Sous Vide Chuck Steak. Twenty-four hours of Sous Vide cooking make chuck steaks as tender as expensive steak cuts.
What's the difference between a cheap chuck steak cut for pot roast and the most tender steaks? About 24 hours of sous vide cooking. Long, slow sous vide cooking will take all the tough connective tissue in a chuck steak and melt it into tenderness.
Now, I know Sous Vide needs some extra equipment. (See the Equipment section below). But it's incredible what it does to a tough cut of beef over a long cooking time. Chuck beef roast is full of beefy flavors, like a ribeye steak. (Chuck shoulder and ribeye roast are next to each other in the cow). But, the chuck is from the hard-working shoulder muscle. Chuck is a tough cut of beef if you don't cook it low and slow to tenderize the connective tissue and melt the fat. And, usually, that means a pot roast, where the chuck is cooked well done. (Which is still good eats, but not a steak). That's where sous vide comes in. It can cook low and slow at precisely medium-rare temperature, 131°F. The long cooking breaks down the connective tissue, but the low temperature keeps the steak medium-rare. Sous vide gives us the best of both worlds, an inexpensive, tender chuck steak with perfect medium-rare doneness.
Equipment
Sous vide machine: You need a sous vide immersion circulator and a food storage container (or large pot) that can hold the steak with enough room to circulate the water.
Sous vide bag: You need food-safe plastic bags for sous vide, and you need all the air out of the bag to cook efficiently. The best way to do this is with a vacuum sealer. I use gallon vacuum seal bags. If you don't have a vacuum sealer, you can use freezer Ziploc bags for sous vide. Leave the zip-top of the bag open and slowly lower it into the water bath. The water will push all the air out of the bag as it is lowered. Zip the top of the bag right before it reaches the water level.
Grill: I use my grill to get a good sear on my sous vide steaks.
Cast-iron pan or heavy-duty skillet: Don't have a grill? A ripping hot cast iron skillet is also suitable for searing; sear the steak in a hot skillet for 1 to 2 minutes per side to give it a good crust. (A quality stainless steel pan, like an All-Clad fry pan, also works for searing. It doesn't hold as much heat as stainless steel, but it's close. And a stainless steel pan is a lot easier to maintain.)
Ingredients
- 2-inch thick chuck eye steak
- Fine sea salt
- Fresh ground black pepper
- Butter (optional)
- Fresh rosemary (optional)
- Fresh thyme (optional)
- Fresh sage (optional)
- Lemon zest (optional)
- Garlic, peeled(optional)
- Coarse sea salt (or Kosher salt, or Flaky salt, optional)
- Coarsely ground black pepper (optional)
See the recipe card for quantities.
How to Make 24-Hour Sous Vide Chuck Steak
Season the steak and seal it in a vacuum bag: Sprinkle the chuck-eye steak with ½ teaspoon of fine sea salt and 1 teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper. Put the steak in a vacuum bag, and toss in the butter, rosemary, thyme, sage, lemon zest, and garlic cloves. Seal the bag.
Sous Vide the Steak for 24 Hours: Set a sous vide bath to 131°F/55*C for medium-rare. (Use 136°F/58°C for medium, or 141°F/60.5°C for medium-well) Put the bag with the steak into the water bath and cook for 24 hours. (Try to go for at least 12 hours, or up to 48 hours).
Dry the steak: Remove the bag from the sous vide, cut it open, and remove the steak from the bag. Pat the steak dry with paper towels.
Sear the steak: Preheat a grill set as high as possible. (For my Weber Summit, I preheat the grill with all burners set to high for 15 minutes, then turn off half the burners and leave the other half on high. For my Weber Kettle, I light a full chimney of charcoal, then spread it out over ⅓ of the grate, about 3 coals deep, with no coals on the other side to concentrate the heat.) Sear the steak for 4 minutes, flipping every minute; rotate the steak 90 degrees on the second flip to get a crosshatch of grill marks. Set the steak on a cutting board and let it rest for 5 minutes.
Slice and serve: Cut the rested steak into ½-inch to 1-inch thick slices, depending on how hearty your eaters are. Sprinkle the sliced steak with the coarse salt and coarse ground pepper, then serve and enjoy.
Substitutions
Cuts of beef: My favorite chuck steak cut for this recipe is chuck eye steaks; they remind me of prime rib steaks. Other good cuts of beef chuck for this recipe are flat iron steaks, blade steaks, or a petite tender roast.
Flavor changes: I'm going with an Italian flavor here, loosely inspired by Bistecca alla Fiorentina. For a French flavor, replace the rosemary and sage with parsley. For Texas Style, skip the butter, herbs, lemon, and garlic, and rub the steak with my Tex-Mex spice rub of 3 teaspoons ancho chile powder, 1½ teaspoons fresh ground black pepper, and ¾ teaspoon garlic powder. Or, if you want simple steaks, use salt and pepper.
Sous Vide Safety for 24-Hour Cooks
For food safety reasons, a long cook like this 24-hour sous vide should never be done below 130°F/54.5°C. That temperature is high enough to pasteurize the meat, killing harmful bacteria. Unfortunately, we can't use the 24-hour method to give us a truly rare chuck steak; medium-rare is as low as we can go and still be food safe.
Tips and Tricks
Thick steak I like thick-cut steak for this recipe, 1 ½ to 2 inches thick. Try to get at least a 1-inch thick steak so it doesn't overcook in the middle during the searing step.
Au Jus Sauce I always feel like I'm wasting flavor when I throw out the juices in the Sous Vide bag after cooking. But, when I try to use them to make a pan sauce, the protein congeals and leaves ugly clumps in the sauce. That said, the sauce still tastes great with those juices. If you want to make a pan sauce, bring the liquid from the sous vide bag to a boil. Then, once the protein clumps up, pour the liquid through a fine mesh strainer - or even a coffee filter if you want a smoother sauce. Then, pour ½ cup of red wine into the pan, bring it to a boil, and add the filtered juices. Simmer until the sauce thickens a little, then take it off the heat and whisk in a tablespoon of butter.
What to serve with Sous Vide Chuck Steak
I love beef and horseradish, so I always make Horseradish Sauce to go on the steak. And I'm a steak and potatoes guy, so Quick Baked Potatoes is my usual side dish. I also like to serve steak with something green, preferably asparagus or green beans, whichever is in season.
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Sous Vide Chuck Steak Recipe (24 hours tender)
Total Time: 24 hours 5 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
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Pin RecipeDescription
Sous Vide Chuck Steak. Twenty-four hours of Sous Vide cooking make chuck steaks as tender as expensive steak cuts.
Ingredients
- 1½- to 2-inch thick chuck eye steak (or thicker), about 3 pounds
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon butter (optional)
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary (optional)
- 1 sprig fresh thyme (optional)
- 1 sprig fresh sage (optional)
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled(optional)
- 2 teaspoons coarse sea salt (or Kosher salt, or Flaky salt) for sprinkling
- 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper, for sprinkling
Instructions
Season the steak and seal it in a vacuum bag: Sprinkle the chuck-eye steak with ½ teaspoon of fine sea salt and 1 teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper. Put the steak in a vacuum bag, and toss in the butter, rosemary, thyme, sage, lemon zest, and garlic cloves. Seal the bag.
Sous Vide the Steak for 24 Hours: Set a sous vide bath to 131°F/55*C for medium-rare. (Use 136°F/58°C for medium, or 141°F/60.5°C for medium-well) Put the bag with the steak into the water bath and cook for 24 hours. (Try to go for at least 12 hours, or up to 48 hours).
Dry the steak: Remove the bag from the sous vide, cut it open, and remove the steak from the bag. Pat the steak dry with paper towels.
Sear the steak: Preheat a grill set as high as possible. (For my Weber Summit, I preheat the grill with all burners set to high for 15 minutes, then turn off half the burners and leave the other half on high. For my Weber Kettle, I light a full chimney of charcoal, then spread it out over ⅓ of the grate, about 3 coals deep, with no coals on the other side to concentrate the heat.) Sear the steak for 4 minutes, flipping every minute; rotate the steak 90 degrees on the second flip to get a crosshatch of grill marks. Set the steak on a cutting board and let it rest for 5 minutes.
Slice and serve: Cut the steak into ½-inch to 1-inch thick slices, depending on how hearty your eaters are. Sprinkle the sliced steak with the coarse salt and coarse ground pepper, then serve and enjoy.
Equipment
Buy Now →- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 24 hours
Category: Sunday Dinner
Method: Sous Vide
Cuisine: American
Keywords: Sous Vide Chuck Roast, Sous Vide Chuck Eye Roast
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My other Sous Vide Recipes
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