Sous Vide Chuck Roast Advise

[efincoop]

Hi All, I am looking for some advice on preparing a chuck roast using sous vide. I plan on delivering a meal to some family on Friday and they are traditionalists, thus no SVQ. I would like to use sous vide so the chuck roast will be nice and tender, but I need to deliver something that resembles being cooked in the oven. In other words medium well at a minimum. I pan to lop off a chunk of the roast for us which I plan to cook medium rare. Should I just forego the sous vide for the chuck roast I will be delivering, or can I finish it in the oven to their preferred doneness?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[RonB]

If ya want to sv, cook it to your, (er - their), desired doneness and then sear in a hot CI pan so it will look good.

[EdF]

That's the ticket!

[efincoop]

Thank you RonB!

[mgaretz]

Chuck roast, to be tender at rare temps, must be Sv'd for 24 hours minimum. I would cut the part you want, bag it and SV it. Then either SV theirs along with it and raise the temp for a few hours after pulling yours from the bath, or just cook their piece in the oven and not bother to SV it.

You must also slice your rare portion against the grain for best tenderness. Chuck is actually many muscles running separate directions, so when you separate yours from theirs, do it along muscle boundaries to make it easier to slice. When yours is done, sear it then separate the muscles so you can slice each one in the proper direction. A hassle but worth it as you will get meat that is as tender as prime rib but with all the flavor of chuck.

[Skip]

Here's another good thread on Sous Vide Chuckie. (There's lots more if you search a little too)

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/the-pit-mastery-program/sous-vide/448657-sous-vide-chuckie

[rickgregory]

I dunno, I'd just roast theirs traditionally. If that's what they expect and you're doing it to be nice, it seems easier on both parties.

EDIT: To me, SV shines when doing two things. First, when you want to hit a very precise temp. Second, when you want to take something like a chuck roast that usually needs to be cooked for a long time to a well-done finish in order to make it tender and cook it to a less done state (medium, medium-rare, etc) but still have it be tender. SV lets you substitute time for temp, safely. For what you want to do for yourself, it's perfect. For what they want, it feels like it's more trouble than it's worth.

[efincoop]

Thank you all for your input. mgaretz & rickgregory I think you both hit the nail on the head. I will cook their the traditional way and cook ours via sous vide. mgaretz Thank you for the tips on slicing (both before & after cooking) the roast. I'll check back in after the adventure to report how things went.

[EdF]

It'll be interesting if they decide they like yours better. ;-)