Why Ziploc bags are perfectly safe for sous vide cooking (2024)

FAQs

Why Ziploc bags are perfectly safe for sous vide cooking? ›

Look for bags made from high-density or low-density polyethylene and/or polypropylene. They can't be boiled, but are food safe (and won't melt) up to about 195F. (You wouldn't sous vide at that high a temperature anyway.) Ziplock and Glad brand bags are made from polyethylene plastic, and are free of BPAs and dioxins.

Cooking food sous vide is a great way to get perfectly cooked meals every single time. If you ever run out of vacuum sealer bags for your sous vide machine, always know you can rely on a good old Ziploc bag. Ziploc Bags are safe for sous vide use.

Ziploc^® brand bags made with polyethylene are a great choice for food storage, but should not be used for sous vide cooking (boiling in water) as the softening point is 230°F and boiling point for water is 212°F. Are Ziploc^® brand bags, Ziploc^® paper bags and Ziploc Endurables^® recyclable?

For all their advantages, Ziploc Bags also create a number of problems for the environment. Many Ziploc Bags end up in the ocean, where they decompose very slowly, breaking into tiny pieces known as microplastics, which can enter the marine food chain and become incredibly damaging to sea life.

With sous vide cooking, it's absolutely vital that your bags stay submerged and that trapped air bubbles are pushed to the top of the bag and away from the food. This is the only way to guarantee that your food is heating properly, which is important for both food safety and quality.

To prevent cold spots on the food, make sure the bag isn't touching the sous vide machine or cooking vessel. If cooking with multiple bags, make sure they aren't pressing up against each other.

The biggest concern with using plastic bags is that when they're heated to certain temps, they may leach harmful chemicals like Bisphenol-A (BPA).

Submerge Ziploc Endurables^® Large Pouch in water, then use clips to secure top edges to rim of pot, completely covering the ingredients in the Pouch with water. Set sous vide immersion circulator to 130°F for medium-rare steak or 135°F for medium. Cook 2 to 3 hours. Remove Pouch from water using tongs.

Resealable Bags

Resealable, zipper-locking bags are a convenient and popular method of containment for sous vide cooking. Brands like Glad and Ziplock offer cost-effective, BPA-free options that are easy to find in most supermarkets or on Amazon.

You can use glass jars to sous vide anything from beans to pickles, custards, grains, cakes, infused co*cktails and even cold brew coffee? It's endlessly recyclable, meaning you can use it again, and again . . . and again!

Do Ziploc bags leach chemicals into food? ›

Moderation Is Key. Lonky said adding boiling water to a Ziplock could leach “very small amounts” of these chemicals into food. These compounds could accumulate in human tissue over time. So while FBC may not be dangerous if done sparingly, he warns against making a regular habit of it.

And it's not just wildlife that Ziploc and other plastic storage bags are affecting. Those little baggies are full of BPA, a toxic chemical that seeps into your food and your body.

Plastic bags start out as fossil fuels and end up as deadly waste in landfills and the ocean. Birds often mistake shredded plastic bags for food, filling their stomachs with toxic debris. For hungry sea turtles, it's nearly impossible to distinguish between jellyfish and floating plastic shopping bags.

Look for bags made from high-density or low-density polyethylene and/or polypropylene. They can't be boiled, but are food safe (and won't melt) up to about 195F. (You wouldn't sous vide at that high a temperature anyway.) Ziplock and Glad brand bags are made from polyethylene plastic, and are free of BPAs and dioxins.

Produce that no longer looks completely fresh or already smells strange is, of course, no longer suitable for the sous vide procedure. This particularly applies to fish and meat that is cooked at relatively low temperatures.

Air pockets in sous vide bags occur when either the bag has been improperly sealed or the uneven distribution of ingredients causes a void. Roughly cut or whole vegetables with irregular shapes or meats with stiff corners (from bone or fat) can trap air within the bag.

“Even when heated slightly, there is very little leaching, if any, of plasticizers into the contents of a ziplock bag,” Lonky told The Trek via email.

The key is that you don't want air between your food and the bag, because it won't conduct the heat from the water. So if you can't make a vacuum, the thing to do is use a zip lock and slowly submerge your bag into a pot of water, or into the sous-vide container.

Unlike other bags, FoodSaver® Bags can be simmered in water (for sous vide cooking) or microwaved (so you can reheat leftovers or pre-cooked dinners). The FoodSaver® Expandable Bag is the ultimate solution to storing extra-large foods without cutting them up first.

As long as the bag is BPA free it is safe for your sous vide cooking. Freezer bags are definitely strong enough for sous vide cooking.