A mad experiment take 2

[Owly055]

2 years ago I set out to develop a way to preserve meat in as fresh state without refrigeration. The idea was to be able to package steaks in a food saver bag so that they could be reheated to medium rare temp and eaten months later.

The original process involved first searing the steak with a large propane torch, then immediately sealing it in foodsaver bag, then subjecting it to 130F in Sous Vide for an extended period of time to kill all living bacteria. Pasteurizing is a function of time & temp.... The lower the temp, the longer the time. At 130F temp all the way through, several hours are needed. I used chuck steak and did 48 hours. The pre-sear was to kill any spores from spore forming bacterial like botulinum that happened to be on the meat.
The steaks were left for 90 days in a dark place at 80F approx, with the idea that this is sufficient incubation time for any spoilage to be apparent.
Two of the 3 steaks I did failed........the bags inflated. The third came through with flying colors, looking, smelling, and tasting like fresh.

I considered the experiment a success, as it proved that it was possible to achieve good results. In retrospect, I should have used a different sear method, and probably a different cut of meat, as chuck tends to have deep crevasses.

Now, I am repeating the experiment, still using chuck......... but using the deep fryer to get a good kill on any spores. Needless to say, I am rooting for a 100% success rate. The end of the experiment will be a few days before Thanksgiving, and I'll report the results.

What I'd like is a "ray gun"......... that is a gamma ray gun in a chamber that will contain the radiation. This is the industrial process for sterilizing foods by irradiating Unfortunately that is completely out of reach. If I get decent but not 100% success this time, I will move to a tighter steak like top sirloin....... Personally I like chuck for it's flavor and texture.

H.W.

 

[Owly055]

I've altered my program slightly after doing some more reading on spore forming bacteria like botulinum. The CDC stuff claims that it cannot be detected by appearance or smell, etc etc.... Essentially more scare tactic than complete truth. It can produce toxins at dangerous levels before it is evident to casual observation, however this is focused mainly on canning where it will be in a jar with some headspace. The actual truth is that these microbes off gas, just as humans and other living things do......... We give off CO2 as part of our metabolic process, botulinum give off some gasses, though what they are is not easily found, nor does it really matter........ presumably not sulfurous gasses that you can smell. However as these steaks are vacuum sealed, there is NO airspace, all gasses have been removed by the vacuum sealer, so any bubbles in the package at all indicate bacterial action. This is why I choose 90 days at around 80F. It will provide an incubation period to make bacterial action obvious.
After reading more on botulinum, and how it is tested for in the lab......... using an agar smear, and a 5 day incubation period at 95F, I've decided to include 3 such incubation periods in my process. One each month of my 3 months. I'm on day 2 of the first such period, with the sous vide set at 95F, and the bags submerged...... A near perfect growth environment. This is "insurance".... Rather than relying on random warm ambient temps. Needless to say the steaks have not changed at all in appearance so far.

H.W.

 

[Miraculix]

At one Point you will get chemical reactions and degrading of for example proteins and oxidation of fatty acids, the higher the temperatures, the faster it will happen. It slowly happens all the time but the taste threshold will be reached faster with higher temperatures.

This is not dangerous but it might affect the flavour.

I really like your experiment, please keep us updated!

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Looking forward to the results. Perhaps more brave than I might be, but audentes Fortuna iuvat.

Best of luck!