Time and temperature for converting collagen to gelatin in chuck roast cooked sous vide?

Time and temperature for converting collagen to gelatin in chuck roast cooked sous vide? - Small hexagonal coals with holes smoldering on metal rack before roasting barbecue in nature

I've been reading about the long low temperature cooking and its ability to convert collagen to gelatin. For example, Doug Baldwin describes some data here. I'm currently focusing on chuck roast since it's a tough cut and needs this conversion. Is there a chart that describes the time and temperature for full conversion?

For example, my first attempt was 131 F for 30 hours and it was not enough time.



Best Answer

This depends on the end result you are looking for. At some point, if you leave it in the bath too long, the texture will probably go too mushy for most peoples' liking, but here are a few observations: Baldwin states that 131F (55C) is the lowest temperature for collagen conversion, and that at higher temperatures the denaturing happens more quickly. So, you could increase the temperature. Since you cooked at 55C, you probably want it on the pink side. You could go as high as 57C or 58C (though now we are getting into "medium" territory) and still have pink meat. Chefsteps has a recipe for chuck roast, and provides a time and temperature guide. They cook for 18 hours with temperatures ranging (depending on your desired outcome) from 54 - 72C (129-162F). I am guessing that 18-24 hours produces something that resembles a more traditional roast in the end. If you are looking for a softer texture, I would go slightly higher on the temperature, and longer on the cook, maybe even 48 hours.




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Quick Answer about "Time and temperature for converting collagen to gelatin in chuck roast cooked sous vide?"

Well Done Slow Cooked Meats: Falling apart tenderness collagen turns to gelatin at 160/70. The meat gets dryer, but at 160F the connective tissues containing collagen begins to dissolve into gelatin. With time muscle fibers that had been held tightly together begin to easily spread apart.

What temperature does collagen break down in chuck roast?

160 to 180 Degrees Fahrenheit Collagen starts to dissolve at 160 degrees and is fully dissolved at 180 degrees, with fall-off-the-bone tenderness. At this point, the meat is dryer, from losing a lot of moisture, but is as tender as meat can get.

What temp does collagen break down sous vide?

Turning Tough Cuts Tender: Collagen proteins unwind into moisture-holding gelatin at temperatures as low as 122\xb0F/50\xb0C. Sous vide cooking allows us to hold tough, collagen-heavy cuts of meat at lower temperatures for longer periods of time and get the same tenderizing effect as braising.

At what temperature does meat collagen breakdown?

Collagen begins to break down at 160 degrees Fahrenheit and continues to do so until the temperature hits the 180-degree mark. When it reaches this point, the collagen will transform into gelatin, which keeps the meat moist even though the muscle fibers will be dry and stiff at this point.

How long does it take for collagen to turn into gelatin?

Collagen is the connective tissue protein that gives strength to muscles and tendons and resiliency to an animal's skin and bones. To make gelatin, pig skin is soaked in dilute acid for about 24 hours, which unravels the crosslinking protein bonds in the collagen.



How Time and Temp Affects Sous Vide Meat: Chuck Roast 10 Ways




More answers regarding time and temperature for converting collagen to gelatin in chuck roast cooked sous vide?

Answer 2

Since asking the question, I came across this paper by Douglas Baldwin: Sous vide cooking: A review which is as close to a chart that I've found. It goes into a bit more detail than the his site.

When cooking tough meats, the dissolving of collagen into gelatin and the reduction of inter-fiber adhesion is important and this takes either a long time or high temperatures. Prolonged cooking (e.g., braising) has been used to make tough cuts of meat more palatable since ancient times. Indeed, prolonged cooking can more than double the tenderness of the meat by dissolving all the collagen into gelatin and reducing inter-fiber adhesion to essentially nothing (Davey et al., 1976). At 80 °C/176 °F, Davey et al. (1976) found that these effects occur within about 12–24 h with tenderness increasing only slightly when cooked for 50–100 h.

At lower temperatures (50 °C/120 °F to 65 °C/150 °F), Bouton and Harris (1981) found that tough cuts of beef (from animals 0–4 years old) were the most tender when cooked to between 55 °C/131 °F and 60 °C/140 °F. Cooking the beef for 24 h at these temperatures significantly increased its tenderness (with shear forces decreasing 26–72% compared to 1 h of cooking). This tenderizing is caused by weakening of connective tissue and proteolytic enzymes decreasing myofibrillar tensile strength. Indeed, collagen begins to dissolve into gelatin above about 55 °F/131 °F (This, 2006). Moreover, the sarcoplasmic protein enzyme collagenase remains active below 60 °C/140 °F and can significantly tenderize the meat if held for more than 6 h (Tornberg, 2005).

For example, tough cuts of meat, like beef chuck and pork shoulder, take 10–12 h at 80 °C/175 °F or 1–2 days at 55–60 °C/130–140 °F to become fork-tender. Intermediate cuts of meat, like beef sirloin, only need 6–8 h at 55–60 °C/130–140 °F to become fork-tender because the tenderization from the enzyme collagenase is sufficient.

So, next time, I will try 135 F (to stay below the 140 F temp mentioned in the last paragraph) since my previous attempt with 131 F was just too slow.

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