36 hrs SV Brisket + 2.5 hrs Egg = OK results I can build on (several pics)

vb4677 · March 2017

SWMBO got a 6# flat on Friday from Costco. Trimmed fat cap, rubbed with course black pepper and kosher salt, vac sealed and sous vide for 36 hours at 153F. Rotated around in the bath every now and again...
Since it was a flat, there wasn't a lot of fat and it was quite lean. It released a lot of liquid into the bag. This morning (36 hours later) I re-injected some liquid back in before I threw it on the LBGE that was cruising at 250F. Rubbed it again with Trader Joe's Coffee rub. Smoked for 2.5 hrs over mesquite.

1.) Best brisket I've ever done - right texture, bend and pull. Even got a smoke ring... Thank God I didn't pull yet another inedible beef brick off the grill...
2.) Not the moistest brisket I've ever had. Will keep more of the fat cap next time, or move up to a packer.
3.) Not a lot of smoke flavor - some, but not what I'd called real BBQ.
4.) Created an au jus with all the beefy liquid, some worcestershire, boullion and rub. Really saved the meat at serving time.
5.) I think there's a sweet spot somewhere w/ the sous vide and the egg... may just take some trials...
6.) Reinjecting helped -but the muscle pushed all that liquid out and it wasn't too interested in taking it back.
7.) Will try SV brisket again - maybe higher SV temp and less time, or smoking for 1-2 hours before the SV bath.
8.) SV Brisket recipes online are all over the board for times and temp. I tried following Serious Eats' methods, as they had the pics of brisket at various temps and times. I went 2F lower than their recommended 155F but still 36 hrs.
9.) It was a fairly easy cook - took a lot of time that I don't know if I'd been better off just smoking it low & slow, but like I said - it's been the best one I've ever pulled out of a smoker... I think the cow may've won this one, but it's getting scared of me winning the next one!

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nolaegghead · March 2017

Looks good.

My advice would be, for a flat which is fairly lean, SV at a lower temp where the fat doesn't render quite as much. Maybe 140. I do whole briskets at 147F. Or at least I've played around some and that was the number that gave me the best "head start" to the smoker.

Really, with flats, SV can give you better results than a smoke-only cook, although I find the easiest and best results are to cook a choice or better, large packer completely on the smoker. That is, if you can find them (I'm still sorta shocked there's a drought on packers in many parts of the country - how un-American! Sad!).

nolaegghead · March 2017

Insofar as "how long?" goes..... There's no substitute for squeezing the bag every now and then and deciding what's tender enough for you. Remember it will cook more on the grill. Too tender is not "better"....you don't want mushy beef.

Fortunately, SV is a slow moving train so you can be off a few hours without completely destroying something. Squeeze the bag.

vb4677 · March 2017

Yeah, I figured lower temp and about the same or less time might do me good

HDmstng · March 2017

Did you cool/shock it before putting it on the Egg? If smoke is only absorbed when temps are below 140F(?) and you put it on the Egg warm, it may not pick up a lot of smoke flavor.

FabFive · March 2017

I'm reluctant to believe that a good brisket can be done SV. Sounds sexy but there are two things that would cause me concern.

1. How to ensure that you're through the stall. The stall is a fundamental reality off a good brisket chef and getting through - just through and not too much - to the other side is the only true goal. I monitor this with a meat thermometer read outside of my egg.

2. The varying thickness of the meat. Seems like it would be hard to deal with in a SV bag.

Your pictures show a dry brisket and the part where you describe how much liquid came out makes me believe that you powered through the stall and overcooked. The stall is different with each piece of meat, it's weird really.

Brisket is amazingly simple on an egg with the right tools. I've got a grill guru and I keep that thing dialed to 250° with my internal temperature goal of 205°. It's worked every time.

Theophan · March 2017

HDmstng said:

Did you cool/shock it before putting it on the Egg? If smoke is only absorbed when temps are below 140F(?) and you put it on the Egg warm, it may not pick up a lot of smoke flavor.

I'm pretty sure that

The smoke ring, which has nothing to do with flavor, develops better on cold meat, and it only happens in the early part of the cook.
The smoke itself, though, the smoke flavor, which isn't really absorbed but sort of layered onto the outside of the meat, is unaffected by having the meat cold, and the longer it's in the smoke the more smoke will be layered onto the meat.

So a long sous vide and a short smoke will lead to less smoke flavor than a long smoke, and putting it on the Egg warm may affect the smoke ring, but not the smoke flavor.

vb4677 · March 2017

HDmstng said:

Did you cool/shock it before putting it on the Egg? If smoke is only absorbed when temps are below 140F(?) and you put it on the Egg warm, it may not pick up a lot of smoke flavor.

Yeah, I dropped it into the fridge for a bit and it was not too hot to touch when I was re-rubbing it before the smoker. And I love to put my shoulders and such in cold, straight from the fridge...so with it being warm and cooked, it didn't take on a ton of smoke flavor.

vb4677 · March 2017

Thanks everyone - I think my next brisket is gonna go straight into the LBGE cold and skip the SV...

55drum · March 2017

I SV @ 130 for 60 hr then to the egg for a 1/2 hr sear....GL

GlennM · March 2017

I did 140 for 30 hours and got a great result. What was the 60 hr 130 like?

smokeyj · March 2017

Looks really good. Excellent brisket cook.

I do mine opposite. I smoke until it hits 165 then cool and food saver. Then I put in the fridge and sous vide for 24 hours at 137 to 140. I will have to try sous vide then smoking see if there is a big difference.
I figure I get better smoke smoking it first. That has been in the winter. I doubt I'll sous vide any from spring through fall.

36 hrs SV Brisket + 2.5 hrs Egg = OK results I can build on (several pics)

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