"isw" > wrote in message
]...
> In article om>,
> "Bob Terwilliger" > wrote:
>
>> George wrote:
>>
>> >>>> http://www.cookingforgeeks.com/blog/...diy-sous-vide/
>> >>>>
>> >>>> For those of you who are 'tinker' inclined.
>> >>>
>> >>> Someone should make a unit that drops into a standard cooler (Igloo,
>> >>> Coleman, etc.). One could do wonderful things with those inexpensive
>> >>> cryovaced USDA Select beef tenderloins, and other even cheaper cuts.
>> >>> We have a local store that sells those Select subprimals. I should
>> >>> suggest to them that they consider investing in a commercial sous
>> >>> vide
>> >>> cooker.
>> >>
>> >> Obviously I'm missing something here. If you take a cheap, tough
>> >> piece
>> >> of meat, and cook it to rare all the way through, won't you end up
>> >> with
>> >> a rare, cheap, tough piece of meat?
>> >>
>> > You just process the tougher cuts at a lower temp for a longer time (>
>> > 24
>> > hours). That breaks down the connective tissue and turns the collagen
>> > into
>> > gelatin similar to braising only much better. So you could get the
>> > great
>> > beefy taste of say chuck and have it tender but not almost flavorless
>> > like
>> > a filet.
>>
>> There are plenty of tough cuts which don't *have* the connective tissue
>> you
>> mention. Cooking them for a long period of time just makes them dry,
>> since
>> the proteins contract and drive the water out.
>
> Not if you keep the temperature low enough (and sous-vide does). If
> proteins don't contract at 131 F in one minute (as, say, when you pull
> that rare steak from the pan), then they won't contract after 24 hours
> at that same temperature -- the denaturing of proteins is temperature
> dependent, but not time dependent. But the collagen (or some of it)
> *will* break down. Give it a try.
>
> Isaac
>
>
We did something like this with eye of round. There was an article in Cooks
Illustrated some time ago about this. It isn't sous vide, since the meat is
not under vacuum and submerged. The eye of round goes into a very low temp
oven. You put the eye of round in a 225F oven, and roast very slowly to
115F. Then you turn off the oven and let it sit for about an hour, or until
the internal temp. reaches 132F. It was excellent, pink
end to end and very tasty. Sliced thin it wasn't dry at all. You sear the
meat on very high heat, either before or after the roasting. I don't think
a meat like chuck would work.

Kent