For long cooks, I always drop the bagged product in simmering water for ~30 sec. Even if I've seared it off already, it just acts as insurance. I've had 72 hour short ribs go south, and it's not fun. If you are investing in the product and time, I think the security is worth the extra step.