Sous vide chuck roast experiment

[BDAABAT]

Have heard many positive things about cooking chuckies sous vide. Decided to give it a shot this weekend. Experiment time!

Prepped chuckies by trimming excess fat/connective tissue. Cut down into steaks ~ 1.25 inches thick. Seasoned with Lawry's, black pepper and some garlic powder. Sealed, then dropped into sous vide bath at 141 degrees for a 26 hour cook.



The view immediately after taking the chuckies out of the bath and drying them off.


View after a couple minutes on a hot gasser:


View after slicing:


The verdict?

Totally OK. But, I wasn't wowed. The flavor was OK. The texture was OK. It was just...OK. Which is totally fine! This will be my primary protein for the week.

However, I believe I'll be returning to my usual practice of cooking chuckies in the smoker (directly on rack until IT of 165, then into a foil pan with beef stock, onions, garlic, +/- pepperoncini, covered with foil until IT of ~ 200).

Thanks for looking!

 

[thirdeye]

I'm sort of on the fence when it comes to the long SV times. I've done chuck roasts, corned beef briskets and spare ribs.

 

[JIMSMOKES]

Try smoking low as you can till 130-135 IT. Then SV 24-36 hours.

 

[Itsdone]

Chuck SV at 132F for 24 hours is like Prime Rib. 141F is reaching mealy texture like a juicy pot roast.

 

[ModelMaker]

"The view immediately after taking the chuckies out of the bath and drying them off."

Is we to assume that you had the meat in direct contact with the water in the tub?
Ed

 

[BDAABAT]

@ Jim and Bob: Thanks for the suggestions! Will have to try different variables before making any final determination. Experimentation will continue! But, not for a bit...I've been eating a lot of chuckie recently. :wink:

@ Ed: Ha! No, not directly in the water bath. Whenever you cook protein, some moisture comes out. When cooking sous vide, that moisture has no where to go...it stays in the bag with the protein. After you take it out, need to dry it off in order to get decent Maillard reaction when doing final searing.

Bruce

 

[Histrix]

Once you sliced them into steak thickness you took away any advantage to soaking in the hot tub for more than just a few hours as if they were a rib eye or NY strip.

When I soak a chuck roast it usually runs 36-48 hours at 132-ish. Then take it out and put it in the fridge for an hour or so before searing (if searing at all).

In any case, individual tastes and preferences will of course vary so it may take some playing around to find what (if nay of this) hits the right notes for you.

If you haven't read this I suggest you give it a go as it talks about some of the parameters and results that result from various times/temps/thickness/texture.

seriouseats.com/food-lab-complete-guide-to-sous-vide-steak

 

[BDAABAT]

Thanks for the link Histrix. I'd read a lot of different sites talking about cooking chuckies sous vide and made the choice to break mine down before soaking. Will try another experiment by leaving the next one intact. Will also cook at a lower temp.

All part of the learning process!

Bruce

 

[Negolien]

I like chuck but it's not steak material for me. Always goes in pot roast or longer cooking recipes for me

 

[cowgirl]

Definitely looks tasty!

 

[Itsdone]

That doesn't look 141F. Did you mess with filters? Looks more like 131F That said, 132F 24 hour chuck is like prime rib.

 

[BDAABAT]

@ Bob: Sorry, not sure what you mean. No filters...just took a quick image on my cell phone. You can see the above image that shows the temp readout on the circulator. Yes, it looked less done than what I would expect for cooking at 141. Donno.

Unfortunately, it didn't taste or feel like properly cooked prime rib. It was...ok. Which is why I tried another experiment!

Bruce