Not your traditional brisket cook

[bigmikey]

I'm a firm believer that brisket is best cooked with a combo of smoke and sous vide. This test is to compare my normal method vs a new method.

My normal method is to hot smoke the brisket until 160, then vac seal and put in the sous vide at 134 for 24-48 hours. The second method will be to produce a medium rare fully cooked brisket. I will sous vide first at 134 for 48 hours, then cold shock for a few hours before hot smoking at 225 until it reaches 134.

I started with a 21 lb packer. For this test, i separated the point and flat, and then cut each in half. I trimmed a lot of fat, probably 5+ lbs. Seasoned with Tatonka Dust. 1st  flat was cooked over the vortex on the kettle with cherry at 225 for 5.5 hours til it reached 160. Flat was vac sealed and  into water bath for 24-48 hours. 1st point was cooked on the yoder at 225 for 5.5 hours til it reached 160. It was vac sealed and into water. I'll cube this up after 48 hours and depending on how they are may go back on smoker.




















2nd flat and point were vac sealed and tossed in tub at 134. After 48 hours, the flat will be cold shocked in ice water, seasoned with Tatonka dust,  and then smoked at 225 until 134 IT. The point will be cold shocked,  cubed up, seasoned and spread out on frogmat on smoker until they have a nice bark.

Final results sunday

[austin87]

I'm interested to see how this turns out. Specifically how the texture and juiciness of the medium rare one turns out. Time and temp are the big factors so maybe a long time at 134 will be enough to make it tender. I would be concerned a brisket only cooked to 134, no matter for how long, would be like eating a shoe.

I always cook brisket to 195-205 so this is a great experiment.

[bigmikey]

My very first sous vide brisket was at 134 for 72 hours. It was definitely tender and very good but lacked the smoke and bark. That's when I started to experiment.  Came to the conclusion that when hot smoked to 160,  then into the sous vide,  it produces an great brisket. This time, the second one will get smoked after and brought back up to temp hoping to create a bark and get some smoke flavor. It should be medium rare throughout yet fully cooked and tender

[Jon]

What about the connective tissues? Collagen dissolves into gelatin starting at 160, right? I've always thought and been told that was an important part of bbq. And braises, stews, etc.

[jfbincypress]

I'm highly interested in this...I love to sous vide cook (see my post from last night), and brisket at medium rare is one of my projects yet to be done.

Thanks for sharing with the group!


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[bigmikey]

The collagen should break down, just a matter of how long it will take.

[jfbincypress]

Sous vide goes against every standard cooking guideline...things happen at lower temps and longer periods of time. You can have super tender cuts of meat, and cook them to much lower temps. The cooks I've done have been some of the most tender and juicy cooks I've ever experienced.


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[MikeRocksTheRed]

Wow. This is an awesome write up.  I've given up on brisket. Trie fit three time and had mixed results. The last two came out pretty good, but I think I just don't really like brisket as much as most people do. 


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[MrHoss]

You gotta take plate pictures when this is done. Real curious to see a slice of flat laid across a finger.

[WNC]

Yeah I'm with everyone else, I can't wait to see the finish!

[bigmikey]

Ok the ones that were smoked first are done. Decided to go 72 hours on the other ones so they won't get some smoke til tomorrow. 

[austin87]

So that one went to 160 internal? That looks pretty good to me!

[jfbincypress]

Did you re-sear the brisket post-sous vide? How was the moisture level? Did the bark get soggy?


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[bigmikey]

Yes this was taken to 160 on smoker.  I thought about researing but decided against it. I cold shocked it for an hour then patted dry. The bark had a lot of moisture on it, but after patting dry couldnt tell any difference from a wrapped one in the smoker. Sliced it cold into some thicker slices and used a meat slicer to to get some deli thin slices. Very juicy and oh so tender. The fat melts in your mouth.

[jfbincypress]

Very nice cook...so you smoked, vacuum sealed, immediately into the sous vide, and then chilled post sous-vide before slicing?


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