I have the Anova and I have a bit of a conundrum.
I want my meats to be both juicy and for the collagen to melt in your mouth. Meat that is dry (in my opinion) has the sensation of sucking moisture away from your tongue, so that's how I judge dryness.
I've tried whole chickens and a large chuck roast but I can't seem to get it right.
- The chuck roast I did at 66C for 28 hours (this is LTLT right?). The collagen was not melty AND the meat was overcooked and dry. In order to make the meat not feel dry I have to slice the meat and dip it back in the juices first before eating. And yes, I let it rest.
- The whole chicken I did at 73C for 3 hours. The collagen was breaking down nicely but the breast was dry.
- Another whole chicken I did at 66C for 2 hours. The collagen wasn't broken down at all and was unpleasantly crunchy. The breast was good. There were areas of redness and while I understand that the meat is totally pasteurised, the visuals of red chicken meat are not appetising.
I'm beginning to think that what I want is not actually possible. For collagen to break down into something gooey, the temp needs to be in the high 60s to 70s and it requires a long time. Unfortunately this necessarily-long time dries out the meat, so the only option is to create a sauce with the juices to make the meat not so dry.
For a chicken, at least I can separate the white meat from the dark meat and cook them separately, but I can't really do that for a chuck roast.
Any advice?