Thanks.  I'm way behind the curve on most of this.

So I am having the family over for Cinco de Mayo.  I am going to Sous Vide the Chuck and then just brown it and put in the sauce.  So 72 hours will be long enough and not to long if ya know what I mean!

whatever happened with the ham you made in the sous vide

It was just sliced, and chunked and vac sealed!  I made some Biscuits this morning and took some of the chunks and ran them through the small chopper.  Wanted to make some Deviled Country Ham spread for the biscuits.  You know a meat is course, when you can shred it in a food processor and it still had a chew to it!  I am afraid it does not make a good Deviled Ham spread.  But I am hoping it will make some nice bean with bacon and split pea soup!  And I still have plenty of fairly thin slices that I hope will do well on a Biscuit!

Well I have one bag of about 3lbs and another at about 2.7lbs. of Chuck in the sous vide.  I am going to use it in the Chili Colorado for Cinco de Mayo!.  I was not really sure what to cook it at.  Once it is finished, it will just be added to the sauce and cooked a few more hours to hopefully take on the flavor.  I have it set at 140° and set the timer for 70 hours.  Should be ready the afternoon of the 5th.

If anyone see issues with this, please advise!

I would do 133-135 for 48 hours.  Don't remember where I read it but something about going over 48 hours wasn't recommended.

I figured it really did not matter what the cook temperature was as it is going into the sauce for a few hours anyway, so it will be like stew meat.  It will be cubed after the cook.  it is all about getting it tender with out drying them out!  I know that I did those chuck ribs for 30 hours and they were not even close.  I have seen a couple of folks on here say 50+.  I guess it is all about practice and we will see.  I will pull them at 48 hours and if they are not tender enough, bag them back up and cook some more!

slice a little bit off for a taco before you cube so you can determine if the tenderness will change after you put in the pot for chili for a few hours

i am curious if cooking at a higher temp after sous vide will make it tougher

I would do 133-135 for 48 hours.  Don't remember where I read it but something about going over 48 hours wasn't recommended.

I agree with Bar-B-Lew, after more than 36-48 hours the flavor is still good but the texture becomes mushy with very little bite. Personally, when I do chuck for chili, I cube it, season it, dust with a little flour, sear in a hot skillet and add it to the chili. The real advantage of using sous vide is to be able to prepare meat at a low temperature, thereby retaining more flavor. Simmering the chili for several hours after sous vide would negate this advantage.  However, if i were to use the sous vide, I'd cook at 130° for ~ 36 hours, chop the chuck and add both chuck and fluid from the bag to the chili, simmering for less than an hour. 

SV at 140° for 30 hours makes a good chuck roast, see here.  Somewhat less time seems appropriate for chuck that's going to continue cooking in the chili.

This is the data I was looking for.  I guess I will pull in about 2 hours.  That will be 24 hours, open up and see.  To me, Chili Colorado is not the same as Chili con Carne.  But I do not want mush, Chili Colorado is all about the mouth feel, to tender for me is a negative.  And I am going to have the cubed meat in the sauce just to flavor, not to cook, maybe I did not convey that correctly!

Not sure where I got the 50-70 hours cooking time, I must have dreamed it!

I agree with Bar-B-Lew, after more than 36-48 hours the flavor is still good but the texture becomes mushy with very little bite.

SV at 140° for 30 hours makes a good chuck roast, see here.  Somewhat less time seems appropriate for chuck that's going to continue cooking in the chili.

Not sure if Modern will win out over traditional.  It is tender, once again I forgot to season before vac sealing.  I would venture to guess it will not make a huge difference once in the sauce.  I have saved the bag liquid, and it will go into the sauce for flavor.  Just not sure if the meat braising in the sauce does not add a depth of flavor that may be lost in the sous vide process.  I also have no idea if it will break down further or remain how it is.  I am going to add it to the sauce an hour before serving to simmer!

Horrible photos, but just so interesting to see pink in a cut of meat I have never eaten with pink in it and it is tender!  Hopefully we will be able to enjoy the food celebrating the Mexican defeating the French at the Battle of Puebla!

Glad I have this site as a reference for my future cooks.  Chuck seems to be done in about 22 hours!

It looks very tasty, what temp did you do this at?

Looks like that chuck would make nice sliced roast beef sandwiches.