As a busy mom juggling work, kid’s needs, and an endless to-do list, I’m all about low-effort meals with high-reward flavor. It doesn’t mean I’m not inspired though. Every once in a while, I am reminded of my short visit to Texas and trying my first barbecued brisket maaany years ago. I had no idea then what it would take to get that tender and juicy meat. I’ve made braised briskets before, but never really touched the smoker for anything more than some searing.
The idea of tackling a barbecue brisket feels like a distant, smoky dream. Who has time all day tending a smoker? However, brisket requires low and slow cooking, which is where my experience with sous vide came in handy. So to finally tackle this project, I used my new Anova Precision™ Oven 2.0 to get as close as I can to a traditional brisket — with a few tricks on hand.
Since I wasn’t using a smoker for the majority of the cook, I relied on a dry rub to add some smokiness. Smoked paprika, ancho chili, coffee and some liquid smoke helped with achieving that smoky flavor. I made sure to use fresh ingredients here as well. So I used my coffee grinder for the coffee beans, black peppercorns, and garlic cloves.
Most of the work happened in applying the dry rub. It was actually the most fun part, to be honest. I just made sure every bit of the brisket was covered in thick dry rub. I also wanted to highlight that I used a point cut brisket, which has an extra layer of fat for better flavor.
Then once every crevice was covered with dry rub, I just placed the brisket on an aluminum covered tray and into the pre-heated oven. I preheated the oven to 155°F with Sous Vide Mode on and 100% steam. The timer was set for 24 hours. It felt good to get that out of the way, and just look forward to a yummy meal the next day.
About six hours into the cook, I checked the oven. It was fascinating to see how the size of the brisket had shrunk. I had a six-pound brisket, which I thought was more than enough for two adults and a toddler. I made a mental note to get a bigger cut next time as I wanted to use some leftovers for chili!
The next day, I took out the brisket at just about 24 hours on the timer. There was a good amount of liquid from the fat cap in the tray, which had me a little worried. The crust though was fantastic — it had a nice bark. I considered skipping the smoker to finish, but I wanted to do it right. I let the meat cool down to room temp. Then my husband got our smoker started, and we put the brisket in there uncovered for 10 minutes at low heat (300°F).
The brisket came out pretty good for a sous vide cook. Although the meat wasn’t as fall apart tender as I expected, it was still tender and flavorful — comparable to a medium rare rib eye. I think using a fattier cut helped a lot. The exterior bark was also really good. The smokiness from the pepper, coffee, and liquid smoke was very nice. I don’t think in this case it needed to be finished in the smoker at all. One thing I would change though, is to cook it at a lower temperature for longer to minimize losing too much of that fat cap. Or maybe just skip the smoker altogether. Either way, the sous vide brisket was a lot more approachable now than it has ever been for me. I am very excited to try it again!
Head to our new and improved Sous Vide Brisket guide for more info!
