I think a freezer bag is sturdier, but double the zip lock bags and that would work. A great steak like a ribeye I did for an hour or 2. Less tender cuts you go longer 6-8 hours but I never went as far as 24 hours.....yet.
It's definitely not just for steak. You can do killer/juicy chicken and pork. 165 degrees for chicken breast is the "standard" for doneness. That kills baddies/germs instantly. But - you can kill the same number of baddies/germs at a lower temp, if you hold it there for a longer time (exactly what sous vide does). So chicken breast cooked at 155 for a couple hours is perfectly safe to eat, and a lot more juicy.
It takes a boneless skinless chicken breast which is one of the hardest things to cook and not have it completely dried out and makes it something filled with juicy tenderness.
I never tried that but it could work i guess. If meat can fit in the bath you could do that with a sealed package but I prefer to season then put in the bath. Just thought of something too, you know how you buyrare roast beef at the deli for $12 a pound and 3 days later it goes bad? I had a chunk of week old marinated Sous vide then grilled cooked rare london broil in the fridge in foil, sliced it thin made a sandwich and it was perfect. It tasted better and saves a lot of money.
That is exactly how many restaurants do it for certain cuts of meat, short ribs for instance. They will sous vide them for 36,48,72 hours whatever the chef wants at the tempature they want. They then cool them down and refrigerate them. You come and order them, they pull them out of the reefer, pop them back in the sous vide at the original tempature and in a few minutes their done and waiting to be finished. You the guest gets to enjoy a meal that actually took them days to prepare.
Yup, my son worked in a restaurant in NY city and this was what they did. They also charged big bucks and the restaurant advertised sous vide technique. I think with people using smokers and sous vide unless you are willing to spend a ton of money a lot of restaurant food is way inferior to what you can do yourself.
You do not have to seal the bag, in fact as you lower the steak in the freezer bag in the water the air in the bag goes out. You need a couple extra inches of bag so you can clip it to the top of the pot or container, no water gets in. The steak in the bag is completely submerged in the water except the top. I didn't get it until I did it the first time. The steak can also b e completely sealed in the bag but I don't want the opening of the bag to be in the water sealed or not.
I have never had a bad steak or bad meal there. It may not be the super high end foo foo steak place, but it's consistently delicious.
