Mountain Cat
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If you don't have a sous vide, or you want to use the gravy/sauce for another dish - read down for that. The gravy stands on its own! Just use beef broth rather than the drippings from the bag. (Homemade will always have more flavor and substance, but do as you can.)
PS: if anyone knows what this cut is named elsewhere, let me know and I'll edit this recipe. Thanks!
The beef bottom round roast is a cut from a hard working muscle in the hind region of the cow/steer. Eye of round is similar. Being involved in a meat share where I got a quarter of a cow coming home with me - meant it was almost certain I'd be getting both those cuts. I did not get the opportunity to choose. I've already eaten the eye (it wasn't memorable), using some more conventional method of cookery. Here, pulling out the sous vide device seemed like a reasonable response. Note: cut names may vary in other parts of the planet. This is the US name.
I'll note this is one case where the supermarket bottom round would probably be better in a culinary sense than grass-finished. The animal here is still roaming around until the last day, exercising his / her hind quarters. Even less fat, and less marbling, than the supermarket one.
The longer you cook something, the more you can keep that something at high enough temperature to break down tough tissues to something palatable. And if you can keep, say steak, at low enough temperature, you should be able to get something approaching medium rare throughout.
You don't want to hold meat for over 3 or 4 hours at anything less than 130 F (USDA guidelines) due to potential for bacterial growth. Above that, the nasty little bacty buggers will croak, or at least not multiply. I chose 133 F for this reason. (Some will sous vide long term at 131 F, since there's probably some wiggle room in the USDA number - but hey. I wiggle in the other direction...)
For steaks, it is typical to reverse-sear after cooking. You can use your grill (not with the level of snow out here), a torch (don't have, and don't want), or a skillet indoors. I chose the latter.
I added salt, pepper and garlic powder to the steaks - all sides. Adding fresh sprigs of thyme is also appropriate. For this length of cooking, it is seriously recommended to use garlic powder instead of whole or minced fresh garlic.
B
Bagging your meat for sous vide: I splurged on reusable silicon sous vide bags, they have a zip-lock style seal. You have other options: regular zip-lock style bags which are disposable plastic, and at high temperatures can fail, or specialized sous vide vaccuum bags that you seal with a vacuum/heat-sealer, and are made not to fail at high temperatures (that's like around 160 F or plus). I opted for the silicon bags because 1) they are far more inert than plastic and 2) I already add enough to the planetary waste stream as is, and 3) Ultimately, it's not a splurge, but a savings in many regards. If there's a place where I can call a halt to disposables, especially plastics, I really SHOULD. Oh, for the zip-locks remove air by the water displacement method.
Sous Vide Beef Bottom Round Steaks
Slice your bottom round roast into 1 inch or so steaks. (2.5 cm or so.) You can remove or keep the fat cap. I left it on some slices, but removed it for ease of cutting on others - I'll render (ahem) a verdict at the end of this post.
Salt, pepper and garlic-ify your steaks on all sides to your predilection. Stuff into sous vide bags of choice. Don't double layer the steaks, but keep them as a single layer, and just pull out another bag for the rest of them. Add a sprig of thyme if you remember, for each steak slice.
Seal bag(s) via water immersion method, or via a vacuum/heat sealer, depending on your bag type.
Place in the water bath (if the bath is not up to temperature yet, don't worry, the meat can certainly go in now!) Insure that no water is leaking in, and if you need to, weigh down the bags with a saucer or cup balanced atop, or something small yet heavy that can go into each bag before being sealed. You want the water to surround your future meal! I find it a good practice to time the sous vide cooking time from when the water bath reaches the desired temperature.
Set, and go. Since my roast / steaks ended up in two separate bags, I decided to experiment. The smaller bag was removed at about 24 hours - actually about 22.5 hours for personal logistical reasons. I left the other in for 48 hours. You can cover the water bath with foil, or you can monitor and add more water when needed so that the level doesn't evaporate off. (I'd still check even if you use foil.)
When ready, [approximately 24 Hours] remove the steak bag(s) from the water bath. Open, and reserve the juices for the gravy/sauce. (I ran the other bag for 42 hours, to see how that would work.)
While still warm, sear any steaks you plan to eat at this time. I used my skillet on medium high with a bit of avocado oil, and turned on the range fan (smoke detectors going off in winter are unpleasant events). Seared about a minute on both sides. Serve with sides, and with whatever sauce or gravy you like. I used the recipe below:
Sauce/Gravy
steaks, if you plan to eat them within 4 days.
Leftover steak: I froze most of the leftovers. Whether you refrigerate or freeze your steaks, hold off on searing until when you plan to eat them. thaw the latter in the fridge, then bring either type out of the fridge to room temperature for 45-60 minutes. Sear, and carry on as before. Since I don't think horseradish freezes all that well, I'd make up a new batch of sauce rather than freezing it - (you can freeze the rest of the drippings from the bags to make the next batch).
Verdict: This is never going to be a favorite cut of beef, but you can make it taste good using sous vide. Leave the fat cap on. You can always remove it prior to serving, or at the table. I pulled one pack of steaks out at 22.5 hours (served with asparagus), and the second at 42 hours (served with cabbage and onion). Although I didn't taste them side by side, there wasn't any noticeable benefit to me in leaving the meat in for the extra time. Indeed, the second set of steaks tasted subjectively a little bit mealy, but not enough to be annoying. The meat in either case does have flavor, and is much more tender than if you'd used other methods of cooking it, plus you can retain some pink.
The gravy/sauce is a true winner. In fact, after all the roast was gone, I had a little left... I ate it straight up...
PS: if anyone knows what this cut is named elsewhere, let me know and I'll edit this recipe. Thanks!
The beef bottom round roast is a cut from a hard working muscle in the hind region of the cow/steer. Eye of round is similar. Being involved in a meat share where I got a quarter of a cow coming home with me - meant it was almost certain I'd be getting both those cuts. I did not get the opportunity to choose. I've already eaten the eye (it wasn't memorable), using some more conventional method of cookery. Here, pulling out the sous vide device seemed like a reasonable response. Note: cut names may vary in other parts of the planet. This is the US name.
I'll note this is one case where the supermarket bottom round would probably be better in a culinary sense than grass-finished. The animal here is still roaming around until the last day, exercising his / her hind quarters. Even less fat, and less marbling, than the supermarket one.
The longer you cook something, the more you can keep that something at high enough temperature to break down tough tissues to something palatable. And if you can keep, say steak, at low enough temperature, you should be able to get something approaching medium rare throughout.
You don't want to hold meat for over 3 or 4 hours at anything less than 130 F (USDA guidelines) due to potential for bacterial growth. Above that, the nasty little bacty buggers will croak, or at least not multiply. I chose 133 F for this reason. (Some will sous vide long term at 131 F, since there's probably some wiggle room in the USDA number - but hey. I wiggle in the other direction...)
For steaks, it is typical to reverse-sear after cooking. You can use your grill (not with the level of snow out here), a torch (don't have, and don't want), or a skillet indoors. I chose the latter.
I added salt, pepper and garlic powder to the steaks - all sides. Adding fresh sprigs of thyme is also appropriate. For this length of cooking, it is seriously recommended to use garlic powder instead of whole or minced fresh garlic.
Bagging your meat for sous vide: I splurged on reusable silicon sous vide bags, they have a zip-lock style seal. You have other options: regular zip-lock style bags which are disposable plastic, and at high temperatures can fail, or specialized sous vide vaccuum bags that you seal with a vacuum/heat-sealer, and are made not to fail at high temperatures (that's like around 160 F or plus). I opted for the silicon bags because 1) they are far more inert than plastic and 2) I already add enough to the planetary waste stream as is, and 3) Ultimately, it's not a splurge, but a savings in many regards. If there's a place where I can call a halt to disposables, especially plastics, I really SHOULD. Oh, for the zip-locks remove air by the water displacement method.
Sous Vide Beef Bottom Round Steaks
- 3 pounds or thereabouts of bottom round beef roast, in this case grass-fed / finished.
- Salt, pepper, garlic POWDER.
- An optional sprig of fresh thyme for each steak.
- Ghee (or butter). For the whole cut, up to a quarter-pound / half a stick. This is for the searing step. If a high temperature oil, use less. Judge this by your steak needs.
Slice your bottom round roast into 1 inch or so steaks. (2.5 cm or so.) You can remove or keep the fat cap. I left it on some slices, but removed it for ease of cutting on others - I'll render (ahem) a verdict at the end of this post.
Salt, pepper and garlic-ify your steaks on all sides to your predilection. Stuff into sous vide bags of choice. Don't double layer the steaks, but keep them as a single layer, and just pull out another bag for the rest of them. Add a sprig of thyme if you remember, for each steak slice.
Seal bag(s) via water immersion method, or via a vacuum/heat sealer, depending on your bag type.
Place in the water bath (if the bath is not up to temperature yet, don't worry, the meat can certainly go in now!) Insure that no water is leaking in, and if you need to, weigh down the bags with a saucer or cup balanced atop, or something small yet heavy that can go into each bag before being sealed. You want the water to surround your future meal! I find it a good practice to time the sous vide cooking time from when the water bath reaches the desired temperature.
Set, and go. Since my roast / steaks ended up in two separate bags, I decided to experiment. The smaller bag was removed at about 24 hours - actually about 22.5 hours for personal logistical reasons. I left the other in for 48 hours. You can cover the water bath with foil, or you can monitor and add more water when needed so that the level doesn't evaporate off. (I'd still check even if you use foil.)
When ready, [approximately 24 Hours] remove the steak bag(s) from the water bath. Open, and reserve the juices for the gravy/sauce. (I ran the other bag for 42 hours, to see how that would work.)
While still warm, sear any steaks you plan to eat at this time. I used my skillet on medium high with a bit of avocado oil, and turned on the range fan (smoke detectors going off in winter are unpleasant events). Seared about a minute on both sides. Serve with sides, and with whatever sauce or gravy you like. I used the recipe below:
Sauce/Gravy
- 2 heaping tablespoons mustard (Gulden's Spicy Brown here)
- 1.5 teaspoon prepared horseradish
- 0.5 teaspoon sesame oil.
- About a third of the total amount of juice from the beef sous vide cooking bags. (I reserved the rest.) An estimated 2-3 tablespoons.
- 2 tablespoons coconut aminos for Whole30 (or low sodium gluten-free tamari or soy sauce, or even Lea and Perrins, if you are using soy.)
steaks, if you plan to eat them within 4 days.Leftover steak: I froze most of the leftovers. Whether you refrigerate or freeze your steaks, hold off on searing until when you plan to eat them. thaw the latter in the fridge, then bring either type out of the fridge to room temperature for 45-60 minutes. Sear, and carry on as before. Since I don't think horseradish freezes all that well, I'd make up a new batch of sauce rather than freezing it - (you can freeze the rest of the drippings from the bags to make the next batch).
Verdict: This is never going to be a favorite cut of beef, but you can make it taste good using sous vide. Leave the fat cap on. You can always remove it prior to serving, or at the table. I pulled one pack of steaks out at 22.5 hours (served with asparagus), and the second at 42 hours (served with cabbage and onion). Although I didn't taste them side by side, there wasn't any noticeable benefit to me in leaving the meat in for the extra time. Indeed, the second set of steaks tasted subjectively a little bit mealy, but not enough to be annoying. The meat in either case does have flavor, and is much more tender than if you'd used other methods of cooking it, plus you can retain some pink.
The gravy/sauce is a true winner. In fact, after all the roast was gone, I had a little left... I ate it straight up...
