Brisket: long sous vide hold???

[jjdbike]

Good morning everyone & happy Monday,

Planning a Q for our hood in a couple weeks. For various reasons, all of my smoking must be completed during daylight hours.

Gonna smoke on a Saturday afternoon till bark is good and set. That’ll probably take between 4 & 6 hours on the KBQ between 250 & 275.

I’ll bring to probe tender in oven uncovered in foil boat w/ fat cap up at 275. I want to preserve that bark as much as possible due to sous vide rest. Bringing to tender will probably take another 3 - 6 hours.

I’ll need to hold it overnight till early Sunday afternoon. While my electric oven has a warming setting & I can hold it at 160ish, electric ovens are prone to temp swings. On the other hand, sous vide will hold it dead on temp.

Considering cooling brisket down to 160 after pulling from oven, wrapping in butcher paper to vac seal it for sous vide. I’m hoping the paper will keep vac sealer from sucking up too much liquid and protect the bark better than being sucked up against the vacuum bag. I’ll hold the brisket in a preheated sous vide 160 degree bath for 16 - 20 hours.

What do you think. Will it work okay? I believe as long as I keep temp internal temp above 145 it should be safe. I also realize the bark may soften a bit & it may be a bit pot roasty, but neither of these would be too bad as long as it’s tender, flavorful and juicy.

I’d greatly appreciate any thoughts, tips or suggestions.

Thanks in advance!
JD

 

[jimstocks53]

From a long-time sous vide'r. First, The bark WILL become soggy with a very prolonged sous vide 'hold'. Second, while sous vide definitely allows for an indefinite hold at a precise temperature, my fear is that 20 hours at 160 AFTER fully having cooked the meat may well harm the texture you already achieved BEFORE the 'hold' because cooking will still proceed even at 160 albeit slowly. You want the sous vide simply to maintain the meat safely. At that point, it should be sufficient to hold at a lower temp.

I have kept meat at 130 degrees without over-cooking for 36 hours. Food safety is a matter of BOTH time and temp - not just temp alone - and meat SEALED from re-infection will remain safe for a VERY long time - even if the temp falls below the suual 'safe' norms.

You might could reinvigorate the bark before serving by a brief return to the smoker.

BTW, you are not the first to ask this question and there isn't a universally admitted correct answer. Some sous vide first - others as you have proposed albeit not 20 hours.

 

[jjdbike]

From a long-time sous vide'r. First, The bark WILL become soggy with a very prolonged sous vide 'hold'. Second, while sous vide definitely allows for an indefinite hold at a precise temperature, my fear is that 20 hours at 160 AFTER fully having cooked the meat may well harm the texture you already achieved BEFORE the 'hold' because cooking will still proceed even at 160 albeit slowly. You want the sous vide simply to maintain the meat safely. At that point, it should be sufficient to hold at a lower temp.

I have kept meat at 130 degrees without over-cooking for 36 hours. Food safety is a matter of BOTH time and temp - not just temp alone - and meat SEALED from re-infection will remain safe for a VERY long time - even if the temp falls below the suual 'safe' norms.

You might could reinvigorate the bark before serving by a brief return to the smoker.

BTW, you are not the first to ask this question and there isn't a universally admitted correct answer. Some sous vide first - others as you have proposed albeit not 20 hours.

Thanks much Jim!

Would you propose not quite cooking it till probe tender, e.g. 180 instead of 200?

Would you suggest holding it at 145 instead of 160?

Would a brief stint under broiler help firm up bark?

Thanks again!
JD

 

[Connor_Macleod]

I have done a 20-hour sous vide rest at 141 degrees with no significant negative effects - it did soften up the bark, and some of the pepper stays stuck to the plastic vacuum seal wrap if you seal it in the plastic only. The end result was still very nice however.

Your concept of sealing it wrapped in butcher paper might help counteract some of these issues.

 

[jjdbike]

I have done a 20-hour sous vide rest at 141 degrees with no significant negative effects - it did soften up the bark, and some of the pepper stays stuck to the plastic vacuum seal wrap if you seal it in the plastic only. The end result was still very nice however.

Your concept of sealing it wrapped in butcher paper might help counteract some of these issues.

Excellent!

Did you take it all the way to probe tender before the sous vide rest?

How far down did you allow meat to cool before placing in sous bath to rest?

Would you suggest a quick stint in broiler to firm up bark?

Thanks so much!
JD

 

[jimstocks53]

Since there isn't an easy way to check TEXTURE inside the sous vide wrap, I'd do as you first proposed but choose 145 for the hold. Again, the bark will soften but maybe the double wrap of paper then plastic might keep some from being pulled off when you unwrap. I like the broiler idea - quick and simple. Feedback please.

 

[jjdbike]

Since there isn't an easy way to check TEXTURE inside the sous vide wrap, I'd do as you first proposed but choose 145 for the hold. Again, the bark will soften but maybe the double wrap of paper then plastic might keep some from being pulled off when you unwrap. I like the broiler idea - quick and simple. Feedback please.

Thanks again Jim.

I'll most defiantly report back.

Best regards,
JD

 

[Connor_Macleod]

How far down did you allow meat to cool before placing in sous bath to rest?
JD

Typically I allow it to cool to around 165 before the sous vide.

 

[jjdbike]

Typically I allow it to cool to around 165 before the sous vide.

Thanks Connor,
I’ve also read to let temp come down to 150 before slicing.
Looking forward to this cook!
I’ll let you all know how it turns out.
JD

 

[Kevin James]

I've done this several times, holding as long as 24 hours and every time it turned out great.

In order to prevent it from getting over cooked I generally take the brisket no higher than 195, then I rest down to 150 before dropping in the sous vide at 141.

I just vac seal the brisket directly in the bag, and I have always found the end result to be very similar to a paper wrap with tallow. The bark is soft and not crunchy, but it does not rub off as long as you make sure it is properly set before wrapping. I use the foil boat wrap for that purpose but am going to experiment with no wrap on my next brisket. I have not personally experienced any significant amount of pepper getting stuck to the bag.

You could certainly try wrapping in butcher paper prior to vac sealing, but I don't know if that will have any significant change in preserving the bark texture.

 

[jjdbike]

I've done this several times, holding as long as 24 hours and every time it turned out great.

In order to prevent it from getting over cooked I generally take the brisket no higher than 195, then I rest down to 150 before dropping in the sous vide at 141.

I just vac seal the brisket directly in the bag, and I have always found the end result to be very similar to a paper wrap with tallow. The bark is soft and not crunchy, but it does not rub off as long as you make sure it is properly set before wrapping. I use the foil boat wrap for that purpose but am going to experiment with no wrap on my next brisket. I have not personally experienced any significant amount of pepper getting stuck to the bag.

You could certainly try wrapping in butcher paper prior to vac sealing, but I don't know if that will have any significant change in preserving the bark texture.

Thanks Kevin!
You’ve boosted my confidence!
Other than trying to help protect the bark, I was thinking it might help keep the vacuum sealer from sucking up too much liquid.
Have you ever given the bark a quick blast to try to firm it back up, e.g., broiler?
JD

 

[pmad]

Why not just smoke the brisket as usual.
Slice then vacuum seal.
Refrigerate.
Then about 1 hr in 140° sous vide to bring to serving temp.
Bark should stay better.

I do this with pulled pork all of the time.

 

[jjdbike]

Why not just smoke the brisket as usual.
Slice then vacuum seal.
Refrigerate.
Then about 1 hr in 140° sous vide to bring to serving temp.
Bark should stay better.

I do this with pulled pork all of the time.

Interesting option. Thanks for sharing this. I’m not sure I see how bark would stay better.

There seems to be a good deal of anecdotal evidence that long holds make brisket more tender and juicy. Many famous BBQ joint do long heated holds.
JD

 

[Jbowie]

Sous Vide

One of the BRETHREN posted a Brisket smoked to about 190F, wrapped in pink paper, placed in a foil pan, and covered with foil. Build a shelf/table to fit inside a ice chest. make table about 6 inches tall. fill ice chest with water almost to bottom of foil pan. Set sous vide to 160 farenheit and place foil pan on shelf for up tfo 24 hours, meat will be tender and tasty.

 

[snadamo]

Brethren Thirdeye has some good posts on the SV hold method...I will see if I can dig something up.