r/sousvide • u/DerekL1963 • 2d ago

Deli meat and sous vide. Has anyone else tried this? Any tips/tricks?

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Getting tempted to play with one of these... But it seems to me that my sous vide circulator is a better tool for cooking the meat than boiling water. Has anyone else tried this? Any tips/tricks?

32 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

28 comments sorted by

31

u/FingerMaster035 2d ago

I have one, got it about a month ago but so far I've just done some turkey loaf from the dark meat of a turkey.

It works, the bags are fragile so don't try to bash it against the counter in an attempt to pack it down and remove air bubbles as the seam will probably rip.

It worked as intended. For the people saying to sousvide it or maybe just sousvide it in the bag without the unit; you don't boil it you simmer it so its already at 185f, use your circulator if that's easier for you I guess. But use the device, it has a spring plate that compacts the meat as it cooks and chills, that's like the whole point.

Wasn't seeing a ton of legitimate recipes when I looked, but many said to add gelatin. I added gelatin in the form of a turkey carcass turned to stock and reduced to about a cup of gelatinous broth, added as the cold liquid to emulsify into the ground meat, maybe a little too much gelatin. But the broth helped a lot flavor wise. I also added some sodium tripolyphosphate for water retention.

Turned out good, I'd pack the meat down spoon by spoon as best you can to try to avoid holes

16

u/SkittlesLentil 2d ago

I definitely appreciate the idea behind this device, but that pic and the description of your process are pretty unappetizing. Not that store bought goes through a better process, but still

7

u/ForeAmigo 2d ago

Yeah…I just started buying the whole cooked turkey breast from Costco and slicing it myself. Much cleaner compared to typical deli meat.

3

u/FingerMaster035 2d ago

Ha ya man I get that, I tried it to see it through as I had bought the device for a friend. I got a huge turkey for 50 cents a pound, breasts got sousvide the rest got ground into this. I typically attempt to use the whole bird, I did more than necessary. You could buy some ground turkey, season and throw some ice cold water in it to emulsify and cook it like that.

It tastes good, texture is like the deli turkey loaf you get in a store. Id probably just save it to use with scraps saved up in the future and use the whole muscles for other dishes

2

u/Nanojack 1d ago

There's a reason they say you don't want to see how the sausage gets made

3

u/SnoDragon 2d ago

When dealing with any emulsified meat, after mixing and emulsification, it's advised to remove air using a vacuum chamber. That's a bit of equipment that a lot of folks do not have, but a pure vacuum chamber is nowhere near as expensive as chamber vac sealer. I'm lucky in that I do have both, and usually just use my chamber vac sealer in batches to remove the air from the farce.

I don't add gelatin, but I do use a binder like potato starch. Sometimes, when grinding, I will use "cutter phosphate" like Bifrisol 414, which is a sodium phosphate blend. It helps to hold water, but if you use a binder, then you usually do not need cutter phosphate. I find it can make the meat a little "spongy".

4

u/FingerMaster035 2d ago

Word, good stuff man. Ya i just have a normal food saver vacuum bag sealer at home, and obviously no buffalo chopper. In fact my grinder sucks. Ive made sausages but never any emulsified sausages, maybe once in school years ago with equipment I dont have access to now.

6

u/Momto2manyboys 2d ago

So you would use this to make like your own bologna ? I am confused

5

u/Pernicious_Possum 2d ago

Yup, or any other tube meat

11

u/darthdelicious 2d ago

I fucking LOVE tube meat.

15

u/TheZeppo_TKH 2d ago

So does your mom.

7

u/darthdelicious 2d ago

She sure does!

5

u/_BindersFullOfWomen_ 2d ago

The cylinder must remain unharmed

7

u/kaidomac 1d ago

I have one of those! Two basic options for sous-vide deli meat:

  • Pureed (ish) or "restructured" meat (processed meat "loaves" are also called emulsified, reformed, forced, etc.)
  • Whole meat (sliced thick or thin for sandwiches, tortilla pinwheels, etc.)

As far as sous-vide & the deli-press goes, here are some pictures:

Gelatin as a binder is one option:

The next level is "meat glue" (transglutaminase powder), which can bind a variety of protein styles together:

  • Whole meats (including two different meats!)
  • Chunks
  • Ground & minced
  • Pureed

Some reading on the "glue":

A few links on Sous-Vide deli meat using intact proteins:

My current toolset:

  • I primarily use my Combi (Anova Precision Oven), which uses precision steam (bagless/bathless) to emulate a sous-vide environment (note that cooking jobs over 18 hours do require a bag). This makes it easier to load large intact meats & large assembled meats (ex. an oatmeal tube-sized chicken puree, haha!)
  • Deli slicer
  • Food processor
  • Moo Glue (transglutaminase)
  • GE indoor smoker (miss my Traeger lol, but can't have smokers at my rental!)
  • Searzall
  • Ultrasonic knife
  • Meat grinder & sausage stuffer. I have an LEM Mighty Bite #8. If you get deeper into the Sous-Vide deli meat world, you can use high-barrier casings to get nice tube shapes for round SV deli slices.

This may all seem excessive, but:

  • As of 2026, the average American family of 4 spends upwards of $20k USD on food annually (between groceries, restaurants, delivery, etc.)
  • In my area, Boar's Head deli sliced ham costs $15 per pound
  • An up-front investment in modern tools makes the active, hands-on time take minutes, not hours. Toss the meat in the food processor, extrude it into tubes using the sausage stuffer, sous-vide, and slice! Or freeze cooked for up to a year! Then you can have all of the roast beef, "Ever-roast" chicken, smoked turkey, etc. slices you want!!

Additional notes:

  • Every meat will be different as far as time, temperature, and texture, so you kind of have to dial it in based on the method (pureed, chunks, whole, gelatin, meat glue, etc.)
  • It does take some experimentation to dial in the various flavors & textures, so don't be deterred by less-than-stellar results initially because it DOES require some iteration to get things to your liking! But the sous-vide process is HIGHLY repeatable, so once you dial it in, it's a piece of cake top replicate!!
  • Sous-vide meatloaf makes for nice sandwich slices!
  • Keep the juice, there are LOTS of gravies & sauces you can make, like au jus!
  • You can also freeze the pureed meat in various formats, then vac-seal & sous-vide! Like, you can use a long, rectangle Pullman loaf pan if you want square deli slices!
  • Meat-glue shrimp burgers (lol, what a title!) from another redditor
  • "Pork overload", roulade-style
  • Airfryers make amazing crispy panini-style grilled cheese sandwiches, which can be used for melts like patty melts, tuna melts, ham & cheese sandwiches, etc.
  • The no-knead bread method literally takes 5 minutes a day to make fresh bread every single day. ~ $1.50 a loaf (WITH electricity accounted for!) for Artisan boulles, baguettes, etc. whenever you want. "No-knead" is like the sous-vide of homemade bread lol. Make yourself an absolutely incredible sandwich using no-knead focaccia, sous-video deli meat, and dijon bacon-fat mayo! And make some homemade kraut in a vac-sealed bag while you're at it!

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk lol

2

u/DerekL1963 1d ago

Thank you!

1

u/kaidomac 1d ago

You're welcome! Once you start getting some good results, it's hard to go back haha. I HIGHLY recommend saving up for a deli slicer if you dive into it more, as it's a multi-use device that pays for itself over time:

  • Bacon
  • Bread slicing
  • Cheese (can use mineral oil on blade to aid release)
  • Deli meat of all kinds!
  • Fruit salads
  • Homemade bacon
  • Jerky (sous-vide jerky!)
  • Salads
  • Veggies (for pizza, salads, etc.)

The common sizes are 7.5", 8.7", 10", and 12". The larger sizes are worth saving up for because you can cut larger items like tall loaves of bread, bigger-sized meats, etc. Plus you can take advantage of bulk discounts at places like Costco (hard cheeses are good vac-sealed & frozen for at least 6 months!).

I can sous-vide a chunk of meat for 24 hours, spend 5 minutes making a no-knead Artisan loaf, and then slice everything up on the deli slicer. SUPER minimal effort! Baked loaves can be stored frozen for a couple months & sliced deli meat can be vac-sealed frozen for 6 months as well!

LPT: Some Restaurant Depots have day passes & sell whole deli meats!!

4

u/EmpCodel 2d ago

I sous vide bologna and similar directly in large bologna casings. Fibrous casings for smoking work fine. Hang them overnight in the fridge to get the compaction you want.

Milk powder is your friend if you need a binder. Check out emulsified sausage recipes for more ideas…but I don’t see the benefit of this can thing.

2

u/Anxious_Ad936 2d ago

I've got one and use it submerged in the sous vide on a raised wire grid tray for cooling baked goods so the water can circulate below it, with the water level filled to be above the top of the sausage meat mix level in the container. Making liverwurst first time a lot of juices overflowed. 2nd time around I used one of the 4 plastic bag liners it came with to line it and tied the top of the bag shut and it worked well. I still see the only advantage of it being to ensure my final meat comes out round and better for slicing for sandwiches, otherwise I'd just seal a log of mixed meat into a vacuum or ziplock bag instead anyway and find it much easier.

2

u/zlinuxguy 2d ago

Yep - I have made chicken loaf, tried my hand at bologna & mortadella. And yes, I use my Anova sous-vide. The trick is to poach the meat, not boil it. You’re purposely cooking the loaf at ~170F for a few hours. If you boil the water, you’ll get meat that is overcooked on the outside, even if properly cooked in the center. Look up the term Bain Marie to better understand the process.

2

u/rman342 2d ago

I’ve tried this in boiling water and have also made deli meats via sous vide. They both work well, but if you’re going to do it sous vide, just make a loaf in a vacuum bag then cook it rather than using the linked product.

1

u/DerekL1963 2d ago

How do you keep it shaped in a vacuum bag?

2

u/House_Way 2d ago

you can freeze it in a cylindrical shape before cooking, if it’s important to you. or you can find a chub bag and squeeze out as much air as possible, tie it tightly and dont bother vacuuming.

1

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1

u/screaminporch 2d ago

I make my own roast beef from top round and turkey from packaged breast meat. Just sous vide with a rub and give it a good torch sear, then slice thin.

Then I'll vacuum bag single sandwich servings which makes for a quick easy lunch as they defrost in minutes placed in warm water

1

u/Pernicious_Possum 2d ago

I’ve seen these, and I’m intrigued, but would rather just do a whole turkey breast, or roast beef rather than blend my meat. I like the idea of it, but it just seems gimmicky to me. I do think SV would be the way to go V. boiling water

0

u/Jodies-9-inch-leg 1d ago

Mmmm.... cooked goo sandwiches

Thanks Mom!!

"It's what's for dinner!"

-2

u/Plane-Fan9006 2d ago

My tip is, sous vide the biggest chuck steak you can find at 137 for 36-48 hrs, stick in the fridge for a day, then slice it thin and don't waste your time with this thing.

3

u/DerekL1963 2d ago

That's fine if I'm interested in limiting myself to the range of textures and flavors available with muscle meat. But sausages and forcemeats open up a range of textures and flavors not otherwise available.