Meat tumbler question

Jacob_Daniel_Kirstejn_Hansen_312917

Dear ChefSteps and other cooking enthusiasts

I have been looking into vacuum meat tumblers, but the cheaper models only have

a hand pump to create the vacuum, which I doubt will be as effective as an electric pump.

I currently own a sous-vide machine and a vacuum chamber sealer, so I was wondering

if I could vacuum seal (with my vacuum chamber sealer) say, a piece of meat with its

marinate and then put it into the tumbler?

Would that have a better effect, because the vacuum is stronger? Or would that result in a

worse end product, because there's not enough room for the marinate to move around, as

the plastic bag has tightened around the meat?

Also. Could you explain to me if it makes a significant difference to use a meat tumbler in

the first place compared to a regular vacuum sealed marination or even the marination

program on the vacuum chamber sealer? I have read a bit about it, but I wanted additional opinions, in particular from you guys

Kind regards

Jacob

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Comments

Martin_411586

Hi Jacob.

If I'm not mistaking, the main use for a tumbler (for you) is marinating meat. Right?

The advantages a tumbler would give you over vacuum sealing meat in a bag:

- the tumbler allows you to go back and forth between vacuum and atmospheric pressure

- the tumbling could tenderise meat

- vacuum sealing in a bag with marinade would generally mean you go for a slab. If you go for a lump, the marinade would probably not reach all the meat on the inside of the lump. With a tumbler, you don't have that issue as it -well- tumbles the meat.

Tumbling vacuum packed meats would mean two out of these three advantages are cancelled out.

I'd argue that changing from an imperfect vacuum to atmospheric and back a few times, while tumbling, could well be more effective than vacuum packing a lump in a bag with marinade.

Brandon_Byrd_40557

The idea of vacuum marination makes intuitive sense, but it most likely doesn't offer a real benefit. Researchers at the University of Georgia and the USDA have repeatedly found that vacuum levels have no effect on the uptake of marinade by chicken. They conclude that "vacuum pressure during tumbling, as is widely practiced commercially, may not be necessary. The underlying principles for using vacuum pressure may be erroneous and should be examined further." Another study on the effect of vacuum marination on fish found that vacuum levels had no effect on marinade uptake. The upshot of these articles is that the perceived benefits from vacuum tumbling actually come from the tumbling, not the vacuum.

My limited experience with vacuum tumblers, and tumblers in general, suggests that they're not worth the time, money, counterspace, or bother -- especially if you already have a chamber vacuum. The best way to increase marinade uptake on meat is to use a Jaccard tenderizer/needler and then seal the meat with the marinade in a chamber vacuum. The needling process creates small channels inside the meat into which the marinade can flow (while also shortening muscle fibers and creating a more tender product). I haven't run quantifiable tests, but I'm sure this increases marinade uptake far more than tumbling, and likely produces a more tender product as well.

Martin_411586

Thanks for sharing. I stand corrected

artstype

Very interesting and useful info, thanks, Brandon!

brian_martin2001

You might have better luck with pressure, rather than vacuum. There was a YouTube video using a fizz giz to increase the pressure to marinate chicken in teriyaki (i think teriyaki anyway, could have been something else). I first learned about this in one of the Modernist Cuisine volumes, and have mimicked this using a modified pressure cooker. If you have a whipping siphon, you might try that to see if you notice any difference in time. Good luck!

Jacob_Daniel_Kirstejn_Hansen_312917

Thank you so much for the quick replies, guys. I really should use this forum a lot more, you guys are so well informed. I'm particularly happy to see the peer reviewed references, Brandon - nice train of thought too!

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