Tough veal steaks after sous-vide cooking

I recently had a sous-vide problem. I bought four vacuum-packed veal steaks (including the bones), seasoned with paprika and pepper and butter, cooled them, vacuum-packed and cooked them sous-vide at 55°C for 50 minutes. Then I removed them from the bag, but about 30 minutes passed (at room temperature) until I finally seared them in a pan, at high heat for a total of 3 minutes, and rested again for 6 minutes on a covered warm plate. The result was disappointing, the meat was quite tough. The meat lost juice during sous-vide (slightly more than usually) and again during resting.

My questions are: What caused the toughness? How can I minimise juice loss during resting?

Thank you so much for your consideration.

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Chris_Young_80640

mapex: what cut of veal were these? If they were from a large, hard working muscle (even in a veal) like the leg or shoulder, then I'm not surprised they were tough. Hard working muscles have tough connective tissue in them to help provide strength. It takes a combination of time and heat to soften this tough collagen into tender gelatin. At temperatures below 65 °C / 150 °F, this process can be very slow. Indeed, for every 5 °C / 10 °F below this temperature the process takes at least twice as long. So at 55 °C I would expect it to take over 4 times longer to make the steaks tender compared to cooking them at 65 °C. But if you're patient, this temperature will also cause fewer juices to be lost from the steaks.

So, I would try this again, but try holding them for a 8 hours at 55 °C and see what you think.

Chris

Karl_Hugentobler_45289

Thank you for the responses! My "steaks" were actually veal rib chops (forgive my English). A tender cut I would think, no? In any case, I will definitely try longer cooking times, and also get the meat from another butcher to resolve possible quality issues.

PS: Chris, I enjoy the Modernist books immensely. Many many thanks.

Chris_Young_80640

Hmmm, veal chops. Yes, that's a bit surprising. I would try a different supplier of meat. If that cut of meat is tough, it's an indication that the slaughter of the animal was done poorly. Not only is that inhumane, but it yields bad meat.

And, thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed Modernist Cuisine.

Chris

Adam_Hosman_63149

@mapex Have you tried again since?
I would add that if the steaks weren't quite thick, a 90s/side post-sear can possibly be enough to substantially overcook the inside. I find 20s/side in 250℃ oil to be more than enough, provided there was a similar pre-sear. Note: paprika and pepper would probably scorch during this sear.

Gerry_925983

Hi Chris, I've searched and searched to find a recipe for a VEAL (as opposed to beef) CHUCK STEAK (as opposed to roast, which is a thicker piece) and your answer here came the closest to what I need to know. I could not find any sous vide recipe for veal chuck steak. For a beef chuck steak they say 24 h at 57C. For a veal chuck steak would you say 8 hours as above? Please advise. Thanks! Gerry