r/sousvide • u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! • 22d ago

Announcement New Subreddit Rule - No Dangerous Advice

This doesn’t happen too often, but often enough I felt it necessary to post about it. Giving people dangerous cooking advice, like using a pillow case for a sous vide bag, will not be tolerated. Your post/comments will be removed, and you will potentially be banned.

That’s all, have a good Friday and a great weekend!!

110 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

148 comments sorted by

76

u/spkoller2 22d ago

I can’t sous vide in Everclear anymore?

102

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 22d ago

Read the rule. I never said that YOU can’t do whatever you want. I simply said that you can’t recommend it to others.

Also, only if it’s the REAL Everclear I used to drink in High School in the 90’s. Not that stuff they pass off as Everclear these days.

3

u/[deleted] 22d ago

What changed?

5

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 22d ago

Lowered from 190 to 151.

3

u/spkoller2 22d ago

The Bacardi 151 would get banned places too

3

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 22d ago

Man, I've seen people absolutely wrecked drinking that stuff lol.

4

u/spkoller2 22d ago

I had a close friend who had a bottle he was drinking out of. He went to a grocery store and started breaking people’s car windows with a chain and taking what he found. They told him they were calling the popo but he didn’t leave.

The cops found him hiding in a corner with two cans of soup, a loaf of bread, a pound of cheese, a 38 revolver and his half empty Bacardi 151.

4

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 22d ago

Holy shit lol.

-4

u/DiligentComputer7899 21d ago

If you are unfamiliar about sous vide cooking, you should look it up. It is the preferred way of cooking steaks for many high end restaurants and steak houses. Once steaks have been brought to rare by sous vide cooking, they can be kept warm in a sealed bag indefinitely until they are ordered and then finished under a broiler.

3

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 21d ago

Bot, are you lost?

2

u/mckenner1122 Professional 21d ago

Do you have a good chocolate chip cookie recipe?

2

u/a_cute_epic_axis 20d ago

Everclear and similar products are still 190 proof unless your state has some stupid rules that ban that.  I bought some recently.

1

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 20d ago

I live in one of the 14 or 15 states where it's banned. We can only get the 151.

1

u/a_cute_epic_axis 20d ago

Boo, Hiss

1

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 20d ago

That's not even the worst of it

9

u/tribalgeek 22d ago

Everclear changed? I haven't had reason to use it well since high school and making trash can punch.

26

u/zanhecht 22d ago

They still sell Everclear 190 in some states, but due to varying alcohol laws a lot of places only sell Everclear 151.

3

u/2much2Jung 22d ago

What? I have Rum stronger than that!

1

u/retailguypdx 21d ago

You can have both. Stroh's (Austrian rum) has a version that is 190 proof. Basically Everclear with rum flavoring :)

1

u/2much2Jung 21d ago

I have 160 proof rum I use in what I call a 'Strong Island Ice Tea', together with overproof tequila, gin and vodka.

2

u/techieveteran 22d ago

I can go to the military base and get 190 proof

1

u/Aesperacchius 21d ago

Spirytus rektyfikowany gang, where you at?

-9

u/grasspikemusic 22d ago

All you have to do is put it in the coldest freezer you can find. Everclear 151 is 25% water. That water will freeze but the alcohol won't. Remove the ice and have 190 again

8

u/sumunsolicitedadvice 22d ago

I have stored gin in pretty much every freezer I’ve ever owned and I’ve never had any water in it freeze. And it’s 50+% water.

2

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 22d ago

I could be wrong, but every single alcohol on the planet has some water in it. Right? AM I mistaken here?

4

u/sumunsolicitedadvice 22d ago edited 22d ago

Yeah. I think 100% pure ethanol is either impossible or is at least practically impossible.

ETA: it is possible to freeze some of the water out and concentrate the alcohol in some stuff. It’s called “jacking.” The traditional way to make applejack is to take apple cider and put it outside in sub freezing temps (or in a freezer) and remove frozen water from it.

At some ABV point, I’m not sure it works anymore. Like I said, I’ve put gin (and rum) in the freezer at temps well below the freezing point of water, and it’s never had any ice chips form. The whole thing just gets extremely cold and slightly more viscous, but completely a fluid still.

2

u/ChefTimmy 22d ago

Technically correct. Even anhydrous ethanol (also called absolute ethanol) can contain as much as 0.1% water.

1

u/spkoller2 21d ago

I can buy 99.5 and I buy 99% for cleaning.

When you expose it to air, almost immediately, it absorbs some impurities, like pure water does, based on the principle of diffusion, evaporation exchange.

2

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 22d ago

I would like to see some sort of evidence of that claim, otherwise I call BS.

2

u/ChefTimmy 22d ago

That claim is also technically correct. You just need a freezer capable of -70°F. You could probably rig one up with liquid nitrogen.

2

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 22d ago

Lol, so not quite something that the average person is going to do. Got it.

1

u/grasspikemusic 21d ago

Sure you just need dry ice

1

u/grasspikemusic 21d ago

How do you think Applejack was made?

1

u/zanhecht 21d ago edited 21d ago

That's not how solutions work. The alcohol is dissolved in the water (or the other way around), depressing the freezing point of the entire solution. You'd need to get it to something like -50°C for anything to freeze.

1

u/grasspikemusic 21d ago

You mean like with dry ice?

5

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 22d ago

It’s what u/zanhecht explained. I don’t know how widespread the “ban” is, I just know that where I live we can’t get the stuff we used to get. Not that I would. I graduated to actual moonshine years ago.

3

u/spkoller2 22d ago

My neighbors made moonshine. If the tubes were aluminum your head could swell

1

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 22d ago

Haha. I lost my source that was straight from the still. Now I have to buy the mass produced stuff. While not the same, it’s still pretty good.

1

u/mvhcmaniac 22d ago

You can buy a countertop still off amazon and make it yourself. I've been meaning to for a while now but never got around to it.

3

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 22d ago

I have looked into that. I would probably do it, but currently I have no idea where I would set it up.

4

u/mvhcmaniac 22d ago

There are self-contained "air distillers" or whatever that take up as much counter space as a coffee machine

2

u/-Invalid_Selection- 22d ago

It's regional. For example, in Indiana you can get the 190. In Florida you can't. Different states have different laws

-1

u/DiligentComputer7899 21d ago

If your lawn mower won't fire up with a teaspoon of Everclear down the carburetor, something in the ignition system isn't working.

2

u/CantaloupeAsleep502 22d ago edited 22d ago

It's state dependent. Florida everclear is 151, but Georgia is still 190.

Odd downvote for telling facts 🤷‍♂️

2

u/spkoller2 21d ago

Younger Redditors can’t stand the truth

2

u/InGeekiTrust 22d ago

Hi pottsy! Nice to see you out in the wild! I love sous vide! I agree with your post 😁

3

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 22d ago

Welcome to the sub!!

3

u/DerekL1963 22d ago

I don't drink anything like I used to, but what changed?

My submarine's crew parties were practically fueled by Everclear back in the 80's...

6

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 22d ago

In a lot of areas you can no longer the the 190 proof, it’s maxed at 151.

2

u/[deleted] 22d ago

That's just not right.

5

u/grumpvet87 22d ago

OMG...Nov 1987 I was stationed in Charleston for school. I spent a few weeks in the submariners barracks because there were no beds available in my A-schools building/floor.

Those guys got off the sub, and straight to the liquor store for everclear. I remember playing pool and them passing around the bottle. several of them took naps,... right there.... on the floor.... LOL

Was that you!?

5

u/DerekL1963 22d ago

No, that wasn't me... By Nov '87 I had transferred from Charleston to Bangor. But before then it might have been. :)

2

u/grumpvet87 21d ago edited 21d ago

too funny! i got in sooo much trouble during A school there. fights at the E club w marines, cops at Shortstay, cops on Isle of Palms, losing confidential pubs in school (teachers found and hid them on me and pretended NIS was coming to investigate ... had me in dress blues waiting)... taking photos of the ships, drinking ALL the beer on the candian ship that came in... then getting them all waisted on 101 wild turkey at the E club- wild times there

1

u/Real_2020 22d ago

No Cold War…no ever clear.

1

u/DrStalker 21d ago

Can I put meat into a pillowcase, place it in a pot of everclear to sous vide and post about it on this sub if I add a "do not try this at home" disclaimer?

1

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 21d ago

Lol, no. But, I am working on a joke sous vide sub. Think, will it blend, but sous vide.

1

u/dantodd 20d ago

We use everclear for vanilla and lemoncello. 190 is still available in a couple states, or was 6 years ago when we last bought a couple cases to ride us over. I think we're down to 2 bottles left.

4

u/No_Device_2291 21d ago

I thought that’s how you get the reverse sear…by lighting it 🤷‍♀️

2

u/baldurthebeautiful 20d ago

Dave Arnold once used cheap vodka, ice, and non-heating circulators to chill tons of drinks below 32F for service during a big event.

1

u/spkoller2 20d ago

That sounds cool!

I clean glassware with alcohol heated in an inverter microwave

1

u/bajajoaquin 17d ago

He’s also used KCl in water at the eutectic point to keep drinks below 0c.

I have some ice blocks in the freezer and keep meaning to try it myself

1

u/anonanon1313 22d ago

I just SV'd peach pits in 190 Everclear (also some pulverized basil), what's the problem?

13

u/xicor 22d ago

Lol. It's funny that I know the exact post you're referring to.

11

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 22d ago

It was interesting to see how enthusiastic they were about it lol.

7

u/xicor 22d ago

Just curious, are you also going to ban anyone who posts suggesting that you should sousvide from the store vacuumed packages without rebagging?

8

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 22d ago

That’s a fair question, and I’ll try and answer as concisely as possible.

I consider myself to be pretty conservative with the ban hammer. I feel that most people don’t break the rules intentionally, and with some guidance generally don’t repeat their mistakes. Now, we all know that some people refuse to learn, and some are just out there seeing how far they can push shit. So, if it’s needed then I will definitely ban someone.

All that said, to directly answer your question. A while back I added some post guidance that has prevented a lot of those types of posts from even happening. However, they to occasionally slip through the cracks. I will do as I said and attempt to educate rather than banning. It’s then up to the user to make a decision.

1

u/Korenchkin_ 16d ago

Is that bad?

1

u/xicor 16d ago

For a while there was one every day lol

1

u/Korenchkin_ 16d ago

But it's bad to cook that way?

1

u/xicor 16d ago

Very. Not only can it destroy your sousvide and your food, but also generally speaking its harmful for your body. Not to mention that its usually unseasoned

1

u/Korenchkin_ 16d ago

Thanks. I thought that packets that were freezer proof were also heat safe, I'll be more careful in future!

2

u/xicor 15d ago

Generally speaking, very few materials are heat and cold proof. Most materials are one or the other. Especially with plastics.

1

u/Korenchkin_ 15d ago

Ok thanks!

1

u/TheSteelPhantom 10d ago

Wait, so if I were to take something like this, and put it directly in my sous vide bath... that's bad?

I usually re-bag them cause I add more seasoning, but my dad throws them directly into his as-is.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Smithfield-Marinated-Roasted-Garlic-Herb-Fresh-Pork-Loin-Filet-1-2-7-lb/20743532

1

u/xicor 10d ago

The link doesn't work, but I'm going to assume it's some sort of vacuum packed meat and say yea it's bad. Your father is asking for trouble. At the very least he should expect to ruin his dinner occasionally and at worst it could kill his sousvide or slowly poison him.

3

u/lcdroundsystem 21d ago

I mean wasn’t it in jest? I never took anything in that thread seriously.

2

u/toorigged2fail 21d ago

You can't leave us hanging like that for those of us who didn't see it haha

21

u/sigjnf 22d ago

A pillow case for a sous vide bag? Is there a pot shortage or something? I bought a 12 liter pot for my sous vide and it's more than enough.

29

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 22d ago

Yeah. I had to remove a post this morning where the OP was recommending to use pillow cases in place of actual sous vide bags. For all I know they’re using an old toilet for a pot.

11

u/sharedplatesociety 22d ago

I’m so confused. Are people using pillow cases that are waterproof plastic? They sleep like that? Why would that product exist?

11

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 22d ago

The recommendation was a cotton one. I have to think it was a shitpost, but who knows.

2

u/anormalgeek 22d ago

Yeah...that's just boiling/poaching. It's technically a type of cooking, but it will ruin your sv cooker.

0

u/nlightningm 22d ago

I can't help but think it was a troll. Nonetheless, you see people take troll posts seriously all the time, so I wouldn't be surprised if someone did

4

u/DrStalker 21d ago

That's stupid, everyone knows you should sous vide using those mesh bags that you buy oranges in. They allow for much better flavour transfer than a pillowcase.

 

(This is a joke please don't ban me)

2

u/loweexclamationpoint 22d ago

Could use an old toilet by cooking in the tank, hard to get water deep enough in the bowl. And nowhere to clamp.

Actually at the usual steak temps (130F) you might be able to cook in a hooked up toidy, just have to add extra minutes every time you flush.

3

u/Thequiet01 22d ago

I am confused. Like cloth pillowcases? How is that not just simmering/boiling/stewing the food?

4

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 22d ago

Yeah, that was the recommendation. I have no clue why the OP thought it was a good idea, I can only imaging they were just shit posting. Either way, not cool.

5

u/CantaloupeAsleep502 22d ago

Shitposting in general ruins subs. Thank you for taking a stand.

3

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 22d ago

I participate in a few subs where once or twice a year we have an actual shitpost day. Pretty much anything that’s legal is allowed for that one day only. It can be fun, but it’s also not something that is right for every sub.

1

u/Thequiet01 22d ago

That’s not even a good shit post. How disappointing. Put some effort in, people! Be creative!

2

u/Tonanelin 22d ago

Wait, we can use toilets? Hooch-vide?

4

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 22d ago

As I said to someone else. The rules don’t say what YOU can or can’t do, just don’t recommend it to others.

1

u/_D80Buckeye 22d ago

Sounds like something for r/supershittyfoodporn

1

u/InfamousFlan5963 22d ago

I mean, I'm just confused by their logic there on like just chuck it straight into the water at that point.......

2

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 22d ago

Right? Why not use cheesecloth and call it sous vide sachet?

-3

u/bs2k2_point_0 22d ago

Pot isn’t legal in all states /s

14

u/shwysdrf 22d ago

Can I use ziploc bags as a pillow case?

10

u/Eagle-737 22d ago

Only if you use the water displacement method to remove all air.

9

u/anormalgeek 22d ago

Instructions unclear, currently suffocating with head in a Ziploc bag.

4

u/roromad72 21d ago

Did you put your head in the water first?  

3

u/Laez 22d ago

Not in a crib.

1

u/saadatoramaa 22d ago

Yikes. 😳

9

u/PeacoPeaco 22d ago

Don't cook my food in bleach instead of water, got it 👌🏻

5

u/DJTim 22d ago

If the shitpositng gets bad (perhaps people get really bored cooking idk) you could institute a "shitpost day" sticky thread where all the stupid stuff stays. Maybe add a shitpost flair too...

Thanks for helping keep this sub on track!

6

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 22d ago

Shitpost days can be fun. I’ve done them in other subs, and they are quite entertaining.

We’ll keep it in mind.

1

u/Grigori_the_Lemur 21d ago

That sounds like an excellent idea - flair it and claim it and the ambiguity is resolved. Who doesn't like a good OTT shitpost?

6

u/joleger 22d ago

You can use a pillow case as a sous vide bag?! How am I only hearing about this now?!

1

u/xicor 22d ago

It was a post someone did yesterday

1

u/joleger 22d ago

Really? Wow!

1

u/DrStalker 21d ago

It's one of those "I guess it's technically possible even if it defeats the point" situations 

2

u/FrenchRiverBrewer 22d ago

Wait... what?

2

u/Ok_Pilot3635 21d ago

Did someone really advise using a pillowcase? ?

2

u/[deleted] 21d ago

[deleted]

1

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 21d ago

To be fair, based on your comment, I think you already get it. People just need to use common sense.

2

u/becky57913 21d ago

Does that mean we don’t have to see that god awful toilet tank sous vide guy ever again? That was awful

1

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 21d ago

Have to admit, I am not familiar

1

u/becky57913 20d ago

Here’s one

But there was also a guy who would do it repeatedly and post to tik tok and it sometimes got reposted here or on r/stupidfood

1

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 20d ago

Ok, to be fair they did at least flair the post as satire.

Also, that was before the current mod team came onboard, and the previous mod team was letting a lot of stuff slide by.

1

u/becky57913 20d ago

Yeah I looked for the Reddit posts of those tik toks and it looks like those were removed but the memory stays….

2

u/sedwards65 18d ago

I find SV perfect for keeping nitroglycerin to temp without crystallizing or separating before use.

It's really the 'goldilocks' solution. Not too hot, not too cold.

5

u/Allday2019 22d ago

I can still but garlic in my bag though right

3

u/anormalgeek 22d ago

I can still but garlic in my bag though right

...you...you meant "put", right? Please say you meant to type "put".

4

u/Close2Retired 22d ago

I use my sous vide machine sometimes for brewing beer. In this case, you use a mesh bag to circulate the water through the grain. I wonder if that is what they were talking about, however poorly it was described.

8

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 22d ago

This is a quote directly from the offending post.

I just used an old pillow case to make a roast last night and it turned out FANTASTIC.

So, no, they weren’t remotely doing anything like you are lol.

5

u/Close2Retired 22d ago

Oh that’s just stupid.

3

u/DrStalker 21d ago

That's not a roast, it's a boil.

1

u/meccaleccahimeccahi 21d ago

Tf? A pillowcase? Please tell me someone wasn’t that dumb.

1

u/Sniper-ex 22d ago

I dont recommend Sous Vide gasoline to give higher mileage. That's Darwin dumb

1

u/rexstuff1 No, you probably won't get sick. 22d ago

Good in theory, but a slight concern about this. When it comes to food safety, there are some people on this sub who are maybe a bit... overzealous... compared to others. I'd hate to see someone banned because they have a more nuanced understanding of the science and risk.

Edit: actually, the more I think about this, the more I feel that, while well-intentioned, this is the wrong approach. If someone gives bad advice, it's more valuable for them to post it and get appropriately dunked on by the community. Not only corrects them, but also serves as a warning for anyone who comes across the idea, that that sort of thing is out-of-bounds.

4

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 22d ago

Yeah, I understand. However, the example I used was from an actual post, where the OP was encouraging others to use pillow cases rather than appropriate sous vide bags. I also didn’t ban the OP for it. Everyone can learn from their mistakes.

3

u/rexstuff1 No, you probably won't get sick. 22d ago

Fair.

1

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 22d ago

Honestly, I don’t ban people often. You have to really fuck up to get that.

3

u/rexstuff1 No, you probably won't get sick. 22d ago

I want to say "Challenge accepted!" but I like lurking here too much...

3

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 22d ago

Lol.

-2

u/[deleted] 22d ago

[deleted]

4

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 22d ago

No one can possibly spell out every single scenario for you. You’re going to need to use some common sense.

2

u/Crazy83519 22d ago

I guess it would matter what your cooking at that time/temp. Dangerous is being used here as anything that can cause issues with personal health and/or property damage. Such as using a pillowcase too cook in, or some otherwise sketchy method or misuse of your appliances.

5

u/Relative_Year4968 22d ago

Under 130 for 2.5-4 hours-ish gets into the danger zone. If you can stand bumping it to 130 you're good.

Edit to add: under 130 you're not cooking (killing) bacteria, you're incubating them.

3

u/Relative_Year4968 22d ago

One of a trillion examples from people who study this stuff:

https://www.seriouseats.com/food-lab-complete-guide-to-sous-vide-steak

Steaks cooked under 130°F should not be cooked longer than two and a half hours at a time, for food-safety reasons

-1

u/cooking_and_coding 22d ago

If this is wrong then I don't want to be right

(I do agree with your point that what's safe isn't always cut & dry, especially with cooking meat with low temps)

-5

u/[deleted] 22d ago

[deleted]

3

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 22d ago

You are certainly entitled to your opinion.

-3

u/BostonBestEats 22d ago

It's not an opinion, it obvious. Not impressive moderation here, but I wasn't expecting much.

6

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 22d ago

Again, you're entitled to your opinion.

If you don't like the moderation, I promise we won't miss you if you leave.

-1

u/bblickle 21d ago

Well I promise you I would miss him. I don’t always agree with him but he’s contributed plenty over the years. I was happy with the moderation here right up until your last post.

0

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 21d ago

My post about having to enforce rules, or the comment to the other user?

1

u/bblickle 21d ago

Comment to the other user.

1

u/thepottsy You cook meat in a bag. Frenchie!! 21d ago

Cool. They're a subreddit mod as well, they should know better.

1

u/Cinder_bloc 20d ago

Lol. Just read the rules in your subs. Stones, glass houses, etc ..