How to Vacuum Seal Hamburger Patties (incl. Sous Vide)

Learn the best way to vacuum seal burgers for sous vide cooking or freezing.

We will also talk about whether it's really worth it, cooking them ahead of them, and if you can freeze them, then cook them.

Hear why we recommend sous vide cooking particularly for juicy bison and turkey burgers.

A single hamburger patty has been vacuum sealed sitting on a piece of butcher paper.

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Did you find a great deal on ground beef? Do you want to form your patties and freeze them for later use?

Or maybe you are a big fan of sous vide cooking and want to cook your burgers that way.

If either of these situations is true, then vacuum sealing is for you. We are going to show you the best way to vacuum seal your hamburger patties to freeze or to have ready for a sous vide water bath.

Jump to:

🍔 How to Seal
❓ Why Sous Vide
🏕️ Cook Ahead of Time
🥶 Freezing
➕ More Sous Vide

A gray and black Vesta vacuum sealer that is sealing up a single hamburger patty.

🍔 How to Seal

I will say that this can be a painstaking process. But your future self will thank you for it!

Each burger has to be it's own pouch for sous vide. You can't just throw all your meat together in one bag unless you want a giant meatball. If you aren't using sous vide you could put more than one burger in a bag. just put piece of wax paper in between each patty.

Whether you are using pre-cut bags or a roll in your vacuum sealer, there is a way to seal them without being wasteful. Most likely unless you have really small bags, it's going to be too wide for 1 burger without a lot of waste.

That's why you do 2 burgers!

Two vacuum sealed raw burger patties sitting on a piece of maroon colored butcher paper with words on it.

Before putting your burger in, simply create a seal right down the middle, bisecting the bag into two pouches. Then place a burger in each pouch and seal the top.

Since you are dealing with raw meat, make sure to whip down your vacuum sealer when you are done. Just a damp cloth and paper towel will do. Make sure to dry before putting away.

You can do the same thing for pork chops or pieces of chicken.

RELATED - Can You Vacuum Seal Popcorn

❓ Why Sous Vide

Sous vide burgers are the best!

What if I told you that I could cook the most juiciest burger you ever had, but it was going to take longer? Would you like to see your patience awarded?

This is what you get when you turn to the process of sous vide for cooking your burgers. If you like to eat lean burgers either, lean ground beef, turkey, or bison that you really want to try sous vide.

So you got through all this effort instead of just throwing them on the grill, so it has to be worth it. It is! Perfectly cooked, juicy burgers are the best. It's even more worth it if you are cooking lean burgers, like with turkey or bison. The leaner the meat is, the easier it it is to dry it out. Sous vide ensures they are cooked exactly right.

I made the best bison burgers that were tender and juicy by sous viding them. The same thing was true when I made turkey burgers.

Try these turkey burgers via sous vide -> Ramped Up Turkey Burgers

Two finished sous vide burgers sitting next to the water bath with sous vide machine on all top of a gray colored plastic table.

🏕️ Cook Ahead of Time

Are you planning a camping trip? Or just headed to a park for a cookout? You can sous vide the burgers ahead of time. Keep them in the package you cooked them in until it's time to eat. Then quickly toss them onto a grill or campfire just to get them some char and to warm them through. You want you some high heat as you don't want to cook the burgers for more than 1 minute per side.

You can cook them 1-3 days ahead of time. Place them in the fridge until you are ready to head out. It's a big time saver and it takes the stress of getting your burgers done perfectly.

🥶 Freezing

Maybe you got a bunch of ground meat on sale at the store. You might want to portion them out into patties and vacuum seal them for later. It's another great time saver. You can throw them in the freezer and just pull them out when you are ready to cook. Plus sealing them will help keep freezer burn at bay.

For sous vide, you don't need to even thaw them, throw them in frozen. You might want to give yourself an extra 20-30 minutes of cook time. If your burgers are thin, it won't take long for them to be defrosted in your water bath.