Sous vide chuck roast, as promised

My last post mentioned my first attempt at doing a roast sous vide and promised the recipe, which is adapted from Anova's. Chuck is extremely flavorful but often chewy, so often ground in burgers, and that's especially true for grass-fed, which for health and environmental reasons I buy almost exclusively. (If you're in the NYC metro area, the Lewis Waite Farm CSA normally does monthly delivery for locally, humanely raised meat and dairy.) This makes it ideal for long sous vide, which renders the tough collagen effectively into gelatin. That process requires temperatures of at least 130ºF (54.5ºC), and at least 24 hours of cooking, and longer is better.

Sous vide chuck roast

The meat also benefits from a long seasoning prep in the fridge. I made my own seasoning rub, enough for a 2-1/2 lb. roast:

• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. thyme
• 1/4 tsp. smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder
• 1/2 tsp. ground mustard

1. Combine, rub on the roast, and refrigerate uncovered overnight.
2. Heat a sous vide water bath to 131ºF for rare, 135ºF for medium-rare, or 140ºF for medium. (If you actually want your roast beef well-done, I don't know what to say to you. Also you're probably reading the wrong blog.)
3. Place the meat in a sufficiently sized Ziploc (or better yet reusable silicone bags from Target or Amazon, if you can find them in-stock), remove the air via water displacement, and seal the bag. (Also, if you're into food and aren't reading J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, you should.)
4. Immerse in the water bath, and cook for 24-36 hours. If you're using the Magic Chef, it has a handy timer.
5. After the timer ends remove from the bag, pat dry, and let rest for 10 minutes.
6. If using the Magic Chef, dump the water, dry the pot, and set to the "sauté" setting or heat a skillet very hot, add a tablespoon of neutral oil with a high smoke point such as grapeseed or avocado, and brown the roast on all sides to form a crust. If you have a torch (haven't gone there yet, but I've been considering a Searzall), you can use that too.
7. Transfer to a platter, let cool a little, slice thin, and... enjoy the f*#k out of it.