Not the first time this has been featured on this blog but why not blog about it again. This has to be one of the most underrated preparations of all time. I’m almost inclined to suggest it might be better than leaner tenderer cuts like loin meat. The process is long. It takes about a week to make but so does bacon. And you know how most carnivores feel about bacon, right? So this 5-7 day curing/cooking adventure will definitely yield something that might far exceed your expectations. I mean… it’s chuck meat. Cheap, tough, you have to boil this thing for hours to make it edible. The magic of sous vide never shined this bright before. Chuck roast. So simple and a powerful statement about getting misunderstood ingredients to steal the show… I mean this thing even dropped the mike.
On curing.
I know I drop the “cure” word pretty often when I write about cooking. That’s because every time I use salt on an ingredient for an extended period of time I feel it’s suitable. Actually, come to think of it.. salt starts “curing” anything the moment it touches it. We associate curing with extended periods of time. Cured meats, months, aging away… but curing doesn’t need to take months and in fact, it takes no time at all. Salt starts working on denaturing proteins the moment it comes in contact with them. You could check out my test on eggs and salt.
Ok, I will stop rambling and get to the point. Here’s what you do.
Curing/seasoning.
Get a big ziplock bag and add 1 tsp of salt, chilli powder and garlic powder per pound of meat. Now place the meat in the bad and seal. It’s ok if you have air in the baggie. It’s actually preferable this way. Shake to make sure the seasonings coat the meat well. Open a corner of the ziplock bag, push out the air from the bag and seal again. Place in the fridge for 24 hours. One 24/period per pound making sure you flip the baggie every evening/morning.
The sous vide step.
Remove the meat from the baggie and rinse with cold water. Vacuum seal and cook sous vide for 48 hours at 135F. Wish I could add more to this step but that’s pretty much it.
The sear.
I don’t know about you but I’m over setting off smoke detectors and cleaning oil spatter. I deep fry meat these days. It’s a lot quicker and cleaner. In a good and big enough heavy pan, heat up a neutral oil with a high smoking point to about 350F-375F With meat, this is more than enough. Pat the meat dry with paper towels and carefully place it in the hot oil. Make sure you don’t use more than 1/3 of the capacity of the pan with oil. It’s extremely important. Kitchen fires aren’t cool.
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9 comments
delicious meat recipe!
thank you Jeremy!!! hope you spend sometime checking out the rest of the sous vide recipes
Couple things weren’t clear to me, the sear, is that for individual slices? I know otherwise doesn’t really make sense but, I guess I don’t understand what the sear is doing, is it just to color the meat?
hi Kentz! the sear is not for individual slices. I deep-fry the whole roast to get that nice and golden crust. Browning meat gives it that wonderful flavour we’re all familiar with. Just like searing a steak.
Found this recipe a couple of days ago and decided to make it as my first sous vide dish. I was quite skeptical as I’ve never cooked anything for two whole days before. I seared it in a hot pan with some olive oil instead of deep frying it. Two words: Uh-mazing. So flavorful and tender but not falling apart. I may never cook chuck roast any other way again. Now I can’t wait to try other things in my sous vide.
Hey Diana! So glad it turned out great! Plenty of great ways to use your new sous vide. Let me know if you have any questions and thank you for leaving this beautiful comment on my blog 🙂
Not sure where you’re located Paul, but have you ever tried to sous vide a tri tip roast? I understand that cut of meat is not known outside of California. Curious to know if this recipe would work with a tri tip.
I know I’m late but I’m getting on the sous vide bandwagon. I might give this a try as my maiden voyage. You might not know the answer to this, but I invite you to speculate – if I use kosher meat, which already has salt applied as part of the kosher-making process, would I go through the same curing steps?
hey Gary! never late for the sous vide party. As far as I know, kosher meat isn’t salty. Whatever salt is added is later removed by soaking it in cool water. At least from what I’ve read. I’m definitely not at all familiar with the kosher butchering system.