brisket

Sous Vide Brisket #3

Phil March 23, 2014

Sous Vide Brisket #3: I haven’t posted #2 yet; maybe that will happen later.  This was grass-fed organic brisket that cost $9/lb.  I double bagged it with nothing added, and then put it in the water bath for 72 hours at 54.5C (130F).  I was targeting the bottom of the medium-rare range.  It was a much thicker cut, and the point turned out sorta dry and with a weird texture.  The rest of it was good though.

It looked ugly coming out of the plastic bag.

sous vide brisket #3

I added salt and pepper and then seared it with the blow torch.  Looking much better now.

sous vide brisket #3

 

Texture was soft to the touch, and the muscle fibers could be torn apart manually.  I made a gravy by reducing the beef juice, and it went well with the brisket.

IMG_1649m

Sous Vide Experiment: Brisket

phil September 8, 2013
Sous vide brisket

I’ve been conducting some sous vide experiments lately.  My sister bought me a deep fryer a while back, and I decided to convert it into a sous vide machine.  I guess it can still function as a deep fryer, but I’ve been cooking food in water instead of oil..

I’m pretty new to this, so I expect to have some not-very-good food.  This was my brisket experiment, inspired by some delicious smoked brisket at a recent birthday BBQ.

Here’s the raw cut of meat, about 1.6 pounds.  The other side of the brisket did not have much of a fat cap, I guess it had been trimmed away?  I seasoned it with a bit of salt and pepper and sugar.  I think next time, I will skip the salt.

Sous vide brisket

I put the brisket in the sous vide cooker at 62.2C for 46 hours.  Douglas Baldwin has a couple of suggestions for brisket, and I chose a temperature close to the French Laundry’s.   I elected not to brine, because, well, I didn’t feel like it.  I added 1.5 tablespoons of butter to the bag and put it in the machine.

 

Here’s the beef after 46 hours.  It shrank to about 60% of its original size.

Sous vide brisket

I saved the liquid left over for gravy: I browned an onion and then mixed the liquid in and let it reduce for a while.  I dried off the meat with paper towels and then seared with a blowtorch.

Sous vide brisket Sous vide brisket

The blowtorch method is new to me, but I think worked pretty well.

Sous vide brisket

The beef was a little grey; I think it was cooked about medium to medium-well.  Some of it was starting to become flaky.

Sous vide brisket

It tasted great, but was a bit dry.  But not too dry.  It was probably comparable in texture to the brisket that I had from the smoker.  Paired with the gravy, it was delicious.

 

My brisket recipe:

  • Season with salt, pepper, and a bit of sugar before sous vide
  • Sous vide for 46 hours at 62.2C
  • Use the liquid for gravy
  • Dry, then sear with blowtorch

Changes for next time:

  • Try to salt after sous vide – maybe it will be moister?
  • Lower temperature (57C) or higher temperature (80C)
  • Omit the butter next time?