Boston butt sous vide strange odor

#1

So, a few weeks ago my wife bought a boston butt. We cut it in half, put one half into the sous vide and the other half just vacuum sealed and put into the freezer.

The first half we cooked came out great, nice medium rare. (131 deg for two days).

About a week later we sous vide the other half. The water had a strange odor so my wife changed it, even put it into another bag after about 30 hours. When it was done it had this odor. It didn’t really smell bad but it also had a strange taste.

I wonder if this was due to that half having the bone in it. It’s the first time I’ve sous vide something with a bone in it.

I don’t think it was bad, can’t see how that was possible. I did eat it and didn’t get sick. But, I just threw the rest out because wife and son didn’t eat and and what I ate just didn’t taste awesome like the first half.

Any ideas what this was or what happened?

#2

Could be lactobacillus: https://www.reddit.com/r/sousvide/comments/2uyapy/smell_of_abomination/

#3

Maybe, IDK. I did sear it should if it was just on the surface it should have gone away.

Hmm…

(Guardian of the bacon) #4

Bob, did you sear it before or after sous vide?

#5

Was it a fresh piece of meat, frozen for the first time? Or, was it purchased as a defrosted meat, and then you froze it again? The secondary freeze creates problems with microbes.

#6

After.

#7

I’m pretty sure it was bought thawed. But, how would I know if it had been frozen before hitting the meat fridge at the store? I assume it wasn’t. Sam’s is known for pretty good beef and pork.

#8

Yeah, it’s not a case of Sam’s pulling a trick…they are definitely a reputable grocer with good quality meats. It would be written (usually a different font, somewhere else) that the meat was previously frozen, and then sold thawed for customers to use. This is not an uncommon practice. It aids with transportation of protein. For example, a lot of the fish you see that is fresh was frozen on the boat the fishermen caught it in. If you see the letters “PF” next to the fish name, it means “previously frozen” and most likely frozen before it made it to shore. So, when buying meat, look at the package for any writing, and sometimes you will see something like “cook fresh, do not freeze” or “previously frozen”.

(Guardian of the bacon) #9

Bob, one thing I read about food safety with extended sous vide cook times. I believe 140 is the generally accepted “safe” temp for holding warm foods. When we sous vide for rare beef we are obviously below 140. The bacteria cannot penetrate beyond the meat surface because of the density of the muscle.

The trick I read was after vacuum sealing and just before placing in sous vide, drop the meat package into boiling water for I believe 2 minutes. This is just enough to kill any bacteria on the surface so they cannot colonize during the sous vide process.

#10

I follow this guys times and information mostly. http://www.amazingfoodmadeeasy.com/sous-vide-times-temperatures/beef-steaks-and-tender-cuts He says 129 and below is the danger zone.

Like I said, I don’t think it was bad or dangerous, just a bad odor which of course smell affects taste. Want to avoid it next time.

#11

Sear or flash boil beforehand to kill the lactobacilllus. And even if you don’t, the little guys aren’t harmful, just odorous.

(Larry Lustig) #12

I believe I read elsewhere about bone marrow becoming odorous if sous vided for too long. You might Google for it.