Oven-Finished Sous Vide Brisket
Posted: 09/21/22
Updated: 05/11/23
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Unbelievably juicy brisket cooked low and super-slow in the sous vide is out-of-this-world delicious. With an easy dry rub that highlights all the natural flavors of the meat, this is sure to become one of your favorite “set it and forget it” recipes. No grill or smoker needed – this sous vide brisket is oven-finished to develop a rich, chewy bark while keeping the center of the meat fall-apart tender.
❤️ What Makes This Recipe So Good
- Brisket is one of those lean, delicious proteins that absolutely MUST be cooked low and slow if you don’t want to end up with dry, chewy, tough beef. That makes it maybe the most perfect meat to cook in the sous vide! With the water temperature-controlled, you don’t have to worry about overcooking or cooking unevenly. Just drop it in and let the sous vide work its magic. You don’t need to babysit the cooking process like you would in a smoker or on the grill – adjusting vents, adding charcoal or wood chips to regulate the temperature, rotating the meat, getting up in the middle of the night to prevent stalling…
- Brisket is not a quick, throw it together after work kind of entrée, no matter how you cook it. The sous vide makes it easy and foolproof, though, despite the long cook time. Even better, you can prep the brisket and cook it in the sous vide up to a week before you actually intend to eat it, so you can really make this process work for you and your busy schedule.
- What do you serve with brisket? Oh, there so many incredible options. You can treat it like BBQ and opt for coleslaw, cornbread, baked beans, and potato salad. For winter holidays, you might go with asparagus, sweet potatoes, carrot soufflé, and green bean almondine.
👩🏼🍳 Chef’s Tips
- Not sure what size brisket you need for your group? No worries – the formula’s simple. Typically, you want to assume 1 pound of uncooked brisket per adult, and ½ pound uncooked brisket per child. So if your dinner party is made up of 4 adults and 3 kids, you’ll want to pick up a brisket that’s roughly 5 ½ pounds.
- A 5-pound brisket is a pretty hefty hunk of meat, so make sure you’ve got a container large enough that you can fully submerge the brisket in water. If it’s not 100% fully submerged, it won’t cook evenly. You might also want to double bag the brisket, sealing each bag tight, since it’ll be in the water for so long.
- You’ve got a little flexibility in the cook time. The brisket will be fully cooked after 24 hours, but you can let it go up to 36 hours if you want. The longer it cooks, the more fall-apart tender the meat will be. Just don’t let it go too long or the fibers in the meat will start to break down and give you a really unappealing texture.
- Missing the smokiness you’d get with a smoker or grill? You can have that with your sous vide brisket, too! Just add ¼ teaspoon liquid smoke to the bag with the dry-rubbed brisket, then seal it up and get cookin’! You could also use smoked paprika instead of regular paprika for a similar but less-intense smoke flavor.
Here’s the Beef! More Beef Recipes You’ll Love
- Ground Beef and Gravy Over Mashed Potatoes
- Shredded Beef Tacos
- Beef Noodle Soup
- Beef Consommé
- Keto Beef Stew (Low Carb, Gluten Free)
- Beef Vindaloo
Oven-Finished Sous Vide Brisket
Savory brisket seasoned with an incredible dry rub and then cooked low and extra slow in a water bath for a mouth-watering, show-stopping, guest-impressing, unbelievably tender protein – no grill or smoker needed.
servings
Ingredients
- ¼ cup salt
- 2 packed tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- ½ tablespoon garlic powder
- ½ tablespoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 brisket approximately 5 pounds, flat or point-cut
Equipment
- Large pot or other large, heat-resistant container
- Sous vide immersion circulator
- Small bowl
- Whisk
- Cutting board
- large food-safe vacuum sealing bags or large sealable food-safe plastic bag
- vacuum sealer optional, see Notes for alternative
- Oven
- Paper towels
- Baking pan large enough for brisket
- Aluminum Foil
Instructions
- Fill large pot or other large, heat-resistant container with water. Insert sous vide immersion circulator and set to 155° Fahrenheit. Note: pot must be deep enough that water level falls between minimum and maximum indicators on circulator.
- Add ¼ cup salt, 2 packed tablespoons brown sugar, 1 tablespoon paprika, ½ tablespoon garlic powder, ½ tablespoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon dry mustard, 1 tablespoon dried thyme, and ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper to small bowl. Whisk until spices are well incorporated.
- Place whole brisket on cutting board. Sprinkle approximately two-thirds of spice mixture over all sides of brisket and gently rub mixture into brisket. Reserve remaining spice mixture for later in recipe.
- Transfer dry-rubbed brisket to food-safe bag. Remove as much air from bag as possible with vacuum sealer or water displacement method (see Notes) and seal bag shut.
- Once water bath is preheated to 155° Fahrenheit, place sealed bag in pot, making sure brisket is fully submerged. Weigh bag down with weights or silverware attached to bottom of bag if needed. Food must be fully submerged to cook properly.
- Cook brisket in water bath 24 to 36 hours, until desired texture is achieved. Note: brisket will be fully cooked after 24 hours but is safe to continue cooking up to 36 hours. Longer cook time will yield more tender meat.
- Toward end of cook time, preheat oven to 300° Fahrenheit. Move oven rack to lower-middle position.
- When brisket is cooked as desired, carefully remove bag from water bath. Remove brisket from food-safe bag and pat brisket completely dry with paper towels. Sprinkle remaining dry rub mixture over all sides of brisket.
- Transfer seasoned brisket to baking pan. Place pan in preheated oven and cook, uncovered, 2 hours or until dark bark has formed on top of brisket.
- When bark has formed, carefully remove brisket from oven. Transfer brisket to cutting board and cover brisket loosely with aluminum foil. Let brisket rest, covered, 30 minutes, then slice brisket against grain and serve with desired sides.
Notes
- Water Displacement Method: If you don’t have a vacuum sealer, place your ingredients in an appropriately-sized sealable food-safe bag and seal the bag halfway across the top. Heat the water with the sous vide immersion circulator as instructed, then slowly lower the half-sealed bag into the heated water. The temperature difference outside the bag will force the air out of the bag – you should see the plastic cling to the food. Once the food is entirely submerged and the air is all out, seal the bag completely and continue with the recipe.
- Make-Ahead Option: Season and cook brisket in sous vide as written. After removing brisket from sous vide, leave brisket in bag and place in refrigerator. Refrigerate up to 1 week. When ready to finish brisket, remove brisket from refrigerator and let come to room temperature, then roast brisket in oven as written to develop bark.
- Make it Keto: Use Brown Swerve instead of brown sugar.
- Make it Paleo: Use coconut sugar instead of brown sugar.
Nutrition Information
Serving Size: 1serving, Calories: 628kcal, Protein: 34g, Fat: 52g, Saturated Fat: 20g, Cholesterol: 180mg, Sodium: 3111mg, Potassium: 32mg, Total Carbs: 2g, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 0.3g, Net Carbs: 1g, Vitamin A: 402IU, Vitamin C: 0.4mg, Calcium: 13mg, Iron: 1mg
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
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