Every year my wife and I host a big cookout at our house. Being Jamaican-American I'm legally required to grill jerk chicken, along with other foods. The issue is that the chicken ALWAYS takes me way longer than I'm planning, even when I start early.

I got a sous vide circulator and vacuum sealer for my birthday. I usually end up grilling 30-40lbs of chicken(70% thighs, 15% wings, 15% drumsticks. But I'm now realizing incorporating sous vide may not be as simple as I was thinking. I have a plan and some questions, and I'd love getting answers from those who have more experience! My main thing is I don't want to give 40+ of our closest friends food poisoning <3

Plan:

• Divide the thighs up into vacuum packed bags with my marinade. I was thinking maybe 10 thighs(~3lbs) to a bag? I read it's just mainly important to have one layer so everything gets exposed equally.
• Sous vide each bag for 90 minutes at 165℉
• After each bag comes out of the bath, rapidly cool it in an ice water bucket, then store in the fridge
• Day of the cookout, take the chicken out throw immediately on the grill and proceed like usual Questions:

These are the things I'm unsure about.

• Does it matter how much chicken I have in the bag as long as it's one layer?
• I haven't decided what type of container I'll be using for the bath quite yet. Should I try cook everything at once? In batches? Continuously(one in one out)? I'm searching for a used large cooler currently.
• I'm planning to marinate for ~1 day, then cook in the sous vide bath. How long can I store them in the fridge after that before the cookout day?
• How long do I need to ice shock things for, I've done some research and it seems to vary widely. I've seen 10 minutes, 30 minutes, 2 hours? Help.

Is there anything I'm missing or overlooking in my plan? Thank so so much!! 🙏🏿

P.S. One of the books I've been referring to is Sous vide for the home cook by Douglas Baldwin. All the times in that book seem to be quite a bit longer than other resources I've checked. Is there a specific reason? It seems like a great resource otherwise.

Every year my wife and I host a big cookout at our house. Being Jamaican-American I'm legally required to grill jerk chicken, along with other foods. The issue is that the chicken ALWAYS takes me way longer than I'm planning, even when I start early.

I got a sous vide circulator and vacuum sealer for my birthday. I usually end up grilling 30-40lbs of chicken  (70% thighs, 15% wings, 15% drumsticks. But I'm now realizing incorporating sous vide may not be as simple as I was thinking. I have a plan and some questions, and I'd love getting answers from those who have more experience! My main thing is I don't want to give 40+ of our closest friends food poisoning <3

Plan:

• Divide the thighs up into vacuum packed bags with my marinade. I was thinking maybe 10 thighs  (~3lbs) to a bag? I read it's just mainly important to have one layer so everything gets exposed equally.
• Sous vide each bag for 90 minutes at 165℉
• After each bag comes out of the bath, rapidly cool it in an ice water bucket, then store in the fridge
• Day of the cookout, take the chicken out throw immediately on the grill and proceed like usual

Questions - These are the things I'm unsure about:

• Does it matter how much chicken I have in the bag as long as it's one layer?
• I haven't decided what type of container I'll be using for the bath quite yet. Should I try cook everything at once? In batches? Continuously  (one in one out)? I'm searching for a used large cooler currently.
• I'm planning to marinate for ~1 day, then cook in the sous vide bath. How long can I store them in the fridge after that before the cookout day?
• How long do I need to ice shock things for, I've done some research and it seems to vary widely. I've seen 10 minutes, 30 minutes, 2 hours? Help.

Is there anything I'm missing or overlooking in my plan? Thank so so much!! 🙏🏿

P.S. One of the books I've been referring to is Sous vide for the home cook by Douglas Baldwin. All the times in that book seem to be quite a bit longer than other resources I've checked. Is there a specific reason? It seems like a great resource otherwise.