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    Home » Recipes » Sous Vide » Sous Vide For Beginners » How To Vacuum Seal Food » How To Vacuum Seal Burgers For Sous Vide Cooking

    How To Vacuum Seal Burgers For Sous Vide Cooking

    Published: Aug 21, 2020 · Modified: Apr 21, 2022 by Jenna Passaro · This post may contain affiliate links.

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    vacuum sealing Sous Vide Burgers

    Learn my tricks for how to vacuum seal burgers for sous vide cooking. This guide to vacuum sealing hamburgers includes an in-depth video tutorial. It covers the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to vacuum sealing beef burgers, lamb burgers, turkey, or chicken burgers.

    vacuum sealing Sous Vide Burgers
    Vacuum sealing burgers helps them last waaaaay longer. Frozen vacuum sealed burgers can last 2-3 years.

    I turned into a sous vide meal prep pro while writing my sous vide cookbook. Recently, Chef Hubs and I challenged ourselves to grocery shop once a month at Costco and now have this whole “buy in bulk and freeze” thing down to a science. Burgers are perfect for this concept.

    So let’s vacuum seal hamburgers to sous vide them!

    See the video on how to vacuum seal burgers steaks

    Watch the vacuum sealed burger demonstration to learn from my mistakes. Scroll down the page for a step by step guide to vacuum sealing hamburger patties.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMRuQ_jTsuU&w=800&h=443]

    Tools for vacuum sealing burgers

    1. Vacuum sealing machine – in this post is the Foodsaver 4400 which I received years ago from the company for a sous vide new york strip demonstration video.
    2. Bags – either vacuum seal roll you cut to size as needed or a stash of vacuum sealer bags
    ground beef patties vacuum sealed

    Why not sous vide burgers in store packaging?

    Long story short: there might be something in the packaging you don’t want to heat up, so simply transfer store bought burgers to a vacuum seal bag to be safe.

    Learn more about why you should remove original packaging from food before sous viding it in this guide about vacuum sealing meat.

    sous vide burgers

    Above is what a burger will look like if you don’t freeze them first. The burger meat will smoosh in the vacuum-sealed bag. More on that shortly…

    How to vacuum seal burgers for sous vide cooking

    This demonstration is with fresh burgers that are briefly frozen to help form the burger shape. Did you notice by the italics: the keyword here is “briefly”. Chef hubs figured out a trick I’ll teach ya.

    Want to vac seal frozen burgers? Then stay right here.

    You can use this guide to vacuum seal frozen burgers for sous vide meal prep. You’ll need to adjust your cook time for sous vide burgers by adding an hour to the time they are in the sous vide bath.

    Ground beef patties seasoned on a plate

    Step 1. Get burgers ready. Either remove fresh premade burgers from original packaging, or form patties if making burgers from scratch.

    See how to make simple ground beef patties

    Step 2.  Season burgers before vacuum sealing them, if desired. To keep it simple, I usually add salt to the vacuum seal bag the burgers go in.

    Step 3. Move patties to a plate and freeze them, without touching each other, for 15 minutes. This is enough time to help them keep their shape when vacuum sealing, but not enough time that the burgers will freeze completely.

    demonstrating How To Vacuum Seal Burgers For Sous Vide

    Step 4. Add burgers to a vacuum sealer bag that can comfortably fit all the burgers you’re vacuum sealing.

    Make sure they aren’t touching each other in the bag.

    putting burgers in vacuum sealed bags to freeze them

    Leave about 2 inches between them if you’re vacuum sealing multiple burgers at once. Also leave a few inches of extra room at the opening of the bag so the burgers don’t get squished by the vac sealer.

    demonstrating How To Vacuum Seal Burgers with the foodsaver v4400

    Step 5. Vacuum seal burgers.

    Assuming you go with the method of freezing hamburgers before vacuum sealing them, the burgers should keep a nice disc shape. Sometimes I call this a perfect UFO shape. Still looking for a better way to describe it… but sticking with UFO for now.

    Didn’t freeze them first? Then hopefully your vacuum sealer lets you turn off vacuum sealing manually so you can stop them from turning into shrink-wrap looking burgers.

    You know what I’m talking about – burgers that look like they were vacuum sealed like the ones I messed up in this photo…

    sous vide burger

    Don’t worry about it – even ugly burgers are delicious. We smother burgers in gourmet toppings like these caramelized red onions and devoured them.

    making a sous vide burgers recipe with the home chef's sous vide cookbook and anova sous vide machine
    Two sous vide hamburgers, coming right up.

    Step 6. Freeze burgers and steaks for 2-3 years. Cook and enjoy.

    vacuum sealed lamb burger patty

    Vacuum sealing just one burger?

    If you’re vacuum sealing one burger in a vacuum sealer bag, you don’t have to worry about spacing burgers out in the bag – obviously.

    Though I do recommend cutting the bag down to size, you don’t have to…

    cutting vacuum seal bag down to size

    And I still recommend you freeze it ahead of time to help it keep the burger shape while vacuum sealing.

    Here’s a sous vide lamb burger that was vacuum sealed solo.

    vacuum sealed ground lamb burger
    This ground lamb burger patty was turned into a Greek-style burger with feta cheese and tzatziki and caramelized red onions. So yum. 

    Burger meal planning with the vacuum sealer

    We buy burgers in bulk, season, then vacuum seal ground beef patties in dinner portions. For us, that means two burgers to a bag. When our toddler is older, we’ll make him his own burger. For now, he’s just into nibbles.

    A couple years ago, I was convinced that fresh from the grocery store food was the only way to eat. I lived in the Pearl District of Portland and could walk to grocery stores within a few blocks.

    How times change when you have a baby and settle down. Now I live in the ‘burbs and making some sous vide steak from frozen or burgers on the fly is a weekly occurrence.

    A few other sous vide dinners I’ve shared lately are these sous vide pork chops, sous vide shrimp, and sous vide chicken breast. You can vacuum seal and freeze them all. Find the recipes in my other sous vide blog posts.

    Check out more on how to sous vide from frozen.

    vacuum sealing lamb burger for sous vide cooking

    What you need to vacuum seal burgers

    1. Vacuum sealer like the Foodsaver 4400
    2. A stash of vacuum sealer bags
    sous vide burger cooking with anova sous vide machine
    This is a tasty lamb burger sous vide style taking a bath…

    The Perfect Sous Vide Setup

    Everyday I’m asked, “what do you need to sous vide food?”. Here’s my answer.

    1. A sous vide machine.
      Option 1: “stick” models like the Joule, Anova, or Instant Pot Slim.
      Option 2: “multipot” models like the SousPreme or InstantPot Duo Evo Plus.
    2. Sous vide container.
      If using a sous vide “stick” model, you need something to hold the water the food cooks in, like a bucket or stockpot.
    3. Bags to cook sous vide food.
      Keep it simple and sous vide in ziplock gallon bags, or get fancy like me with a vacuum sealer setup.
    4. Nice-to-have accessories for sous vide cooking.
      – Sous vide weights to hold down food that floats.
      – Mini mason jars for desserts and sous vide egg bites.
      – Cast iron skillet to sear sous vide steaks to finish them.
    5. My sous vide cookbook with 100+ recipes.

    Try a new sous vide recipe…

    • Sous vide salmon
    • Sous vide frozen steak
    • See how long to sous vide chicken
    • Learn how to sous vide frozen chicken breast
    • Sous vide chicken wings
    • Sous vide chicken breast tenders
    • Sous vide pork chops
    sous vide burgers recipe from the home chef's sous vide cookbook and anova machine

    Have you heard of a “mayo sear” before? It’s awesome! See these sous vide hamburgers mayo seared to perfection.

    Gourmet burger recipes from Sip Bite Go to check out…

    • Smoked burgers
    • Onion smash burgers
    • Philly cheesesteak smash burgers
    • Burger sliders
    • See how to make hamburger patties step by step
    • GUIDE: how long to grill burgers
    • Sous vide burgers
    • Mayo seared sous vide burgers
    • Sous vide lamb burgers
    • Smoked bacon wrapped burgers
    • Bacon wrapped burgers
    • Cheeseburger pizza
    • See more Blackstone griddle recipes
    • See the best burger recipes…

    Meat thermometer recommendations

    Every home chef needs a reliable meat thermometer to cook food perfectly. 

    On Sip Bite Go, you’ll often see me using:

    1. Meater thermometer – a fancy wireless thermometer that connects to a phone app – gifted to me from a Traeger partnership.
    2. ThermoPro digital thermometer – which has a wire that connects the thermometer to a display box outside the oven/grill. 

    It’s like being psychic! The great thing about either of the thermometers above is that I don’t have to take the food out of the oven to know the temperature. 

    How to use ‘em… What I do is stick the digital thermometer in steak, pork, chicken, whatever… Then put the food in the oven, on the smoker, or grill.

    While the meat cooks, it reads the temperature so I know exactly what temp meat is as it’s cooking. Without having to take it out and check. It’s really difficult to overcook food when you know exactly what temp it is inside!

    There are a bunch of sous vide recipes for burgers waiting for you in The Home Chef’s Sous Vide Cookbook.

    Most recently, I remade the sous vide chicken burger recipe from the book and it was de-lish like always.

    For more delicious sous vide ideas, find me @sipbitego.

    See my latest cooks on the Sip Bite Go channel.

    More Tasty Grill + Smoker Recipes

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    • Beer can chicken on the smoker
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    • Smoked turkey breast
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    • Traeger beef ribs
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    • Grilled chicken wings
    • Grilled skirt steak
    • Flank steak marinade
    • Grilled potato wedges
    • Smoked pulled pork
    • Want more? See my lineup of easy smoker recipes

    See this Traeger Flatrock grill review.

    See my favorite smoker tools and seasonings in my Amazon Storefront.

    Meat thermometer recommendations

    Every home chef needs a reliable meat thermometer to cook food perfectly. 

    On Sip Bite Go, you’ll often see me using:

    1. Meater thermometer – a fancy wireless thermometer that connects to a phone app – gifted to me from a Traeger partnership.
    2. ThermoPro digital thermometer – which has a wire that connects the thermometer to a display box outside the oven/grill. 

    It’s like being psychic! The great thing about either of the thermometers above is that I don’t have to take the food out of the oven to know the temperature. 

    How to use ‘em… What I do is stick the digital thermometer in steak, pork, chicken, whatever… Then put the food in the oven, on the smoker, or grill.

    While the meat cooks, it reads the temperature so I know exactly what temp meat is as it’s cooking. Without having to take it out and check. It’s really difficult to overcook food when you know exactly what temp it is inside!

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    jenna passaro food blogger from Portland Oregon

    Hey, I’m Jenna Passaro.

    I develop easy recipes that can transform your kitchen into a restaurant – and you into a true home chef.

      

    Where to start?

    Learn the secrets to smoking tasty Traeger recipes and making pizza at home. And cook amazing tri tip steak dinners.

    Or, fall in love with something new to cook with your air fryer, pellet smoker, BBQ grill, sous vide cooker, and more…

    You’ll notice, I kind of geek out over new cooking trends and tools!

    Instagram me @sipbitego & chef hubs @handmodelpatrick

    My story. Growing up, I didn’t learn to cook.

    (I was actually banned from cooking for years)

    And then in my 20’s I didn’t have to cook because my job as an event planner involved a lot of travel and it was easier to eat out. At the time, I was 100% positive that restaurant food would always taste better than cooking at home, and there was nothing I could do about it.

    Until I fell in love with a chef. He would come over and cook me delicious meals right in my own kitchen. My mind was blown.

    Since then, I’ve been on a mission to figure out easy ways to make restaurant style food at home and share it here on Sip Bite Go.

    Love to eat out and travel? I can totally relate. See my guide on where to eat in Portland, OR.

    jenna passaro the home chef's sous vide cookbook

    Never in a million years did I imagine I’d ditch the 9-5 lifestyle in my late 20’s, move across the country on a whim, start a new life, start a food blog, and write a book.

    But here I am!

    See my book on Amazon: The Home Chef’s Sous Vide Cookbook.

     

       

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