Alrighty, folks... the verdict is IN!
First, a bit of preliminary...
One of tonight's sides was twice baked potatoes. Instead of using bacon bits, I used andouille bits. I had diced and fried some of my andouille sausage (
thread here) for smoked deviled eggs that did not happen (not a one of the 20 eggs would peel - perhaps because I did a cold water bath instead of an ice bath due to a lack of ice).
Here is the diced andouille before and after frying...
Back to the bottom round...
After 24 hours in the sous vide bath, I put it in an ice bath then popped it in the freezer for half an hour. (I would've preferred longer in the freezer, but danged if real life didn't interrupt!)
This is my first attempt at slicing roast beef on my (relatively) new LEM slicer (not impressed, to be honest), so it took a few passes to dial in the thickness that I wanted. I confess to eating several of the slices as I worked...
I cut a couple thicker slices (1/2") for dinner. I put those, soaking in the bag juices, into the fridge while I took care of real world stuff for a couple hours.
Once I got home, I made a small sous vide bath, put the two slices into a zip lock bag and let them warm up to 135 (and sit there for awhile) as I prepared the rest of the meal. I took the bag juices, added more beef stock, and made a "pan" sauce.
Here's the money shot...
What's the verdict? The dinner slice was very tender - not quite butter knife tender, but far more tender than I expected. I probably could've extended the sous vide to 30 hours. (It wasn't even slightly mushy or dried out.) The flavor was primarily driven by the pan sauce, of course, and it was very good. (Smoky, beefy and rich, albeit a bit too salty - I used a beef stock that had 400 mg of sodium per one cup, which isn't good for reducing.)
The roast beef slices were very good. The hint of the smoke was a very nice accent. These will make excellent sandwiches. (I've vacuum-sealed them for later when I'm not skipping lunch due to weight control attempts...)
This was an excellent way to make a very tough (and not so flavorful) cut of meat into an excellent meal. The wife and boy both agreed that I should do it again. (Although they both questioned my sanity taking 30+ hours to make dinner...) Is it as good as a quality steak? Of course not. But at $2.79 per pound, it is an affordable substitute!