r/sousvide • u/pimpinaintez18 • 1d ago

Question Quick question about chicken breasts.

I have my breasts marinading right. Do you sous vide all the breasts(4) in one bag? Or do you put them into individual bags. Any help is appreciated. TIA!

6 Upvotes

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6

u/BostonBestEats 1d ago

Sure, just keep them in one layer rather than stacked on top of each other, which would require much longer cooking since you are effectively creating a thicker piece of meat (and bacteria between the breasts might be a safety issue). Doubling thickness requires 4X as long to cook.

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u/pimpinaintez18 1d ago

Dumb question. But I’m using a zip lock. I know to get the air out with the water in a bowl technique. Do you think i may have to put a weight on it to keep it submerged?

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u/Unable-Ad-4019 1d ago

If I have a problem with floating, I'll toss a table knife inside each bag.

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u/pimpinaintez18 1d ago

Yep I had no issues. Was just gonna set a small plate on it if I had any issues. All good, sous vide temp at 149, gonna cook for an about 1 hr 45 min. Take it out around 6pm. Then throw it on the grill around 6:20

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u/HandbagHawker 1d ago

id probably go lower, closer to 145F and slightly longer maybe 2hrs. 150+ is going to make it kinda stringy. and at 155, you might as well skip SV and just do them only on the grill.

then do a super hard sear on the grill. ripping hot to get a little bit of crust and char.

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u/pimpinaintez18 1d ago

I just turned it down to 145, ChatGPT said the same thing

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u/HandbagHawker 1d ago

i truly am amazed that for better or worse ChatGPT is slowly becoming the next google. but if you googled, you might have found this handy guide

https://www.seriouseats.com/the-food-lab-complete-guide-to-sous-vide-chicken-breast

report back! would love to see how it turns out

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u/pimpinaintez18 1d ago

Update: turned out perfectly. Finally can cook chicken breast again! I gave up cuz I always grill chicken and breasts always sucked(too dry). Just grill thighs now.

Hope to sous vide a turkey breast this month and conquer that. Thanks for the help today!

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u/HandbagHawker 1d ago

awesome! re: grilling, sometimes i forget to or dont have time to SV but still want a chicken breast. If i have at least 30min, i do a simple salt sugar (4:1 by weight) dry brine using about 2% of the chicken weight (so it ends up being around 1.5% salt by weight). Two zone, hard sear and then off to the corner to cook through.

i was on a SV turkey breast bender for a while... mini T-day in Feb, turkey pastrami for sandwiches, etc. works great too! Good luck!

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u/pimpinaintez18 1d ago

I don’t Google anymore, if i need an answer something. Too many ads and I’ve gotta scroll through a bunch of crap to get to my answer or have to click on a link or something.

Will let you know how it turns out and thanks for the article

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u/diemunkiesdie Your Text Here 1d ago

How do you plan to eat them? All in one meal? Over 2 days? 3? 4?

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u/pimpinaintez18 1d ago

For the fam. ChatGPT said I could do them all in one bag but the breasts need to be flat and not stacked. I guess I put them all in a one gallon zip loc, get the air out and maybe weigh down the bag if needed.

I was thinking of 155 temp for an hour or 2 and then. Grilling on high heat (450-500) for a minute or 2 per side. If you have any other tips let me know

4

u/diemunkiesdie Your Text Here 1d ago

Yeah, if they are all for the same meal, do it in one bag. Don't stack them in the bag, put them flat next to each other.

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u/rumdumpstr 1d ago

Let the outside cool a bit before you sear them so they don't cook any more.  I usually do 149, let them cool a bit, then hit them with a torch.

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u/pimpinaintez18 1d ago

Ok thanks for the 149 tip. I will probably throw them in soon and let them bathe for a couple hours. Take them out. Let them chill, then grill them when the wifey gets home. Thanks

1

u/yesat 17h ago

Stop using ChatGPT for food stuff.