Sous vide is great, but I have never been able to get it to tenderize tougher cuts no matter how long I cooked it. I made a huge mistake and bought a self contained sous video for WAY too much money back I mthe day ($450), when I should have bought the wand unit (around $40,or so for some models) and a cheap plastic tub instead.
The great thing about sous vide is that you can cook meat to lower Temps safely (ie, IF you wanted, you could cook chicken to say 130 as long as you cooked it long enough- safety is a result of temperature PLUS time. The 165 recommendation is for 1 second at that temp (as soon as it reaches that temp, it’s safe) whereas chicken held at 145 for say 20 minutes (cant remember the time now) is just as safe. There is a chart for time plus temp for different cuts of meat.
The other good thing is you can use it as a food warmer for hours on end and it Wil. Be safe as long as it’s at a certain temp, so,you can keep,cooking cuts for like a family reunion, and putting it I the sous vide cooker at temp, and it will keep,for,hours, a d not dry out or go,over the temp,you choose.
Another great thing is it is “set and forget”- you can put a roast in it in morning, set your temp, go to work, and come home and it’s done and waiting for,finishing (ie broil it till it gets a good crust- just be sure to set sous vid temp lower knowing that you will increase temp with broiler to,finish.)
The texture on the ribs were great. No toughness at all.
Have you tried adding just a touch of vinegar to a tough cut of meat?
-PJ
‘(ie, IF you wanted, you could cook chicken to say 130 as long as you cooked it long enough- safety is a result of temperature PLUS time. “
These data indicate that heating perishable foods of the type studied to 150 F and holding every particle of food at this temperature for at least 12 min reduces 10 million or less salmonellae or staphylococci per gram to nondetectable levels.
The same degree of destruction is achieved in similarly contaminated foods when held at 140 F for 78 to 83 min.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1057731/
Try soaking in pineapple juice for 10-15 min.