We used to think of chuck roast as nothing more than stew meat. That all changed when we first cooked the meat sous vide. Now that $7 roast can be transformed into a prime cut of beef.
For this recipe, we did a very basic salt and pepper rub to let the taste of the meat shine. And boy it shines. But if we want to take our chuck roast straight to Flavortown, we like to use our favorite seasoning blend, Meat Church, to kick the flavor up a notch.
Trussing the Roast
To ensure the chuck roast is aesthetically pleasing, you want to truss the chuck roast with butchers twine. Not only will trussing help maintaining a nice round shape as the roast cooks, it will also help the beef cook evenly.
To truss the roast, start by cutting about 12 inches (or more for larger roasts) of butchers twine. Next, at about two inches in from the edge, wrap the string around the roast. Tie a knot at the top and cut the string.Keep trussing the roast every two-inches until the entire roast is tied.
Packaging
An essential part of cooking sous vide is putting ingredients in an air-tight bag or container. The two most common techniques to package your ingredients are vacuum sealing and using the water displacement method.
A vacuum sealer removes all the air and seals the contents of a plastic bag through a vacuum. Ensuring the food is airtight and properly sealed prevents the bag from floating, which can result in uneven cooking. If you are in the market for a vacuum sealer, I’d recommend the Anova sealer.
The displacement method is a technique where you first place your food and marinades in a sous vide bag, submerge the bag in a container of water, and allow the pressure to force all the air out of the bag.
Both of these methods work for this recipe, so use whichever you feel more comfortable with!
Chuck Roast Time and Temperature
Through loads of experimentation, we’ve found that cooking the chuck roast at 136F for 48 hours is the perfect combo. Leaving the roast in for 48 hours breaks down the connective tissue (collagen), which results in an extremely tender meat. Also, cooking the chuck roast at a temperature of 136F is the sweet spot for that perfect edge to edge rosy color.
Just make sure you have a reliable sous vide that accurately regulates the temperature of the bath or your results may vary (check out the Anova or Joule).
Note that this time and temperature combo is for beef you can slice and serve. There is also the option to make shredded beef with chuck roast.
For other time and temperature options, check out our cooking guide here.
Can You Sous Vide Frozen Chuck Roast?
The quick answer is, absolutely! Cooking frozen foods sous vide is an ultra convenient, safe way to prepare your protein. Just take the food directly from the fridge, repackage it (unless you know the bag is sous vide safe) and let the sous vide work its magic.
Generally the only thing you’ll need to adjust is the cook time. However, since we are already cooking the beef chuck roast sous vide for 48 hours there is no need to add on any additional time.
Best Way to Sear After Sous Vide
Searing is by far the most important step in cooking sous vide. If want your food to look like it is Michelin star quality, you are going to have to get a rich sear on it. Failing to do so will make your dinner guests wonder why they let you cook again.
If you want an amazing sear, you’ve got to:
1. Pat the meat completely dry with a paper towel
2. Season generously with salt or seasoning of your choice
3. Sear at extremely high temperatures.
At this point you want to determine the best searing method. For chuck roast, we suggest pan searing, grilling or using a searing torch. The trick is getting the pan, grill or torch extremely hot, then searing for 1 to 2 minutes on each side. This results in a quick, high-quality sear without overcooking the steak.
Special Equipment
Sous Vide Machine – This one is obvious. To cook sous vide, you’re going to need a device to precisely regulate the temperature of the bath water. The two best sous vide machines in the game right now are the Anova Precision Cooker and the Breville Joule.
The main difference between the two is that with the Anova you can control the device both manually and with a mobile device, and with the Joule you can only control the device by using your mobile device. Either way, both sous vide machines are top class and you can’t go wrong with either choice.
12-quart Container – Although you can use a basic stockpot for your sous vide cooking needs, I highly recommend buying a large plastic container. They are inexpensive and spacious, so you won’t have to worry about cooking a big roast in a small pot. I recommend a 12 quart Rubbermaid container, as it is BPA free, sturdy, and large enough for just about anything you will be cooking.
Container Lid – If you are going to buy a plastic container, I highly suggest buying a compatible lid for it. When you sous vide for a long duration, the heat of the water causes evaporation. With a lid, it eliminates a majority of the evaporation so you can cook for 48 hours care-free.
Cast Iron Skillet – If you are looking to take your searing game to the next level, we recommend investing in a cast iron skillet. By using a cast iron in this recipe, you’ll achieve a deep sear on the protein. Cast irons are also extremely handy for searing just about any and all sous vide meat. Lodge offers the best quality and price, which is why it is our favorite cast iron brand.
Next Level Sous Vide –Looking to take your sous vide skills to the next level? The Next Level Sous Vide eCookbook will push your culinary boundaries with 65 delicious recipes that are equally approachable and tasty. With pro tips and a detailed explanation of the sous vide process, you will be on your way to maximize your sous vide skills.
Check out our full list of recommended gear here.
Sous Vide Chuck Roast
Ingredients
- 2-3 lb Chuck Roast
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Preparation
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Set sous vide machine to 57.5C/136F.
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Salt and pepper the chuck roast to taste. Put the roast in a freezer bag with crushed garlic, and remove the air through a vacuum sealer or the displacement method. Drop chuck roast in the bath for 48 hours.
Finishing
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Remove bag from bath. Take chuck roast out of the bag, pat dry and season with salt and pepper to taste. Heat pan on high and add oil. Sear for 1 to 2 minutes on each side.
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Slice and serve chuck roast with aus jus or your favorite sauce and enjoy!
Have you ever tried putting on a smoker for 2 hours to get a smoke ring then Sous Vide it?
i have been thinking of trying this with my green egg.
I’ve tried the smoke to sous vide method with other meats, but not a chuck roast in particular. It is awesome though. Captures the nice, smoky flavors and retains the smoke ring. I’d recommend doing smoke, sous vide then smoke again to get some bark on the outside.
Great recipe. Results are juicy, yet fork tender. Nice to have already had someone do all the trial and error to find the right combination of time and temperature, and glad the results were posted here. Atypical of most sous vide recipes as far as cooking for 48 hours. Not sure searing was even necessary, but added an extra step.
I will give it a go and let you know!
Do you need to add more water over the 48 hour sous vide cooking time for the roast? Is it safe to do while you are sleeping?
Thank you
Hi Karen, great question. If you are using a normal stock pot, you will most likely need to add more water throughout the 48 hour cook due to evaporation. It is safe to cook overnight while you are sleeping , however if the water level is too low the sous vide machine will turn off (which could ruin your cook). I recommend purchasing a 12 quart plastic container with a compatible lid. With a lid, there is minimal evaporation so you can cook for over 72 hours without having to refill the water once. Check out my gear section for the container and lid I recommend.
I have an 11 quart pressure cooker/stock pot I use, and it works well. I fill it to the very top, and then top it off every morning and evening for the next 48 hours, which usually means adding back the 2 cups or so which evaporated. I use warm water, and the cooking temperature is reestablished within 5 minutes of adding the water. Have never been been concerned about safety while sleeping or being gone for the day.
OK smoked the beef chuck roast for 2 hours. Sousvide for 48 then smoked again for 2 hours to get the bark back. It was amazing.
Thank you for letting me know, I’m glad it turned out awesome! I actually did a sous vide to smoke over the weekend with a picanha and it turned out amazing as well. I am going to do a little more experimentation then come out with a big blog post about it.
Great recipe. Crazy how good chuck roast can be after cooking sous vide.
Any thoughts on finishing the chuck roast similar to your prime rib recipe?
I think that would be amazing!
One addtl method for this. In this order:
SV/ICE CHILL/FRIDGE/SMOKE
1. Follow the posted recipe directions, but as soon as the alarm goes off, have a large bowl with ice water, and plunge that SV bag into it, and let sit in the ice bath for 15-20 minutes.
2. Once you can hold the chuck SV bag in hand for one minute and feel ZERO warmth, place in fridge for at least 24 hours.
3. Next day ( or 3 days later, doesn’t matter), take out, remove from SV bag, pat completely dry.
4. Prep smoker for low temp (about 200-225), and then put a light coat of olive oil on roast. Season with whatever smoking rub you like.
5. Place temp probe with remote reader into meat, put in the smoker, and smoke until the roast is 5 DEGREES BELOW your original SV temp.
6. Take it out, rest for about 10 minutes, slice and serve.
Awesome! Great addition, Darren. I’ll have to try this.
I do something very similar, keeping it plain with salt and pepper, but with an extremely generous coating of crushed garlic. I’ve found 131 for 20 -24 hours does the trick for me. I have gone to 136 but at that temp it seems too done for me., especially for how transformed this meat becomes. The smoker sounds intriguing.
Hi Jason! I finally gave this a try and it turned out great! A little bland but it could have been user error. I’ve been meaning to ask your take on SV with herbs vs not, as well as if I wanted to finish this chuck roast the way you did prime rib with compound butter, should i still place in oven and if so, at what temp? Or, do I finish with the sear? Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge. I first came across your page on Instagram and for the first time ever, DM’d someone asking HOW to cook something as I knew very little about SV. You responded so graciously and I still appreciate it!
Hi Lyna, always happy to help and thank you for your support! I think adding herbs to the SV bag is a great way to get some extra flavor, and I do it all the time with my cooks. The only issue is the herbs tend to stick to one specific spot on the meat and indent into it, so pour a little olive oil in the bag and this should help solve this.
You can definitely use the compound butter method with this recipe. I would follow the exact finishing techniques from the prime rib recipe (ice bath, butter compound, oven at 475F). Only thing that might differ is the oven time, depending on the size of the chuck roast. For a 2-3 lb chuck roast I’d reduce the time down to around 10 mins in the oven to make sure it doesn’t start overcooking the interior.
Hope this helps!
Question about using fresh garlic, (as opposed to garlic seasoning): I had heard fresh garlic gives a bitter flavor when sous vide-d for long cooks. Has anyone experienced this?
One question – My wife is pregnant, so I have to cook beef to 145. Would the dish be ruined if I cooked it at 145 for 48 hours?
Or should I cook it at 136, and then heat hers up in the oven afterwards for further cooking? Thank you for your help!
Hi Jake, the beef will be more on the medium side at 145, but the taste and texture of the chuck should still be there! I definitely don’t think it will ruin it, but if you don’t want to risk it the second method of reheating hers after works as well. Cheers!
Thank you for getting back to me! I always appreciate it. Cheers!
Also, I decided to do your shredded beef recipe instead, since I wasn’t sure last night when I had the meat ready. Looking forward to that!
With such long cooking times what is the guidance for cooking the 24-48 hours in soups vide then freezing for a quick thaw and sear, that way when you are craving you don’t need to Waite two days to eat😬. Also I tried a tamarind marinade with this cut and with the long cooking times it turned to mush. I an looking to do a coffee based marinade with another attempt but do not want to repeat my earlier failure. Can you lend some advise as to what can be used in long food cooking times that will not pre digest the roast?
Hi Brian, the freeze, cook, reheat method definitely is effective with tough cuts that require 24+ hours like a chuck roast. Typically marinades that are acidic will impact the quality of the meat during long cooks. It is fine to add lemon or other acidic ingredients for 1-3 hour cooks, but the meat starts turning into mush during long cooks. Since coffee is acidic I’d be cautious doing a coffee based marinade. If you have any other questions please let me know!