Container advice


 
J

John Mc.

New member
I am thinking about building a vacuum marinating contraption using a Foodsaver and a vacuum-worthy bin.

I would like the bin to be large enough to contain a whole brisket. It would need to be rigid enough to allow a vacuum to form, the lid would probably need to have a gasket, maybe latches, etc.

I can probably handle installing a gasket, and would try to use a Tilia Universal Lid and cement it to the lid of the bin.

Does anyone know where to get a bin that type and size?
 
Don't want to be a party-pooper here but I believe any box similar to these will fail. If you are successful in extracting all of the air, the pressure difference between inside and outside will be around 15 pounds per square inch. That's about 3000 lbs on the lid of the 14 by 22 inch boot box referenced. While the material might claim to be 'unbreakable' the box will likely collapse first.
 
I've also been considering a steel container ( like a steam-table insert ) with a fitting lid that I could put a hole in and run a gasket around, but it increases the expense and difficulty.

People vacuum seal canning jars, and tin cans. I wonder how the strength of a canning jar compares to the boxes I've been looking at?
 
Canning jars are vacuumed sealed by a natural vacuum which forms as they contents cool.

Why do you want a bin? What's the purpose? If you want to vac a brisket - or something similarly sized - why not just make a bag from the roll that's large enough for it? I do this all the time.
 
I think he's trying to get the marinade to work deeper, maybe injection would do the trick instead.
 
I'm talking about vacuum sealing canning jars with a food saver using the jar accessory. My guess is they handle the vacuum as well as they do because of the smaller surface area of the lid.

I would definitely like to get better penetration with marinades and rubs.

I have thought of applying rub and bagging the whole thing, but wasn't sure I could stuff a packer into an 11" roll. I should explore this more!

Tilia makes little marinating boxes that can be vacuumed, but I haven't found anything big enough for a brisket. I inject briskets now, I have lots of room for improvement, and I have this new Food Saver gadget tempting me...

I've thought a large vacuum bin might be useful for curing too.
 
It depends on the size of the brisket - the width. I have marinated them in bags before many times.

A Jaccard - or even a fork - can help. If you're competing you should avoid overdoing it lest the tears become to apparent.
 
I used a Jacard once and thought that it helped flavor penetration, but it seemed like I lost moisture faster after doing it. I didn't change anything about my process, other than adding the Jaccard. I always use HH with briskets, that time included.

It seemed awkward to combine the Jacard with injecting.
 
Yes, and you shouldn't. If you Jaccard, marinate.

Jaccarded meat does not lose more moisture. Moisture loss remains the same or decreases slightly with Jaccarded meat.
 
Well, I have the brisket in an 11" roll bag with a quart of marinade. I ran the Food Saver on the "moist" setting, and put a rolled up paper towel in the drip tray to help with the mess.

It definitely pulled a lot of air out of the bag, but it's not as hard a vacuum as when I seal other items, I am guessing the "moist" setting forms less of vacuum than "dry".

I also Jaccarded the brisket, on the non-fat side, and it's laying on that side in the bag, on a tray in the refrigerator.
 
It's one standard for commercially marinated products. Though they have more robust equipment than home cooks, marinating under a vacuum makes a rather noticeable difference, especially if the meat is prepped in such a way as to help along the process.
 
It's done and I've eaten 5 or 6 ( or 8 ) slices
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The brisket came out tender and moist, a good effort for me. I can't say it tastes better or worse than my injected briskets, but I'm happy with the result.

Next time I think I'll try driving rub into the brisket during the Jaccard step.
 
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