Sous Vide Without a Vacuum Sealer
Another good sous vide tip, this one courtesy of Tim Sebel from
Failures and Success in Molecular Gastronomy and Sous Vide. It deals with a good way to get all the air out of your sous vide pouch if you don't have a vaccum sealer.
Rather than using a food saver to create a vacuum, I have been using heavy duty zip-loc bags. Getting the air out is easy! Just fill the bag with whatever you're cooking (liquids included)and then submerge the bag in water. The bags I'm using have the zip below the lip of the bag, so the zip gets submerged just underwater. The pressure of the water forces all the air out of the bag. Then zip the bag up while the zip is just submerged. If you're worried about getting water in the bag, zip it up just as you submerge the zip under water.
This makes it easy to use liquids with your cooking. It's also great if you want to try out Sous Vide with less up front equipment. I have not yet had a chance to do a comparison next to a food saver to see if spices permeate food better with a food saver, but that's an experiment I have planned.
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