When vacuuming food, when do you season before and when after?

Hello everyone! Got my Joule just before Thanksgiving and I have loved it so far. With Christmas coming up I know I was thinking about getting an economy vacuum sealer for my wife and I. We tend to buy protein in bulk and separate/store on our own, and with it working so well with sous vide it's a match made in heaven.

My question is for the whole storing process. Which foods would you want to season with salt/pepper/herbs you vacuum and freeze it, and what would you want to hold off on seasoning until after it is already cooked? Is there are hard rule on what you should do or can you play with it?

Find more posts tagged with

QOTD

Comments

tshewman

For freezing I don't tend to season it beforehand (I don't freeze herbs unless in oil or butter). Cook seasoned, then portion and freeze gives one more control over breakdown of herbs and such.

nico.beemster

Season with salt + pepper only after you've cooked it. (in the searing-step) Especially salt can alter the texture of your proteins. Really. Don't do it.

If you're getting a vacuum sealer: they are brilliant for rapid infusion with herbs and spices. Because of the vacuum the flavors are getting "pulled in" the protein very fast. No problems with freezing here.

I have not experimented with freezing proteins together with fresh herbs after cooking them but I think this is a really bad idea.

The herbs will be, eh, cooked after cooking, so you will reheat the protein with cooked herbs. Since you need to reheat the food anyway (see the reheating-sous vide tips) why not add the fresh herbs then?

Also, you might risk developing botulism in your bags when the food is cooling down for the freezer after cooking it (with fresh herbs). The botulism will be obliterated by the freezing process but for me this just doesn't feel "safe".

wolfiegirl

Dried herbs are fine, just skip the salt in anything you plan on sous viding later. Use a little olive oil too, vac it up and stow it in the freezer for later!