How long to sous vide a tough cut of steak?

Question

With most steaks the recommended cooking time in sous vide is about an hour (of course depending on the thickness of the cut).

I have done some sous vide cooks recently, and they always ended up perfect until last time, where I had a ribeye, which turned out tough and chewy.

I have since learned, that ribeye in particular has some connective tissue, which can make it tough. I have also learned, that most tenderizing methods, like vinegar or baking soda don't actually really work, because they are only in contact with the meat on the outside.

So I was wondering if I could improve the result, if I simply increase the cooking time to say 2h? Or should it be way longer than that in order to tenderize the connective tissue?

What would be the downside of increasing the cooking time?

Answer 1

Collagen (type-1, for the scientific folks), one of the major connective tissues in beef, begins to dissolve into gelatin starting at 55°C (131°F) but very slowly, long enough for the meat itself to become mush. The pace increases with rising temperature to about 71°C (160°F), at which point further rises in temperature don't accelerate the process much -- but that would be medium-well, a crime for ribeye. Unfortunately, collagen begins to denature at 68°C (154°F), which is also when the meat begins to constrict/toughen substantially and release lots of its juices. Cooks Illustrated suggests 54°C/130°F for 2-3 hours, but in my steak that didn't melt the collagen at all. I find the best trade-off is medium, 63-64°C (145-147°F) for 3 hours. Yes, it isn't the deep rosy and extra-tender medium rare, but most of the connective tissue vanishes and is replaced with luscious gelatin.

Answer 2

In general, the longer you cook a protein at low temperature the more the texture will change. However, it doesn't just get more tender. It can get stringy, or mushy, and unpleasant over time, depending on the type of protein. Thickness and type of muscle matters when calculating time.

In general, I cook 1 - 2 inch thick rib eye like any other traditional steak, for between 1 and 2 hours to achieve a typical mouthfeel/texture. On the other hand, I have cooked oxtail for up to 100 hours using sous vide. You can safely cook as long as you want, but there will be a point when you might not like the results.

Rib eye is not generally considered a "tough cut". Two hours won't change things that much, but if you want to experiment, I would suggest cooking three identical steaks of your choice for three different times, then sear and see what you think.

This is a helpful guide that might also shed light on your questions.

Answer 3

There is one, albeit slightly risky way to tenderize a tough cut of sous vide steak without it starting to resemble pulled pork.

For a 1 inch thick steak, cook it at 121 deg F for 2-4 hours before you cook it to the final temperature. You can tenderize it longer and get it more tender but the chance of spoilage goes up rapidly at this temperature.

Over 130 deg F, the meat will slowly turn into a pulled pork texture.

Another option is to vacuum brine/marinade the steak for a few days to tenderize it, though it will start looking like cured meat after a while.

My local grocery store sells some of the toughest ribeye at under $5 a pound... but after throwing all these tenderization methods at it, it comes out pretty good.