Dry sous vide eye of round...

[Franklin]

Apologies if this has already been addressed here, but I did not find an answer to this on a cursory search. Based on a blog post, I tried a 4lb eye of round roast cooked Sous Vide for 30 hours at 131F. After several hours, a significant amount of liquid was in the bag which continued to increase throughout the cooking time. The temperature in the water bath never exceeded 132F, but the meat was still somewhat dried out. I've done sous vide meat, fish, and poultry for both relatively short periods and (for tougher cuts) for long periods and have not had this happen before. Does anyone have any ideas what might have been the cause of the dryness? Would this cut have been better with a shorter period? I understand eye of round has more connective tissue and generally benefits from longer cooking time, but that didn't appear to be the case here.

Thanks in advance for any insight.

Franklin

[HowardLi]

Is your thermocouple calibrated?

[Keith_W]

Did you salt your meat prior to sous-vide?

[rotuts]

at 131 even seasoned with a mixture that had salt in it, at 72 hours I had very little 'jus' did you bag leak?

[philie]

what device are you using?

[Baron d'Apcher]

A properly cleaned eye of round has little to no connective tissue (a go-to cut for bresaola and carpaccio) and depending on the breed, size and age of the animal can be quite tender. The muscle is generally lean but not at all sinewy like a shank. Consider cooking it for far less time, as you would for a top-round roast beef, flatiron or strip loin.

[rotuts]

Very Interesting.

the rounds Ive seen have a great deal of inner connective tissue in the main muscle itself. and not much flavor compared to flatiron and strip loin

its relatively pricey as it "looks" like a great cut, ie tenderloin.

Edited November 12, 2012 by rotuts (log)

[Baron d'Apcher]

On a younger animal (8 month rose veal), the connective tissue hasn't developed as much as on a 2 year old. There is indeed connective tissue (i misspoke) but not like in a flatiron. Generally, I prefer to eliminate all the silver skin and sinew from the round, sear it and slowly simmer it stove-top, submersed in liquid as for vitello tonnato -until internal temp of 135F. Not the choicest of cuts, but with enough discipline it can be palatable.

[gfweb]

Not the choicest of cuts, but with enough discipline it can be palatable.

High praise indeed!