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[KeithG]

Up until Monday I had only cooked pork chops and shrimp by sous vide. I asked my wife to pick up a beef chuck roast and she brought home a nice 3# certified angus beef roast.

I had done boneless pork chops at 145 for an hour and they came out perfect.  To do the chuck roast I again decided on 145 thought between 5 and 6 hours should be fine. WRONG!  Came out the toughest piece of meat I have ever cooked.  Of course after the fact I looked at the temperature and time charts and saw it should have gone 24 hours.

I don’t see why I would ever do one sous vide again.  I can braise one in wine or Guinness and have it fork tender in 2 to 3 hours with a ton of flavor. 

Pork chops on the other hand come out great, tender and juicy without brining them overnight.  I’ve done bone in and boneless and no difference. 

[BigDave83]

I like to do them or beef shanks, if I am planning ahead, say I won't be home until late, I can put them in for 24 to 48 hours and have them ready to eat that evening. Most cooks I use my Sous Vide Supreme so it is nice ans quiet and I don't have to worry about water evaporation.

 

[pmillen]

I can braise one in wine or Guinness and have it fork tender in 2 to 3 hours with a ton of flavor. 

Yeah, I braise them in water and a couple of packages of dry onion soup and diced onion for about three hours.  I add potatoes and carrots the last half hour and cook them until the carrots are done (they take longer than potatoes).  It's an amazing pot roast.  I SV them, too, just for a change-up.

[Bar-B-Lew]

I smoke the chucks until they hit IT of 160° and then I throw them in a pan with beer and cover and cook at 350° until they fall apart.  Sometimes takes up to 8 hours but well worth it IMO.

[bregent]

>I don’t see why I would ever do one sous vide again.  I can braise one in wine or
>Guinness and have it fork tender in 2 to 3 hours with a ton of flavor. 

Braised is great, but the reason you might want to do them SV would be to either

1) Cook them so they are tender when rare -medium rare, or
2) Cook them more well done like braised, but keep the succulent collagen in the meat. In a stew or braise, those usually end up in the sauce. 

[hughver]

KeithG, pork chops are lean with little or no tough interconnecting tissues. On the other hand, chuck roast is just the opposite, tons of tough tissue. That tough tissue starts to break down at 130°. At 130°, it takes 48-54 hours to make the chuck as tender as your pork chops. The higher the temperature, the shorter the time.  Braising raises the temperature well above 200°, and it is my belief that when it comes to meat, temperature kills flavor. 

[KeithG]

I managed to salvage the chuck roast by putting a bunch of cut up carrots and onions in the bottom of a Dutch oven, adding the left over beef on top and pouring a bottle of Guinness and some water over the top.  Into a 250 oven for 3 hours and what was tough and bland was now tender and flavorful. Delish.  I don’t enjoy drinking Guinness, I prefer German style beers, but Guinness is one of my favorite ingredients to cook beef with.