It was a washout of a weekend, so instead of smoking something, I did a long sous vide cook instead. I picked up a large, thick chuck roast, over 5 pounds. I gave it a light sear before bagging it, then seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, vacuum sealed it, and set the Anova Sous Vide to 131°F. I planned to let it go for 48 hours.

I’d previously looked at some of the overpriced dedicated sous vide containers and instead picked up a Coleman Party Stacker Cooler, which works great for maintaining temperature and minimizing evaporation during cooks like Picanha. I had to cut a small notch in the lid to give the sous vide unit proper access.

 

 After 48 Hours

Here’s what it looked like coming out after the full 48 hours. The bag was filled with liquid from the cook, which I turned into a gravy rather than letting it go to waste.

  The Sear

I seared it in my cast iron pan. Normally I’d do this outside, but since it was raining, I was forced onto the stovetop instead. I heated the pan until it was smoking, added a small pat of butter, and dropped the roast in. The range fan was working overtime with the smoke it put off. The key to a good sear is making sure the meat is dry and the pan is genuinely hot before it goes in.

 

It took about 5 minutes to get a full sear on all sides, then I let it rest before carving with my slicing knife.

 Result

The finished product was fantastic — very tender, great flavor, and a perfect medium rare from edge to edge.

Want to see the smoker version of this instead — a chuck roast that went from smoke to oven when a storm rolled in? Check out my Smoked Chuck Roast post. Smoked Chuck Roast