We finished off the smoked brisket I made from December so now it was time for another one. This time around I decided to take a 6.5 lb flat, season & smoke it first for 3 hours with hickory @ 230F in the MES, then vacuum seal it and Sous Vide it for 44 hours at 130F in a simple custom made cooking container I made from an inexpensive cooler and gave it a finish sear it with a Searzall torch. Boy was it good. The pics tell only part of the story.
I trimmed off a lot of the thick areas of beef fat since that does not render well with sous vide. I saved it (might freeze it and user for something else, not sure what). Then I seasoned the beef with a generous amount of kosher salt, pepper, and a smaller amount of garlic and onion powder. Wrapped in saran and put it in the frig overnight.
Next day I smoked it in the MES with Hickory at 230F for 3 hours, took it out, let it cool down. Next I vacuum sealed with my Foodsaver. I bought a cheap $25 cooler at Wal-Mart and fastened a metal bar on the bottom for the Joule sous vide device's magnet to attach to and simply drilled a hole near the lid for the power cord. According to the manufacturer, the Joule is water proof and would not be damaged if it ever fell into a pot of water so I felt safe with it being in a partially filled cooler with the lid closed for 2 days.
Ok, note to self (or a tip for others), for something as long as 44 hours in 130F water you will probably want to: (A) make a wider or double seal on the bag, and (B) vacuum seal it in a second bag and do the same. What happened to me is about 24 hours into the sous vide process the single bag with a single seal developed a very tiny leak. It was hard to tell if any water got in the bag but water in the home-made cooler cooker was not as crystal clear as it started out. Not a big deal, I just took the brisket out, gave the 1st bag another seal then put it in a 2nd bag and gave that a double seal and it was good for the rest of the process.
Finished product after the 44 hour sous vide hot tub bath and a quick sear with the Searzall. Not sure how I feel about the Searzall yet, 1st time using it and kind of pricy for what it does. I think it would be good for those odder shapes of meat that you could not easily pan sear or broil evenly but it does offer the safety of not over-cooking which can happen with broiling.
The meat was very juicy and tender. Preserved the juice that was in the sous vide bag, added a bit more beef broth and made an Au Jus gravy on the stove for the mashed potatoes and topping for the meat. I only did a small 6.5 lb flat this time being this method was my first try, but I think I'm hooked on making briskets this way from now on. Sooo good.
So, here's another thought for left overs, I think this will work out ok, but time will tell. After dinner I sliced up the entire brisket into serving slices. Then I took the laid them flat (no overlap) in vacuum sealer bags and sealed them up. My thought was I wanted the convenience of easy pre-sized left overs but more importantly throw the bag for the next meal in a 130F sous vide bath to warm it up for a half hour but NOT to cook it any more and preserve the rareness of the original prep. Enjoy... Thanks for reading....
Mike.
I trimmed off a lot of the thick areas of beef fat since that does not render well with sous vide. I saved it (might freeze it and user for something else, not sure what). Then I seasoned the beef with a generous amount of kosher salt, pepper, and a smaller amount of garlic and onion powder. Wrapped in saran and put it in the frig overnight.
Next day I smoked it in the MES with Hickory at 230F for 3 hours, took it out, let it cool down. Next I vacuum sealed with my Foodsaver. I bought a cheap $25 cooler at Wal-Mart and fastened a metal bar on the bottom for the Joule sous vide device's magnet to attach to and simply drilled a hole near the lid for the power cord. According to the manufacturer, the Joule is water proof and would not be damaged if it ever fell into a pot of water so I felt safe with it being in a partially filled cooler with the lid closed for 2 days.
Ok, note to self (or a tip for others), for something as long as 44 hours in 130F water you will probably want to: (A) make a wider or double seal on the bag, and (B) vacuum seal it in a second bag and do the same. What happened to me is about 24 hours into the sous vide process the single bag with a single seal developed a very tiny leak. It was hard to tell if any water got in the bag but water in the home-made cooler cooker was not as crystal clear as it started out. Not a big deal, I just took the brisket out, gave the 1st bag another seal then put it in a 2nd bag and gave that a double seal and it was good for the rest of the process.
Finished product after the 44 hour sous vide hot tub bath and a quick sear with the Searzall. Not sure how I feel about the Searzall yet, 1st time using it and kind of pricy for what it does. I think it would be good for those odder shapes of meat that you could not easily pan sear or broil evenly but it does offer the safety of not over-cooking which can happen with broiling.
The meat was very juicy and tender. Preserved the juice that was in the sous vide bag, added a bit more beef broth and made an Au Jus gravy on the stove for the mashed potatoes and topping for the meat. I only did a small 6.5 lb flat this time being this method was my first try, but I think I'm hooked on making briskets this way from now on. Sooo good.
So, here's another thought for left overs, I think this will work out ok, but time will tell. After dinner I sliced up the entire brisket into serving slices. Then I took the laid them flat (no overlap) in vacuum sealer bags and sealed them up. My thought was I wanted the convenience of easy pre-sized left overs but more importantly throw the bag for the next meal in a 130F sous vide bath to warm it up for a half hour but NOT to cook it any more and preserve the rareness of the original prep. Enjoy... Thanks for reading....
Mike.
