On the right of the picture, you can see ribeye for 28 a pound. To the left of that, there are so many cuts of pork that I am not familiar with at all but are so much cheaper.
Does anyone have any recs for the cheaper cuts of meat (pork or beef) that lend themselves to sous vide? Recipes would be most appreciated!
Thanks.
by GravityWavesRMS
30 Comments
I’ve done pork loin and chops sous vide. I like mine medium.
If you can find it, tri tip is fuckin great
Chuck roast
I swear by this recipe for pork ribs, just made it again last weekend and it was great success. [https://www.seriouseats.com/sous-vide-pork-ribs-recipe-food-lab](https://www.seriouseats.com/sous-vide-pork-ribs-recipe-food-lab)
That said $6.99 is not a good price per pound for ribs lol. I will say, when Whole Foods has their ribeyes on sale for <$20 a lb, it’s some of the best ribeye I can easily get at a grocery store. I assume butchers may have better offerings but too far out of my way and too expensive
Buy pork shoulders. Cut your own pork steaks about 1.5″ thick. Season, bag, and cook for 18 hours at 137F. Cool before searing. Rivals a ribeye in mouth feel and depending on your seasoning can be about anything you like.
Sausages
Literally any meat!
Chuck. It presents poorly but tastes great
Girello roast (apparently the hind leg of a cow) works great at like 58 Celsius for anything between 6 to 24 hours. You basically end up with deli roast beef.
Chicken breast
Chuck steak… add some fish sauce to your sousvide bag.
Pork tenderloins are great. I usually do 2 at a time and have enough to eat for a few days.
Pork tenderloins. I sometimes make them 2-3x a month.
I dumpster dive for manager meat specials at my local store. It’s usually meat that has to be sold that day. Seasonal think corned beef after St Pats, ham after Easter, pork shoulders after summer holidays. My favorite SV meat is lamb shanks. If I see shanks discounted I’ll buy them all and SV then freeze them This recipe worked well I only did 36 hours and it was terrific
https://www.wenthere8this.com/sous-vide-lamb-shanks/
Pork shoulder, beef chuck, brisket. Cheap fatty gristly cuts like that are much better sous vide than premium steaky cuts in my opinion.
Eye of round.
Not exactly dirt cheap – but top sirloin SV’s excellent. I do 130 for 3 hours, chill in the fridge a bit then sear on a charcoal grill for 1-2 min per side. Creates a nice char and warms up the center from being in the fridge. Left overs get bagged and warmed up in the SV so you don’t ruin the medium rare finish.
Pork loin. Aside from the cap, it’s pretty lean so it’s easy to dry out with non-sous vide methods.
I cook it at 165F for 3-6 hours but others prefer lower temperatures for a more medium rare doneness. I’m old enough that I am still wary of underdone pork despite it being much safer these days.
After sous vide, I usually cut it into thick chops and pan fry for a good sear. It goes well with a gravy made from the bag jus, some onion and dijon mustard.
Pulled Pork! It is absolutely delicious, and so simple.
Get a big ol’ pork shoulder.
* Remove fat cap
* Cut it in big chunks, (or do it whole).
* Season liberally with your favourite seasoning.
* Bag and sous vide for 24hrs at 68C / 154.5F
* Reserve juices – Strain into a saucepan and reduce gently.
* Shred pork in a big bowl.
* Mix in some juices, lots of bbq sauce, salt, spices, etc. (some people add some vinegar)
Then do what you want with it! Use in Tacos, Sliders, with Rice, whatever you want!
Versatile, great value, very simple and easy. No Searing required.
Sous vide shines brighter with cheaper meat
Flank/skirt steak
Pork tenderloin is one of my favorites, but basically every cut of pork I’ve tried SV has been good
I love doing “roast” beef for deli meat in the sous vide. Buy a cheap af eye of round, season it up a bit, set the temp at around 135°F, and let it go for ~6 hours minimum, then finish with a pepper crusted sear and toss in the freezer to firm up for ~30 min before shaving thinly with a sharp knife (or deli slicer if you have it).
I like to use it for french dip. When I do that I’ll usually just make my au jus and reheat the meat by dipping it into the hot jus before putting it on my roll.
Pork tenderloin is insanely good to sous vide. Buttery texture even after a sear. Fairly cheap in England. Very easy to fuck up and over/undercook normally, but sous vide is perfect (to hide my terrible cooking skills) for this cut.
Mutton is one I want to try next. I have to order it from an online butcher and the Goan mutton curry I make is my girlfriends favourite meal, so I cook it for her birthday every year. Her birthday is the fucking 27th Dec (!) though so the mutton gets ordered with the prime rib for xmas dinner. So it’s not something i would order on its own as it’d be very pricey with delivery fees. Normally I marinate mutton overnight in spiced yogurt then slow cook it for hours, it’s such a tender, flavourful meat. But I’d love to taste a sous-vide-and-sear version. Anyone done mutton before?
Center cut rib chops is the ribeye on a pig, they’re juicy and the fat is delicious. Go for medium.
Our fave go to are those shitty think pork loins that come two to a package. Sousvide with brown sugar, dijon and preferred seasonings. They make amazing medallions, even better sliders in Hawaiian rolls.
Beef chuck roast. Any of the tougher cuts will benefit from sous vide
Pork loins
Tri tip, sirloin, whole pork tenderloin, boneless skinless chicken breast, whatever you feel like and whatever is on sale. Sirloin (not round steak) is amazing to me cause I can get an amazing deal on it and it’s such a good beefy flavor compared to expensive cuts. I’ve been meaning to try a sir Charles in the bath after seeing so many successful posts.
Pork chops were the initial thing that made me take notice.