Sous Vide Brisket is cooked low and slow in a warm water bath until perfectly tender and juicy. It’s a process for melt in your mouth beef brisket with an addictive barbecue sauce. Both smokeless and smoked methods are included.
Filled with amazing flavours, this sous vide brisket recipe is incredibly easy to prepare. Simply rub it with the best dry rub and smother it in a mouth-watering BBQ sauce, then the sous vide machine will do most of the work for you by cooking it at the precise temperature you set! It will be the best brisket you’ve ever tasted!
Beef brisket
Brisket is a beef cut from the breast section of the cow and normally comes boneless. Unlike other beef cuts such as chuck roast or short ribs, it doesn’t fall apart and shreds easily.
Beef brisket is the perfect cut to slice and add into sandwiches, sliders, or serve with mashed potatoes. You can also make them ahead of time.
What is Sous vide?
Also known as low temperature long time cooking, sous vide is a French cooking technique where the food is vacuum-sealed in a bag, and then cooked at a precise temperature in a warm water bath.
Why sous vide brisket?
Compared to traditional methods using crock pot, instant pot, or oven, sous vide brisket is more tender and juicier with a guaranteed result, as there’s no chance of overcooking. The best part? The meat is perfectly moist and tender from edge to edge. Yes, it takes longer to cook, but it’s TOTALLY worth the wait!
Tools needed to sous vide brisket
- Sous Vide Immersion Circulator. Some great brands that work very well include Anova or Joule.
- Vacuum Sealer and Bags. You’ll need to vacuum seal the meat before sous vide cooking. A vacuum sealer works best for this recipe, but if you don’t have one, you can use a zip-loc bag, and seal the bag with the “water displacement” technique.
- A Large Pot or Container. You’ll need use a large pot or container to hold the water.
- Kitchen Tongs. This one is great for handling the brisket.
- Aluminum Foil. If you don’t have a sous vide container with a fitting lid, you’ll need aluminum foil to cover the pot to minimize water evaporation.
How to cook sous vide brisket
First, start with an incredible spice mix to rub your beef brisket. This is where all the delicious flavor comes in without any need of marinating. All you need is:
- Garlic powder
- Paprika (mild or smoky)
- Salt and ground black pepper
- Cumin
In addition, you’ll need olive oil to rub the brisket so that the dry rub can stick to the brisket nicely.
Then whisk together your barbecue sauce and pour it all over your brisket in a zip-top bag.
Vacuum seal the bag and let it cook at 155°F (68°C) for 24 to 36 hours. (If your brisket is too big, you can cut it into several pieces that can fit into individual bags.)
After the brisket is sous vide cooked, let it cool down and remove it from the bag (don’t throw away the juices). Then mix 1/4 cup of the juices with the reserved BBQ sauce. Pat dry the brisket with paper towels and brush with the sauce.
To finish up, you’re going to broil or grill it to caramelize the meat for the crispy and charred edges.
What size brisket should I buy?
I use a 4-pound cut for this recipe, but you can easily change the measurements of spices or sauce if you have a larger or smaller cut.
Generally uncooked weight of 1/2 pound per person is the suggested way to go. You can cook extra for some delicious leftovers.
Do I need to trim the brisket?
There’s usually a lot of excess fat from the brisket, so it’s best to trim it down. You’ll also want to remove the silver skin as it doesn’t break down and tenderize easily. But if you’re in a rush, you can skip this step.
Sous vide brisket temperature and how long does it take to sous vide
Sous vide allows you to cook your beef brisket to your desired doneness, with a wide range of cooking times. You will get different textures with different temperature settings. My favorite is 155°F / 68°C for 24 hours.
If you’d like to try other temps and times, you can follow the chart below:
| Temperature | Cooking Time | Texture |
| 135°F (57°C) | 36 to 72 hours | Super tender and steak-like texture |
| 145°F (63°C) | 30 to 40 hours | The meat just barely starts to separate into a traditional brisket grain, but is slightly drier than it is at 135°F |
| 155°F (68°C) | 24 to 36 hours | Close to traditional texture: Tender but not falling apart |
Note: You’ll need to cover the container or pot to minimize water evaporation. Use the lid that comes with the sous vide container, or use a few pieces of aluminum foil to cover it up.
Can I seal the bag without a vacuum sealer?
Yes, you can use a regular zip top bag. Although it’s best to use a vacuum sealer as your brisket will be cooked for a long time, you can still make this recipe with a zip top bag. The trick is called the “water displacement method” by using the pressure from the water to force all the air out of the bag. Make sure the seams of the bag are above the water during the whole cooking process.
How to finish without smoking (broil or grill)?
After the brisket is sous vide cooked, transfer onto a baking dish (don’t throw away the juices). Let it cool to room temperature (you can speed it up by placing the bag in an ice bath before taking the meat out). You can also store it in the refrigerator at this state for up to 1 week before the final step.
Brush the brisket with sauce and broil or grill at high heat for about 5 minutes or until beginning to char and crisp on the edges.
How to finish with smoking?
If you love a Texas-style sous vide smoked brisket, you can easily achieve that with a smoker or oven:
- Pre-heat the smoker or oven to 225°F / 107°C.
- Pat dry the sous vide cooked brisket and place it onto a baking dish.
- Brush with more BBQ sauce if necessary.
- Cook for 3 hours until the exterior is nicely charred.
How to slice a brisket?
- With the sous vide method, you don’t need to let the brisket rest for 1-2 hours. You can cut the meat a few minutes after it’s cooked.
- Slice the meat into 1/4-inch thick slices against the grain.
- Only slice what you will eat right away as the meat will dry out fairly quickly after it’s sliced.
What to serve with sous vide brisket?
You can serve it with bread, pickles and salad. A fresh coleslaw if my favorite as I like to put it on a brisket sandwich. Other great side dishes include carrots, asparagus, and potatoes.
More sous vide recipes you’ll love:
Sous Vide Brisket Recipe
Ingredients
Beef Brisket Seasoning
- 4 pounds beef brisket
- 3 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Sauce
- 1 ½ cups barbecue sauce
- 3 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1 ½ tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the sous vide water bath by adding water to a large container or pot, and set the Sous Vide Precision Cooker to 155°F (68°C). This is my recommended temperature, and if you’d like to cook them to different doneness, follow the guide in the recipe notes*.
- Trim the excess fat from the brisket (optional).
- In a small bowl, mix together garlic powder, paprika, salt, pepper, and cumin powder.
- In another medium-sized bowl, whisk together BBQ sauce, minced garlic, brown sugar, olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, and salt.
- Drizzle brisket with oil and rub the seasoning all over.
- Place the seasoned beef brisket into a large vacuum bag or zip-lock bag. Then pour half of the BBQ sauce over the brisket.
- If you use a zip-lock bag, seal it using the “water displacement” technique: Seal all but one corner of the bag, and slowly place it in the cold water. Make sure everything below the zip-line is covered by water. Then seal the rest of the bag. (If your brisket is too big for one bag, you can cut them into two pieces and use two bags.)
- When the water has reached the set temperature, lower the bags into the water bath. Make sure the meat is fully submerged in the water with the bag seams above the water.
- Cover with several pieces of aluminum foil and sous vide cook for 24 hours. This will minimize water evaporation.
- After the brisket is sous vide cooked, let it cool down and remove it from the bag (don’t throw away the juices).
- Mix 1/4 cup of the juices with the reserved BBQ sauce.
- Pat dry with paper towels, and brush the brisket with the sauces.
- Broil on high heat for 5-10 minutes, or until the edges of the brisket have charred and become crispy. (If you prefer to smoke your brisket, see the recipe notes below.**)
- Slice brisket thinly across the grain and serve with remaining barbecue sauce.
Notes
- Check from time to time to make sure the water level is not too low.
- Leftover brisket can last for up to 5 days in the refrigerator. Brisket also freezes well for up to 3 months.
- *Other temperatures and times to sous vide brisket:
Temperature Cooking Time Texture 135°F (57°C) 36 to 72 hours Super tender and steak-like texture 145°F (63°C) 30 to 40 hours The meat just barely starts to separate into a traditional brisket grain, but is slightly drier than it is at 135°F 155°F (68°C) 24 to 36 hours Close to traditional texture: Tender but not falling apart - ** To finish with smoking:
- Pre-heat the smoker or oven to 225°F / 107°C.
- Pat dry the sous vide cooked brisket and place it onto a baking dish.
- Brush with more BBQ sauce if necessary.
- Cook for 3 hours until the exterior is nicely charred.
Nutrition
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