Sous Vide & High-Collagen, Low-Fat Cuts

itayro77

Hi everyone,

Collagen conversion into gelatin happens either via:

1) Cooking at temperatures of 160˚F and above, applying enough heat energy to force collagen breakdown after several hours.

2) Enzymatic activity of collagenases, which happens when cooking at 125˚F-140˚F (various sources on the internet give different numbers but they're all within the ballpark of 130˚F).

When opting for lower temperatures, it takes quite a while - often 24 hours or more - until the meat tenderizes sufficiently.

The downside of such long cooks (aside from the need to plan well ahead in advance...) is moisture loss that is not compensated by larger amounts of rendered fat.

The resulting meat - in my opinion - is a bit dry and leaves something to be desired.

This can be mitigated to a degree by fixing a sauce from all the jus left in the bag, or, of course, using a fattier cut of meat to begin with.

I'm curious, however, to find out if there's a better way to handle such cuts.

Did anyone ever try adding collagenase powder to the bag? Would the presence of more enzymes hasten collagen denaturation, hence allowing for a shorter cook?

Is there something else you tried and worked out for you?

I'd be happy to hear your thoughts

Thanks!

Brandon_Byrd_40557

Unfortunately, there's not much to recommend cooking tough cuts with little fat. Top round, for example, is very lean but also isn't especially tender. That's why it's conventionally roasted until rare or medium rare and then sliced quite thin. Then it's usually served with a sauce that can compensate for any textural difficulties (or piled onto a sandwich with horseradish mayo or something). Thin slicing and saucework are the saving graces of these cuts. Exogenous enzymes just make things mushy, and that's an even bigger problem if you're going to be doing a low temp SV cook because they'll be active for such a long time.

Sous vide top round can be better (or at least much easier) than doing it conventionally, but you still have the problem that it'll either be on the tougher side if you don't cook for long enough or it will dry out or get fibrous if you cook it too long. That's kind of the dilemma with these cuts. An old school way around this problem would be to lard the meat and thread ribbons of fat through it. Seems like a fun experiment, but I'd rather just pay the extra money for a strip loin or rib roast full of fat and flavor. Frankly, I think most of these lean tough cuts are best ground into burger meat along with some extra fat. Even then, I'd probably buy ground chuck.