Sous Vide temp. controller

[Wingman]

After reading about sous vide here I wanted to experiment and figured my Auber temperature controller (WS-1200CPH) for my Bradley OBS might work if I could get an immersion type sensor.  Auber offers one (WS-SENSOR06) so I got it and did a dry run (well.. wet, actually) with my wife's biggest crockpot cooker rated at 330 watts.  It got to and held 130 degrees with no problems.  I checked the temps around the cooker and the whole thing was within about a degree.  For what it's worth....you may already have a sous vide controller.

[muebe]

Yep should not have any issues for that. It can handle 1200W. I just didn't want to have to disconnect and reconnect my dual probe for the Bradley for doing Sous Vide.

You should bring the water up to temp and run a auto-tune although it sounds like it is maintaining temps well.

And if you add a cheap aquarium air pump and tube into the water you now have circulation. The water movement will help maintain more even temps when loaded with more than one cooking bag.

I look forward to seeing your Sous Vide adventures

[pz]

I look forward to seeing your Sous Vide adventures

Me too; sous vide is a method I'm very interested in.

[drholly]

I look forward to seeing your Sous Vide adventures

Me too; sous vide is a method I'm very interested in.

Me three!

[Wingman]

I'm 15 hours into a 48 hour cook on a small brisket and so far things are going swimmingly.

[Rummm]

I haven't tried a 'fresh' brisket yet, but I've done a few Corned Beef briskets and they come out great 

[muebe]

I wanted to do a small flat but all I found were pre-packaged and very expensive.

I thought about just buying a corned beef(much cheaper) and giving it a few days of soaking in water to draw out the salt.

I might have to buy a full packer and cut one myself.

Looking forward to your finished pics.

[Wingman]

Okay, here we go; unfortunately, this is a talkie.

The procedure – Vacuum-sealed a 2 lb. brisket sprinkled with Montreal Seasoning and cooked in a 5.5 qt. slow cooker at 147° for 48 hr.  Then moved brisket to 500°+ grill to crisp up for 2 minutes per side.  Sliced with an electric knife.

Results – The bag had 1 cup of fluid which I poured off and reserved.  The meat was fork tender; I set out steak knives but ended up cutting it with my fork, really.  It was dry (remember the cup of fluid) and it had a very mild beefy taste.
 
Comments – Brisket is not something you can buy in Maine grocery stores so I had to search one out.  So I am unfamiliar with how a brisket should taste.  In fact, that is why I wanted to get one; it was going to be smoked, but sous vide seemed like a good method for this particular cut.  My wife and I liked the flavor but not on the same level as a number of other inexpensive cuts.  I was surprised to find a whole cup of fluid from such a small piece of meat.  We poured some of it back onto the plated pieces.  The rest will be added to our beef stock material in the freezer.  I will do another brisket in the future but it will be a traditional smoke and I suspect this will have an impact on flavor.  I hope to get to Lockhart, TX in the spring to see how this should be.  We will see.
The Auber controller was rock solid for the whole cook.  Once it got to 147° it never moved; I never saw another number. 
I will be doing more sous vide.

Empty juice grooves



Cup of jus



Plated with spud and squash casserole

[muebe]

Since I just recently started Sous Vide cooking I have done some really extensive reading on the subject. Here are some of my opinions from information that I have read.

147F is too high a temp for Sous Vide brisket and most Sous Vide cooking. A majority is done between 130F to 140F max. 135F would have given you much better results. I know going from 135F to 147F is not a huge temp jump but in Sous Vide it actually is. You are cooking over 48 hours and I can understand why you got those results at that temp.

At 147F I would only have gone 6 hours at the most on a 2lb flat.

I really think you should give it another try but at 135F. And also if you can find a larger flat you will get better results over longer times. A 2lb flat might also not need to go for 48 hours although at 135F the results should still be better than what you got.

Also smoke the brisket before you bag it. You can even give it a quick sear before bagging it also. Cold smoking it will give it a nice smoke flavor when finished.

I just made some short ribs at 135F for 72 hours and they came out awesome! They were cold smoked with Milt's Pellets and seared before bagging & Sous Vide cooking. Medium rare short ribs that were more tender and better tasting than any I have ever had...

[pz]

I've never seen short ribs that good, muebe

[Wingman]

Yup.  I might have to try some short ribs!  That looks very enticing.

It was my intention to put an hour of smoke on it but when it came time to do it the cold smoker was going with Salmon in it and I figured well, maybe I should see what it's like naked with no smoke first.  Hey, that's how we learn.  And I'm not complaining.  I learned lots with this first sous vide.

[muebe]

Learning is good. I was very interested to see how your small flat turned out. I am just letting you know that if you cook at 147F that it cannot be over several days. Chicken breasts get cooked at that temp for about 2 to 6 hours depending on if they are bone-in or boneless. Chicken legs are 160F(4 to 8 hours). Beef ribs are supposed to be done at 176F for 24 hours.

Now these are guides. There are many recipes that people have tried online. The one most important thing is food safety.

I have been looking for a good flat at the store and not found one yet. I might need to get the butcher to cut ine for me. The plan us to get a 5 to 6 lb flat. Then smoke it on the pellet grill for about 3 to 4 hours at 225F and while using Milt's pellets in the AMZNPS. Then 48 hours at 135F Sous Vide. And then finally a couple minute finishing sear.

I seen someone do this on another forum and their brisket just looked amazing!