Finally solved my brisket issues with a sous vide

ShesGotEggs · February 2017

I have posted here before about my brisket issues - it has been my ongoing challenge on the BGE. Long stall times, anxiety over "Is it done?," guests arriving and wondering if I'd be able to feed them or not, etc. Got a sous vide last weekend, salt and peppered my brisket, put it in sous vide for 36 hours at 140 degrees, finished it off with 2 hours on the BGE at 250 degrees. YOU GUYS!!! It was the most amazing thing ever. Moist, juicy, didn't need to get a knife anywhere near it.

Of course I forgot to take photos as we sliced and attacked. You'll have to trust me on this one.

coomdaddy · February 2017

So, that didn't get anywhere near the 195-205 mark did it? Interesting.

fishlessman · February 2017

did you get any bark with the two hours, been wanting to do this for a while, was thinking about searing first, then the sous, then smoke, but if you got some bark maybe thats not a needed step

JohnInCarolina · February 2017

Agreed this is basically how I did my last brisket and I won't go back. Slightly different from your approach, based on this recipe:

https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/smokerless-smoked-brisket

Finished on the BGE at the end instead of on the stove. I did not do the brining but pretty much followed everything else.

To answer @fishlessman - I got a good amount of bark in my case.

jeffwit · February 2017

Does the extended time in the SV make it tender so it doesn't need to get to around 200*? Or does it get to 200 in the couple of hours on the egg?

ShesGotEggs · February 2017

I did add one more round of very thick salt/pepper rub when I put it on the BGE. That got me a bark. Temp when I pulled it from the BGE after 2 hours was 194.

SmokeyPitt · February 2017

I am glad to hear it worked out for you. That is interesting that it got from 140-194 in only 2 hours. I am guessing it might be the extended time in sous vide broke down the fat/collagen so there wasn't a stall. My last brisket spent 3-4 hours between 160-170 IT cooking at 250.

coomdaddy · February 2017

cool

lousubcap · February 2017

I would say cheating but it's your cook so however you get to the promised land works for me. Congrats on the result and banquet.

maso · February 2017

@ShesGotEggs @JohnInCarolina how did y'all bag the brisket for the SV cook?

GATraveller · February 2017

Interesting. Thanks for the tip.

JohnInCarolina · February 2017

maso said:

@ShesGotEggs @JohnInCarolina how did y'all bag the brisket for the SV cook?

Lol very carefully.

I had a full packer, nearly 13 lbs. I had to separate it into two sections, right down the middle. The bags I had were nowhere near large enough to fit the whole thing.

I actually don't think it matters in terms or how it ends up cooking in the SV, especially if it's in the bath for that long.

JohnInCarolina · February 2017

lousubcap said:

I would say cheating but it's your cook so however you get to the promised land works for me. Congrats on the result and banquet.

Yeah I've seen people say this is cheating or not real Q. Who cares? This is designed for consumption, not the BBQ circuit.

Stormbringer · February 2017

Now this is something I can get on board with. I was gifted with a sous vide at Christmas from my generous in-laws, and have come to appreciate it's uses.

By complete co-incidence published a first experiences blog post this very morning http://wp.me/p7qSlA-3Ya . I'll be trying this method on brisket for sure, thanks!

@TheToast this might interest you, given the previous conversation we had about brisket, risk and cost.

caliking · February 2017

@maso - Cen-Tex turned me on to these when we met up for our Charcutapalooza shenanigans. Should fit a packer, if you want to keep it whole.

JohnInCarolina · February 2017

caliking said:

@maso - Cen-Tex turned me on to these when we met up for our Charcutapalooza shenanigans. Should fit a packer, if you want to keep it whole.

Man, @The Cen-Tex Smoker told me he preferred "expandable rubbers" - thought for sure he was talking about something else. Good to know!

caliking · February 2017

JohnInCarolina said:

caliking said:

@maso - Cen-Tex turned me on to these when we met up for our Charcutapalooza shenanigans. Should fit a packer, if you want to keep it whole.

Man, @The Cen-Tex Smoker told me he preferred "expandable rubbers" - thought for sure he was talking about something else. Good to know!

I'm not touching this one because I haven't started drinking yet.

Legume · February 2017

I use those expanding vacuseal bags - I can fit a rack of plate ribs in them. You have to be careful when sealing - best to use the moist setting on your sealer if it has one and double seal (separate seal, not twice same place) if you can. the folds can be tricky to seal.

I also use extra large ziplocs - you can order 1.5, 2, 2.5 even 3 gal ziplocs on amazon. smart and final usually has 2 gal ones in stock as well.

fishlessman · February 2017

JohnInCarolina said:

Agreed this is basically how I did my last brisket and I won't go back. Slightly different from your approach, based on this recipe:

https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/smokerless-smoked-brisket

Finished on the BGE at the end instead of on the stove. I did not do the brining but pretty much followed everything else.

To answer @fishlessman - I got a good amount of bark in my case.

just picked up a point, this weekend

Stormbringer · February 2017

caliking said:

JohnInCarolina said:

caliking said:

@maso - Cen-Tex turned me on to these when we met up for our Charcutapalooza shenanigans. Should fit a packer, if you want to keep it whole.

Man, @The Cen-Tex Smoker told me he preferred "expandable rubbers" - thought for sure he was talking about something else. Good to know!

I'm not touching this one because I haven't started drinking yet.

Please start drinking soon.

@ShesGotEggs a couple of questions if I may.

- What was the weight of your brisket?
- Did you rest it after it came out of the sous vide, before putting in the Egg?
- Did you rest it after it came out of the Egg? If so for how long, and did you wrap it?

Ok five questions.

ShesGotEggs · February 2017

@jeffwit it was 140 after the 36 hours in the sous vide, then got to 194 in the 2 hours on the BGE. @lousubcap I'm a big fan of doing what works! Call it cheating, I'm just happy to have finally figured it out. As my husband used to say, "Brisket is your white whale." I obsessed for many months trying to get it on the BGE and with the sous vide it worked first time like a charm, and has worked every time since then.

ShesGotEggs · February 2017

@maso @caliking I use the Foodsaver and vacuum seal. THANKS for the tip on expandable bags, I have never seen those!

ShesGotEggs · February 2017

Stormbringer said:

- What was the weight of your brisket?
- Did you rest it after it came out of the sous vide, before putting in the Egg?
- Did you rest it after it came out of the Egg? If so for how long, and did you wrap it?

Ok five questions.

OK brisket weight was 4 -5 pounds if I recall on that one. No resting, pulled from sous vide, rubbed the salt/pepper on it, threw it on the egg. Rested for 20 minutes when it came off egg, sitting on cutting board, tented with foil. No wrap. I should also add this was our first brisket from our grass-fed cow!

ShesGotEggs · February 2017

Legume said:

I use those expanding vacuseal bags - I can fit a rack of plate ribs in them. You have to be careful when sealing - best to use the moist setting on your sealer if it has one and double seal (separate seal, not twice same place) if you can. the folds can be tricky to seal.

I also use extra large ziplocs - you can order 1.5, 2, 2.5 even 3 gal ziplocs on amazon. smart and final usually has 2 gal ones in stock as well.

Thank you I did not know this! I have been buying the 2 gallon from my Cash N' Carry. But I'd rather order on Amazon.

Stormbringer · February 2017

@ShesGotEggs thanks ... SWMBO has now added this to our Egg planned cooks board.

ShesGotEggs · February 2017

Stormbringer said:

Now this is something I can get on board with. I was gifted with a sous vide at Christmas from my generous in-laws, and have come to appreciate it's uses.

By complete co-incidence published a first experiences blog post this very morning http://wp.me/p7qSlA-3Ya . I'll be trying this method on brisket for sure, thanks!

@TheToast this might interest you, given the previous conversation we had about brisket, risk and cost.

Great article on your blog! I had not thought of doing vegetables yet. Will try the carrots. Right now I have a Bo Kha going inside (Vietnamese beef stew) using our Joule sous vide...and then a Carne Adovada (New Mexican pork in red chili sauce) going out in the garage using a new Gourmia sous vide I picked up on sale for $100. I love long slow cooks, and with our rainy PNW weather I don't get outside using my BGE as much as I would like. The sous vide feels like a good replacement until the sun starts shining again!

Legume · February 2017

I thought rain only bothered people outside of the PNW?

The Cen-Tex Smoker · February 2017

JohnInCarolina said:

caliking said:

@maso - Cen-Tex turned me on to these when we met up for our Charcutapalooza shenanigans. Should fit a packer, if you want to keep it whole.

Man, @The Cen-Tex Smoker told me he preferred "expandable rubbers" - thought for sure he was talking about something else. Good to know!

Greetings from 32,000 feet over the flattest part of this (already) great country of ours. I think I see a tiny guy in acid washed short shorts down there so I assume I'm above IL at the moment.

The expandable food savers are great. And as far as expandable rubbers go...well, I can't help there. Maybe @sgh can tell us

ColtsFan · February 2017

Thanks @ShesGotEggs. I'll definitely be trying this as I am a brisket flunky too

Stormbringer · February 2017

@ShesGotEggs thanks, veggies are great in the SV imho.

And rain never stops an Egghead ... and we have a lot of rain in England (the original one, not the New one).

Cookbook_Chip · February 2017

Or, you could smoke/egg it for 12 hours and eat it

Finally solved my brisket issues with a sous vide

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