vacuum seal makes mushy meat

I place the vacuum sealed bags into water and slowly bring the water to simmering not full on boiling. When the meat is warm, serve. No need to really further cook it. It seems to do the job well.

Ditto Pags. Though I will 'occasionally' pan fry PB in a pan with butter to make it crispy, kinda like some burnt ends.

To answer more directly, my 2 Cents says no, don't undercook. Get it right, and then slowly warm.

Was the PB and brisket good before sealing and freezing? Sometimes one piece of meat won't act like it 'oughta'

I've never had that problem. My guess would be your reheating method is modify how you are reheating

I smoke my pork butt to 195. I put some of Smokin's finishing sauce and some pulled pork in freezer container and freeze, then remove the pulled pork from the freezer container and vacuum seal in bags. This process keep the juices from getting into the works of the sealer.

I remove the frozen pulled pork from the bag and reheat it on a plate covered with a microwave-safe plate cover in the microwave.

I use the defrost setting a minute at a time until the pulled pork reaches the desired temperature.

Taste and texture is just like it was when it was freshly cooked.

Pags nailed it.

Like many things in cooking ,there is often not the exact method.
Thus,Smokin' says make small adjustments,one at a time and take good notes.That is where the "experience" comes from that makes it so "easy" for these experienced cooks.

Today I reheated meatloaf I made a couple weeks ago and froze in a vacuum seal bag. It came out as good as the day we pulled it from the smoker.

I think the key is to slowly simmer the meat while it's in the vacuum sealed bag. Start out with the water at room temp and slowly heat the meat until it's ready to serve. It took about 25 minutes to warm the meatloaf this way (defrosted beforehand). I think the vacuum seal breaks down when you aggressively boil, and water seeps into the bag steaming the meat which creates the mushy condition.

Pags nailed it again

Did you let the meat cool prior to vacuum packing? I"ve never had anything I Vacuum packed turn out mushy. It's always been as good as the day I sealed it.

quote:

Originally posted by Pags:
Today I reheated meatloaf I made a couple weeks ago and froze in a vacuum seal bag. It came out as good as the day we pulled it from the smoker.

I think the key is to slowly simmer the meat while it's in the vacuum sealed bag. Start out with the water at room temp and slowly heat the meat until it's ready to serve. It took about 25 minutes to warm the meatloaf this way (defrosted beforehand). I think the vacuum seal breaks down when you aggressively boil, and water seeps into the bag steaming the meat which creates the mushy condition.

I don't boil anymore. I put the bag in a pan and put in an oven on 200°-225° and heat. If the seal breaks, you haven't lost anything, and the heat is to low to melt the bag.

quote:

Originally posted by EZ Goin:I don't boil anymore. I put the bag in a pan and put in an oven on 200°-225° and heat. If the seal breaks, you haven't lost anything, and the heat is to low to melt the bag.

Not a bad idea. I melted a bag in the bottom of a pot of water once. I uses a veg steamer now and taker easy

I went onto the internet and researched reheating cooked food from a vacuum sealed bag and found several methods that can be used along with others already mentioned. Here's a composite list including those already mentioned in this thread:

1. Simmer sealed bag of food in water slowly
2. Microwave bag of food at lower settings
3. Remove from bag and heat in oven covered with foil
4. Reheat bag of food in oven at 200-225* temperature
5. Reheat bag of food in a steamer

Any others? Please let us know what works for you.