Grant Crilly is the Executive Director and cofounder of ChefSteps. Grant is a classically trained chef and, prior to ChefSteps, he worked on the award-winning cookbook series Modernist Cuisine and cooked at various restaurants, including L’Astrance in Paris, Busaba in Mumbai, and Mistral Kitchen in Seattle.

Grant Crilly

Joule® Turbo Sous Vide

1-gallon Ziplock-style freezer bag(s)

Chimney charcoal starter

Charcoal grill

12-inch Skillet

Breville Joule® Oven Air Fryer Pro

Baking/Cooling rack(s)

1/2 Sheet pan(s)

Beef chuck steak

Kosher salt

Black pepper

Neutral oil

Garlic clove(s)

Fresh bay leaves

Rosemary

Flake sea salt

What exactly is a chuck steak?
A chuck steak comes from the primal cut of the chuck on an animal. It includes the shoulder and hardworking muscles from that area and can be incredibly flavorful yet incredibly tough.  
 
So, what’s the difference between a chuck and the steak I usually buy—like a ribeye?
Chuck steaks come from an area of the animal where the muscles are hardworking and have a lot of collagen, which keeps the muscles together and attaches them to the bone. Cooked quickly, collagen makes these cuts tough, but given enough time, heat, and moisture, this collagen will transform into gelatin. And gelatin and melted fat give slow-cooked tough cuts like smoked brisket their wonderful succulence. 
 
A ribeye steak comes from a more tender area of the animal, along the backbone and ribs. Generally, these juicy cuts are well-marbled and give off the full flavor of chuck with the tender mildness of the loin. They are delicious with little preparation and are typically costly. Check out our <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/your-ultimate-guide-to-grilling-cuts">Ultimate Guide to Steak</a> to find your perfect cut of beef. 
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What makes certain cuts “tough cuts”?
As we mentioned, muscles that work hard have a lot of collagen. Steers, for example, spend a lot of time chewing, so those hardworking cheeks develop a lot of tough collagen. To make them succulent and tender, you need to cook them at a low temperature for 24 to 72 hours (or for a least an hour in a pressure cooker at [f 250]. Likewise, beef shanks, chucks, and rumps do a lot of work and need a lot of time or heat to get tender. But the muscles in the middle of the cow’s back don’t do much at all, so that’s where you find tender, juicy cuts like filet mignons and New York strip steaks. 
 
A great way to memorize which muscles are tough and which are tender is to remember that beginning with the center of the cow’s back and moving down and outward along its body, the muscles go from most tender to most tough.

Use this in-depth grilling cuts guide to choose the best cuts of beef for grilling based on flavor, convenience, and price.

The Ultimate Guide to Steak

Before we begin

We’re always pushing forward with new stuff: new recipes, new techniques, new videos. But sometimes looking back to see how far we’ve come offers up avenues for inspiration and education—some of our recipes and videos are over a decade old at this point. (My, how time flies!) With ChefSteps Revisited, we’re looking back at some of our most popular videos to see what we did right, what opportunities we may have missed, and what Grant and our team looked like as young bucks. In this video, Grant looks back at our Ultimate Grilled Chuck Steak, which has been used over the years by both home cooks and professional chefs alike to transform a tough, inexpensive cut into a tender, ultra-beefy steak.

ChefSteps Revisited: Ultimate Grilled Chuck Steak

Cut name: Chuck steak
Category: Value
Also known as: Chuck eye steak, Delmonico
Comes from (subprimal): Chuck roll
Tenderness:🍴🍴🍴
Flavor: 🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩 
Serve temp: Medium-rare
Ideal thickness: 1 1/2 to 2 inches
Ideal weight: 1.4 kg; 3 pounds
Cooking method: 24-hour sous vide, grill finish

Chuck steak at a glance

Heat sous vide water bath to desired temperature according to our doneness guide. 
 
[f 131]: Medium-rare (our favorite)
[f 136]: Medium
[f 140]: Medium-well
[f 149]: Well-done

Heat sous vide bath

Pat steak dry and season generously on all sides with salt and pepper. We recommend seasoning the steak with about 0.5% salt to the total weight of the meat. This will improve the texture and give you some wiggle room to still adjust the seasoning to your liking after cooking. 
 
Place steak and oil in a 1-gallon ziplock-style freezer bag or vacuum-seal bag, and turn steak in bag to evenly coat with oil. Add garlic, bay leaves, and rosemary (if using). 
 
Seal bag using water displacement method or vacuum sealer.

Season and bag steak

Lower bag into sous vide bath until steak is fully submerged, and clip to side of water bath container. 
 
Cook for 24 hours. 
 
Once cooked, chuck steak can be held in sous vide bath for 4 hours (28 hours total) without any loss in quality.

Cook steak sous vide

For long cooks, it’s important to cover your sous vide bath container to reduce evaporation. Use a lid, a cut-up yoga mat, or some high-quality plastic wrap, then let Joule do its thing while you prepare for a steak feast.

Cover for long cooks

30 minutes before the steak finishes cooking sous vide, light a large chimney starter filled 3/4 of the way up with charcoal. When coals are lit and mostly covered with gray ash, spread evenly over half of coal grate to create a <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/two-zone-grilling-guide">two-zone grilling setup</a>. Set grill grate in place, cover grill, and open lid vents completely. Heat for 5 minutes. Once grill is hot, remove lid and <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/tips-tricks-season-your-grill-so-food-won-t-stick">clean and oil grill grate</a>.

Prepare two-zone grill

Remove steak from bag and transfer it to a paper towel–lined plate or tray; strain and reserve bag juices for making a quick pan sauce if desired. Pat steak dry. 
 
Place steak on grill grate directly over coals on hot side of the grill. Cook, flipping every 30 seconds, until a lightly charred crust forms on both sides of steak, 2 to 4 minutes. 
 
Transfer steak to cutting board.

Finish steak on grill

If you don’t have a grill setup, don’t sweat it. You can finish this steak in a hot skillet or under the broiler. 

Skillet: In a 12-inch skillet, heat 30 g neutral oil over high heat until just smoking. Add steak to pan and cook, turning every 30 seconds, until well-browned on both sides, 2 to 3 minutes. If butter-basting, slide steak to back of skillet, opposite handle, and add butter to front of skillet. Once butter is melted and foaming, add reserved aromatics. Tilt skillet so butter pools near handle of skillet, and using a spoon, baste steak with butter and aromatics. Continuously baste steak, flipping every 15 seconds, until deeply browned on both sides, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Reserve butter for serving. 
 
Broiler: Adjust oven rack to 6 to 8 inches from broiler element and preheat broiler on high. Transfer steak to a wire rack set inside a 1/2 sheet pan. Broil until top side is lightly charred in spots, 2 to 5 minutes. Flip and broil until charred on second side, 2 to 3 minutes longer.

No grill? No problem!

Using a sharp knife, separate steak into different muscle groups. Slice against grain into 1/2-inch-thick pieces. Sprinkle with flake salt and serve.

Slice and serve

So, you’re throwing a dinner party, and you’re stressed. We’ve all been there. 
 
You want to impress your guests with an impeccably cooked, flawless feast, the kind of food you dream about for years to come. The menu has been working its way through your mind for weeks—rosy, medium-rare steak atop a silky-smooth purée, flanked by vibrant veggies, and perfectly paired with a bottle of Yakima Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. But, alas, when you get to the store, you’re rocked by the realization that you’re about to spend half your paycheck on a few pieces of meat. 
 
Never fear, friends, for there is a better route to brilliant beef. Meet your new favorite meaty meal—the humble <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/cuts/beef-chuck-steak">chuck steak</a>. This piece of meat can be <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/decoding-tough-and-tender-cuts">chewy and tough, but sous vide transforms it into a tender steak</a> exploding with beefy flavor. All you need is 24 hands-free hours to sous vide this hardworking cut, and you can turn the cheapest of meats into a five-star surprise fit for any dinner guest. No one will know the difference between a prized cut and this sous vide delight—except you, of course, and anyone you want to let in on the secret. 
 
Finish this faux ribeye on the grill for a perfectly crispy char, and you’ve got yourself a meal to remember.