What is this cut of meat? How did you cook it? How did you sear it? So many questions 😉
Rach_CrackYourBible
First time cooking a chuck roast sous vide. I watched a bunch of YouTube videos which is why I did what I did.
Per some YouTube channel, I salted my chuck roast and let it sit uncovered in the fridge for about 5 hours prior to sous vide. I then scraped off the salt prior to putting it in a Food Saver vacuum bag in my Anova on 132°F for 24 hours.
Per another YouTuber, to keep the meat from overcooking during the sear, I placed the bag in an ice bath for about 5 minutes prior to sear.
It took a lot of time to get a decent-ish sear on the meat. I do not have a giant torch like Guga Foods and putting it on the grill was not an option due to very bad air quality outside due to nearby wildfires.
Not only was the meat SO salty and I feel like most of the meat was overcooked past rare / medium rare during the sear despite the ice bath. The cold fat turned white and looks so unappetizing.
👉 What can I do differently when doing sous vide on chuck so that it’s tender, rare / medium rare with a good sear and rendered fat.
👉 Also, I am struggling to identify the grain on a cooked chuck to cut it against the grain. Any tips for identifying it post sous vide?
TIA
stoneman9284
Don’t ice bath? Could run the SV a little higher and/or longer to render it better too.
12thManStandUp
131* not warm enough. I’m not a die hard 137’r, but with ribeyes I’d do 135-137* depending on how I feel. That explains why your fat isn’t enjoyable/rendered/tender.
Kind of feels like you’re doing too much with the ice bath too. It’s not going to continue cooking when you take it out because it wasn’t exposed to heat higher than the water it was in. Take it out, let it sit for like 5-10 minutes, pat it dry, and get it in a ripping hot pan whenever you feel like it.
fuelfrog
Sorry to hear that your cook didn’t turn out how you thought it would.
I believe that for a sirloin the ideal temperature to render the fat would be closer to 135-140F. Also, would suggest using a cast iron vs metallic pan (thermodynamics of cast iron allow for the vessel to retain a high heat point when introduced to the meat).
Did you pat the steak down dry before removing? This is a must.
What temp was the pan at when you put it on? I typical heat my cast iron on a 40,000 BTU (I’m probably only utilizing 20k) stove for at least 5 minutes.
And IMO, it does look like you could’ve seared longer and harder with a different pan
prior2two
Ice bath is so dumb. It just adds a needless step, and at worst gives you what OP has posted.
15 before you’re ready to sear it, jusy take the meat out of the bag, rest it on a room temp cutting board, pat it dry, and let it sit while pan heats up.
The 10 min sitting on a cold cutting board will do more than enough to cool the surface layer to help prevent over cooking.
Rnin0913
I would do 137° for 36hrs. Also I normally put it in the fridge for 15 minutes to dry out the meat and cool the exterior. I sear no more than a minute per side. I would recommend a big cast iron pan because it has great heat retention. Make sure you pat the exterior very dry before you sear. I also wouldn’t add salt until right before you sear
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ShatterSide
I just want to say that the first photo is cool. It looks like a photo from an old 1970s cookbook or something. Not sure if it’s the lighting, composition or what.
Sorry about the meat tho.
sillyshoestring
I only ice bath if I’m not searing and serving it right away. It helps the meat come down to a safe storing temperature right away and then I can toss it in the fridge.
Otherwise, I take it out of the bag, pat it dry, pop it in the fridge for about 10 min to get the outside extra dry and then sear.
iguacu
137 to render fatty cuts (but not other cuts). If I could pin this to the top of the sub I would in a heartbeat.
WALLY_5000
I only do an ice bath for a minute or two if I want a really hard sear without waiting for it to rest. For a quick sear, I’ll just dry it off and go straight into the pan.
If you’re cooking fatty cuts in the low 130’s the fat won’t render very well, if at all. I’d trim it off or go higher temp. Lower temps are better for leaner cuts.
SSGSS_Megan
I prefer the ice bath but I don’t do it with things that are thick. Every time I don’t ice bath my steaks don’t come out right
And as others have said your temp was too low to render the fat so that was always not going to come out as good as it could have been
13 Comments
What is this cut of meat? How did you cook it? How did you sear it? So many questions 😉
First time cooking a chuck roast sous vide. I watched a bunch of YouTube videos which is why I did what I did.
Per some YouTube channel, I salted my chuck roast and let it sit uncovered in the fridge for about 5 hours prior to sous vide. I then scraped off the salt prior to putting it in a Food Saver vacuum bag in my Anova on 132°F for 24 hours.
Per another YouTuber, to keep the meat from overcooking during the sear, I placed the bag in an ice bath for about 5 minutes prior to sear.
It took a lot of time to get a decent-ish sear on the meat. I do not have a giant torch like Guga Foods and putting it on the grill was not an option due to very bad air quality outside due to nearby wildfires.
Not only was the meat SO salty and I feel like most of the meat was overcooked past rare / medium rare during the sear despite the ice bath. The cold fat turned white and looks so unappetizing.
👉 What can I do differently when doing sous vide on chuck so that it’s tender, rare / medium rare with a good sear and rendered fat.
👉 Also, I am struggling to identify the grain on a cooked chuck to cut it against the grain. Any tips for identifying it post sous vide?
TIA
Don’t ice bath? Could run the SV a little higher and/or longer to render it better too.
131* not warm enough. I’m not a die hard 137’r, but with ribeyes I’d do 135-137* depending on how I feel. That explains why your fat isn’t enjoyable/rendered/tender.
Kind of feels like you’re doing too much with the ice bath too. It’s not going to continue cooking when you take it out because it wasn’t exposed to heat higher than the water it was in. Take it out, let it sit for like 5-10 minutes, pat it dry, and get it in a ripping hot pan whenever you feel like it.
Sorry to hear that your cook didn’t turn out how you thought it would.
I believe that for a sirloin the ideal temperature to render the fat would be closer to 135-140F. Also, would suggest using a cast iron vs metallic pan (thermodynamics of cast iron allow for the vessel to retain a high heat point when introduced to the meat).
Did you pat the steak down dry before removing? This is a must.
What temp was the pan at when you put it on? I typical heat my cast iron on a 40,000 BTU (I’m probably only utilizing 20k) stove for at least 5 minutes.
And IMO, it does look like you could’ve seared longer and harder with a different pan
Ice bath is so dumb. It just adds a needless step, and at worst gives you what OP has posted.
15 before you’re ready to sear it, jusy take the meat out of the bag, rest it on a room temp cutting board, pat it dry, and let it sit while pan heats up.
The 10 min sitting on a cold cutting board will do more than enough to cool the surface layer to help prevent over cooking.
I would do 137° for 36hrs. Also I normally put it in the fridge for 15 minutes to dry out the meat and cool the exterior. I sear no more than a minute per side. I would recommend a big cast iron pan because it has great heat retention. Make sure you pat the exterior very dry before you sear. I also wouldn’t add salt until right before you sear
[deleted]
I just want to say that the first photo is cool. It looks like a photo from an old 1970s cookbook or something. Not sure if it’s the lighting, composition or what.
Sorry about the meat tho.
I only ice bath if I’m not searing and serving it right away. It helps the meat come down to a safe storing temperature right away and then I can toss it in the fridge.
Otherwise, I take it out of the bag, pat it dry, pop it in the fridge for about 10 min to get the outside extra dry and then sear.
137 to render fatty cuts (but not other cuts). If I could pin this to the top of the sub I would in a heartbeat.
I only do an ice bath for a minute or two if I want a really hard sear without waiting for it to rest. For a quick sear, I’ll just dry it off and go straight into the pan.
If you’re cooking fatty cuts in the low 130’s the fat won’t render very well, if at all. I’d trim it off or go higher temp. Lower temps are better for leaner cuts.
I prefer the ice bath but I don’t do it with things that are thick. Every time I don’t ice bath my steaks don’t come out right
And as others have said your temp was too low to render the fat so that was always not going to come out as good as it could have been