Sous Vide Brisket

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 Pork Shoulder
• Sous Vide BBQ Ribs
• Sous Vide Lamb Chops