I’m successful with sous vide cooking except for roasts like chuck, bottom, sirloin…. My roasts are all 100% grass-fed beef (grass-fed/grass-finished). Cooked at 127F for at least 48 hours. We like rare. Question 1: Can I re-cook (my already chewy cooked roast) for another 24hrs or longer at 127F or lower? Question 2: For future meals - how many days would be best to cook 100% Grass-fed beef roasts, rare - 126 - 128F ? Thank you!
I recommend reading Douglas Baldwin’s ‘Practical Guide to SV Cooking’ for the theory and principles.
Guide
I posted my guide in 2008. Many consider it the
The temperature maintained does the chemical ‘magic’. The recipe time is primarily for heat diffusion through the bulk of the piece. A thin piece might require ‘thin’ time, short time, a thick piece requires more time for the heat to diffuse to the center. Of course the devil is in the details of a recipe derived from experience.
Use recipes from experts to learn.
Thanks. Hoping for a quick answer for now. I’ve SV for 6 years. This is the only thing that hasn’t worked. I’ll cook it longer next time.
Here is a 3 pound chuck roast at 14 hours. How is yours different?
The difference is grass-fed/grass-finished vs regular grain fed beef. I can cook a regular, store purchased grain fed roast for 14 hrs and it will be delicious. 100% Grassfed beef is very different. More muscular even with the fat. ALL my 100% grassfed ribeye steaks are cooked for 48 hours at 126F and they are amazing, tri tips I cook a 3 days. I should know better saying this, to cook a tougher piece of meat (especially a 2-3lb 100% grass fed roast) twice as long.
Hope you don’t mind if I join the conversation belatedly, but I just finished with a 3lb chuck roast at 130.5 degrees for 48 hours and had high expectations. I was not rewarded with success. The result was chewy and not half as tasty as when my wife sticks one in the oven for four hours in a roasting pan.
I consulted half a dozen Anova recipes for weight, temperature and time. I seasoned the roast with a bit of salt, pepper and granulated garlic plus putting sliced garlic and an onion soup mix in the bag with the roast. Upon taking it out of the bath, I dried it and then took it outside to sear it. After that, I placed it in the oven to keep warm for the brief time everything else was ready to plate.
This was only my third attempt at sous vide The first two ( a top round steak and a chuck steak) were also disappointing. So, I understand there is a learning curve but I wasn’t expecting having to take a chemistry class. Say something consoling please.
Hi Tori, not sure if your chuck roast was grass-fed/grass-finished? That is what I usually purchase and it takes a long time to cook. I cook mine for 96 hrs @ 126 to 128F.
Your seasoning sounds great. It is disappointing to cook for the 48hrs - only to find it still tough & chewy.
My kids will cook theirs @ 144F for about 48 hrs - but I don’t know if theirs is 100% grassfed. The higher the temp, the less time to break the muscle down, but I like rare meat.
Hope you don’t give up.
Hello Bethadrine, Mine was bought at the grocery store. Didn’t think to ask about its source and feeding. I’ll check. I worked professionally as a weldor and spent years learning my trade. So, sous vide is not going to daunt me. I hope, however, at 79, I’ve enough time left to master cooking with the equipment I bought on sale at Costco. 