I have been wary of the consumption of microplastics and have written on the topic here. I went somewhat overboard when I first looked into the harms of microplastics and wrote a second post. There is little doubt that microplastics, which form with the degradation of plastic products, can harm the environment. There is some evidence of risk to human health, but not as much evidence as I had initially thought. In animal studies and a few human studies, accumulation of microplastics in the body may increase the risk of stroke and cancer. I am not sure how much actual risk this translates to, but microplastics are definitely worth avoiding when possible.

The good news is that when food is stored in plastic containers but not heated, the degree of microplastic shedding is low. Therefore, storing food in vacuum-sealed, high-quality, food-safe plastic bags seems to be low risk. On the other hand, heating food in a plastic container results in large amounts of ingested microplastics. I try to avoid coffee cups that contain plastic (most do) and tea bags made with plastic (again, most do), but I have no problem vacuum sealing salmon and storing it in the freezer or cheese to protect it in the refrigerator.

Sous vide, even in high-quality plastic bags designed for it, worries me. For an excellent guide to sous vide and its safety, I recommend Serious Eats. Sous vide recipes call for cooking at temperatures ranging from 125 degrees to 160 degrees or higher for one to several hours. That would be expected to release microplastics. There are few direct studies on microplastics and sous vide, but many chemicals are released into the food. This is why I worry. I have hesitated to cook sous vide with plastic until this issue is resolved.

Why do I care? Well, sous vide is a superb way of cooking. If I am going to eat red meat, I want to have the option of cooking sous vide. You can cook pork (tenderloin and chops are favorites), and it always comes out perfect. It cooks at a lower temperature, so you don’t overcook it. I prefer steak reverse-sear or grilled (if my wife or son does it), but sous vide will always result in a perfectly done steak. I have also used the technique for salmon and chicken, and it is superb.

There are a few non-plastic options, mainly with silicone bags, but the reviews are generally poor. I don’t want to waste money on a silicone system that makes sous vide safer than plastic, but makes food that is not worth eating. What is the answer? Well, my son saw someone’s post online about Silivac and told me about it, knowing my reluctance to do sous vide in plastic. Silivac uses high-grade silicone bags, designed to stand up to prolonged cooking. There is no plastic in the bags.

I reviewed the safety data on these silicone bags. They are engineered by the safest method (platinum-curing, which I hadn’t heard of) and have been rigorously tested. I confess I do not understand exactly how the silicone is made, but I have read multiple safety studies. Migration of anything into food is minimal, even at higher temperatures (100 degrees Celsius/ 212 F. I assume it is not perfect because nothing is, but it releases no plastic and negligible amounts of anything into food. The safety data is available on their website. Click here and then click on “Read Our Safety Reports.”

I am satisfied that Silivac bags are safe enough to use. Remember, nothing is totally safe. You use your grill and get smoke into the food. Smoke is known to have some risks. Everyone loves the taste of food that is browned, something called the Maillard reaction, and there are some health concerns with the process. You have to enjoy life. I will eat grilled food.

I was intrigued by the website and decided to buy a starter bundle.

This is the image of the starter bundle from the Silivac website, with two bags, the vacuum machine, and two needles to insert into the bags.

PLEASE NOTE: I had never heard of Silivac until my son told me about them. He has no relationship at all with the company. I have received no money or any inducements to write this review. I bought the starter pack and an extra bag with my own money, receiving a 10% discount like anyone else could. I think the discount is still available.

I used the Silivac machine for the first time a week ago, making pork tenderloin steaks. You take a tenderloin and pound it to about an inch thick. Then, you cut the large, flattened tenderloin into two steaks. I put both into one bag and sealed it, which is just like sealing a Ziploc bag. I then removed the air with the Silivac vacuum device, and put the bag into the water. If you are interested, I used this recipe for the steaks. I subscribe to America’s Test Kitchen (ATK) and am not paid anything by the company.

The photo below shows the bag on the left and the tenderloin steaks on the right. Please note that the salt is Morton’s Lite Salt, which has been shown to lower blood pressure. Also, because of possible cross-contamination, I put the dish towel in the washing machine.

The company is hoping to soon make larger bags, and I intend to buy one, but the steaks fit in one bag easily. The machine was simple to use, and I have a picture below.

This is my set-up, with the sealed bag in the water. The machine is an Anova. The container is Everie, though you can use a deep pot. Later in the post, I will show you how the Silivac machine works.

Below is a photo of the pork after it finished cooking. As you will see from sous vide recipes online, to make it taste better and to make it look more appealing, you dry the surfaces of the pork and sear it on the stove, grill, or broiler.

ATK uses a freezer bag in their recipe. To do so, you use a water replacement technique that helps remove all the air from the bag as you put it in the water. Of course, I don’t like to do that because of the microplastics. The Silivac bags have two seals with an air compartment in between. It is simple to remove all the air. Much easier than the Ziploc technique. Silivac bags have two seals. You seal the outer one, attach a needle to the vacuum, and insert it in a hole on the side of the bag. Turn on the machine, and when the air is all gone, close the inner seal and remove the needle. The sous vide cooking is just how you would do it with a Ziploc bag or vacuum sealer with a plastic bag.

The following week, I made pork chops. They turned out perfectly. After cooking, I dried the chops and seared them in a cast-iron skillet on the stove. Read the recipe’s instructions to avoid overcooking the pork or setting off the smoke alarm.

The next images show me adding a pork chop to the Silivac bag, attaching the device via a metal needle, and the pork chop inside the vacuum-sealed bag.

Recipes come with recommended times and temperatures. I cook pork chops for 90 minutes, starting when the water reaches and holds at the temperature I want. Just like cooking in an oven or on a grill, the length of time and temperature you cook at will affect how done the meat is, but it is difficult to overcook meat using sous vide. Below is a photo of the meat at the end of immersion cooking. testtttt

Conclusions

• Silivac bags shed no microplastics.
• I have no concerns regarding the safety of the system, provided you follow the recommendations of a reputable cooking recipe.
• The bags are made of high-grade silicone and should last a long time.
• The system is easy to use.
• The vacuum seal was equivalent to vacuum sealing with plastic and much simpler. It is a clear step up from Ziploc bags.
• The food came out as good as I have made with any method of sous vide. There were unexpected benefits. I messed up the sealing once and simply unsealed the bag and resealed it in a matter of seconds. If you mess up with a plastic vacuum seal, you generally have to throw away the bag. The Silivac system avoids a problem with plastic vacuum sealers. They seal the bag with heat, melting the plastic. That works poorly if there is liquid at the edges of the bag. Also, when you use a vacuum sealer with plastic, it uses a higher pressure and compresses the meat more. This can force contaminated liquid into parts of the machine that are difficult to clean, causing a risk of infection. Silivac bags can seal even if they are wet, and in the small chance liquid gets into the machine, it would be simple to clean. Finally, it is easy to unseal the bag when you are finished cooking.

I am very pleased with the Silivac system and intend to use it for all my sous Vide cooking.

Can you trust online reviews? Only some of the time.

Anytime I buy something, I check the reviews. We know we can’t trust most things we read online, but can you trust online reviews? The answer is, as usual, sometimes. 

There are three types of reviews, with pros and cons for each. 

1)  Expert reviews

If one person is doing the reviews, you will see them on YouTube. They may review the best and worst products of a specific type, or they might review just one. Many of these are great, but some cannot be trusted. They may have deals with companies that supply them with free products to review and not let the reviewer post a negative review. If every reviewer did that, then all reviews everywhere would be positive. You know this happens when you buy a product that turns out to be awful, yet all the reviews are positive.

There are some great sites, in any case. My favorite reviewer for cameras is Ken Rockwell. I have followed the site for years and have not been led astray. He will tell you whether the features are worth it. He receives nothing from camera companies and says whatever he wants.

Other expert reviews are on websites devoted to the products. They can have similar problems with taking money from companies and may be unable to post negative reviews. Dpreview.com and Petapixel.com seem trustworthy. I have seen many negative reviews on their sites. 

Another problem is that some expert sites care more about one aspect of a product than you do. I care about whether the device or product works. Then I look at the price and see if it is worth it. I am thinking about changing my cell plan from Verizon. I want to know if my calls will go through if I switch to T-Mobile. I don’t need the reviewer to tell me T-Mobile is worth it. Tell me the price and whether T-Mobile is good, and I can figure it out. A high price for me might be a low one for you. It could save me 50%, but if it drops a third of my calls, forget it. Someone with less money than me might accept the call drops for the saved money.

Most camera websites will focus more on camera features that matter only to high-level photographers. 32 megapixels or 34. Eight stops of image stabilization or six. Fifteen shots in a second or 12. You may care about these details; I want a camera to take photos I can share and make 4×6 prints. My iPhone 14 is fine. The sites I mentioned above are good at knowing their audience for a given review, but some sites are not.

Another problem is that the reviewers only use the product briefly. I want to know if my iPhone case will still protect my phone in three months. Will it be completely worthless, then? This is a big problem with kitchen appliance reviews. My coffee maker may not list high on reviews, but it works after ten years.

2)  Amazon or independent store sites

Many reviews (good and bad) are fake on Amazon. As with expert reviews, the reviewer will have different priorities than I do. They may give a low review of a book because the print is small. I don’t care about that. A skillet review may be low because it is too heavy. Again, I don’t care. I may only care about the nonstick coating. Regardless of the problem with Amazon reviews, you can usually trust the consensus. I would not consider a two-star product if similar products are getting five-star reviews, and It is uncommon to get a piece of junk with a considerable percentage of five-star reviews.

Sites that sell their products directly cannot be trusted with their reviews. Some are likely on the level, but I have never seen a bad review on a travel company for any of their tours. Companies can too easily filter out bad reviews. If you can, find unpaid independent reviewers rather than trust the reviews on the store site that makes the product.

Another issue is when a reviewer on a site has an incentive to post a good review. I have had success on VRBO. I have yet to be wholly burned renting a house that had a five-star average. But the reviews may give only part of the picture. I want to be a five-star renter, so I am never refused a booking. I typically don’t review the homes that I don’t care for. I don’t want the owner of that place bad-mouthing me in their review of me. That said, if 200 renters rave about a rental house, you can bet it’s good.

3) Long-term reviews by ordinary people

This is the type of review I intend to write, and they are the best. The problem is that there aren’t that many. They are from individuals who have used a product for months or years. They will usually describe the good and bad of the product. I am using a mechanical keyboard that I bought almost a year ago. My review will have comments on its features, value, and durability. I will comment on the benefits and downsides for users like me and technology nuts. I don’t receive any money from the company, and no one can stop me from writing the truth. There are some reviews of this type, but they are harder to find. 

So, what should you do?

Read the reviews on more than one site. Don’t trust the reviews on the site of the company making the product. Don’t trust a reviewer whom the seller pays. Look at the average scores and read reviews to understand what the reviewer cares about. If the item is expensive, get some long-term reviews. If all else fails, find an expert you trust and ask them. In my case, if it’s computer-related, I ask my son and do what he says.

Is Pour Over Coffee Better Than a Keurig?

Pour over coffee is better than any fancy single-cup machine. I cannot think of anything a Keurig does better than pour over. Okay, they’re neat and shiny. Fine. I like neat and shiny things. I have an iPhone 14, and it is cool. It may not be worth $800, but it works great and is the best phone I have ever had. It does far more than the phone I grew up with and far more than a cheap phone. But the Keurig does nothing better than my inexpensive pour over. 

I remember the first time I used a Keurig. It was in Stowe, Vermont, almost twenty years ago. My wife and I discussed the convenience of it and how we thought the company would do well. Little did we know how well. I have owned a few of them since. Then why don’t I own one now? There are many reasons.

First and foremost is the cost. Whether something is worth the money depends on the user’s needs and likes. In my case, Keurig and similar machines are not worth the money. 

The least expensive Keurig machine costs about $60, and the expensive models can cost over $200. The coffee they make is okay but not superb. I am by no means a connoisseur of coffee, and maybe there are single-cup machines that make coffee that tastes better than my pour over, but I doubt it. Either way, the coffee they make costs much more.

The pods are at least $0.30 each, and most are over $0.50. Making a pour-over uses about $0.12 of coffee with average-priced beans. The filter is about two cents.

I use the Melitta pour over device I bought years ago. It has gone up in price but is $8 on Amazon as of this writing. They last a long time, maybe forever. There are fancier devices, but Melitta Bentz invented the pour over and the coffee filter, so I will stick with Melitta. I bought an electric kettle for $15; a stovetop one is less, and you can always use a kettle or pot you already have. 

You can choose any coffee you want in your pour over, with far more choices than Keurig. We have been drinking the excellent Velvet Moon Dark Roast from Cameron’s that we buy at Costco for $5.50 a pound, but you can use anything you want. Even Peet’s Major Dickason will come in cheaper than Folgers K cups.

And Keurig machines break down. That is why I have owned several. At the very least, you will feel they are obsolete in a few years (like an Apple watch). My electric kettle hasn’t broken down or become obsolete, and a stovetop kettle can last generations.

The next problem is cleaning. Try this if you use a Keurig (I occasionally use one in a hotel room if I don’t bring my Melitta). Run the machine with no pod and look at the water in the cup. It is almost always dirty. I ran the one in my office break room ten times, and it still had dreck in the cup. If there’s dreck, then you know there are germs. Drop the Melitta in the dishwasher top rack, and you’re good to go.

Some coffee experts claim a gooseneck water kettle and a Chemex for $50 plus expensive filters beat my Melitta. Maybe, but most reviews talk theoretically about flow rate and filtering quality and all that. If you judge on taste, then I only trust blind taste tests. Don’t trust someone about how a medicine supplement helps you unless you have blinded studies. And don’t trust a taste review without doing a blind taste test. 

Now for the most important reason that pour over coffee is better than Keurig, and I only discovered it recently. It takes a few minutes to make, and while watching the water and grounds mix, with the beautiful coffee filling the mug, you cannot help but relax. At my office, people tell me Keurig is faster and more convenient. But why rush? Most of the stress in my life comes when I feel rushed. With pour over, I can relax and make my coffee. Then, I relax and drink my coffee. I don’t need an expensive machine to rush my life.

So, drink better, cleaner, less expensive coffee. Buy some filters, a kettle if you need one, a single-use filter holder, and Bob’s your Uncle.