Cooking sous vide at low temp for long time

[Anonymous Modernist 11055]

When I cook meat at low temps the meat seems to lose a lot of the moisture. A steak cooked at 56C for 3 hours is a bit dry, especially when compared to one which is cooked at 53C for the same period.

This seems to be even more problematic when cooking for days. I once cooked brisket for 72 hours at 58C. The meat was very tough and chevy - basically unedible - and had lost lots of the moisture as well. I am wondering if I am doing something wrong. I have not succeeded to tenderize tough cuts at low temperatures, and they have not been very moist either.

So far I've got best results with naturally tender cuts, or if I use tough cuts I just overcook them at 80C.

[Sam Fahey-Burke]

When cooking a tender cut, I recommend cooking it to a core temperature, but not holding it there for hours because it will start to leak liquid. For a rib eye, 54°C will cook the steak to medium rare very consistently. For tough cuts, reference our Modernist Cuisine tables for many good options. For short ribs, I suggest starting with 62°C for 72 hours.

[Anonymous Modernist 11055]

MA@H suggests cooking a rib eye steak at 56C for three hours to tenderize it. It did indeed tenderize it, but it wasn't as juicy anymore as I'd hope.