bobinator said:
I only have a pit barrel smoker at the moment and have tried one brisket, but my problem is being able to keep the temperature down.
Was kind of debating this sous-vide combo method vs the 'fast and hot' brisket method. You've had better results with fast and hot?
The fast and hot brisket I did last time was among the best briskets I've ever done. There was more active involvement and anxiety than with the sous vide (people asking the benefit of the sous vide aren't getting that it really is just set it and forget it for 24-36 hours, with only a few hours of smoking where you're not even trying to get it to a specific internal temp but just trying to get smoke and bark on it), but a lot less time than a traditional low and slow.
I would be happy to give you my exact recipe, but I usually keep notes on my phone and appear to have accidentally deleted them which really ticks me off. I'm going to have to recreate from scratch now, but I know I used an amalgamation of the hot and fast recipes on the net and this is my best recollection:
- Total cook time was closer to 6 hours than some of the recipes that are more like 5 hours. There was an additional hour+of rest time in the foil (unwrapped foil first to let some temp out, then rewrapped a little more loosely) after
-I started the smoke closer to 250 than some of the recipes I've seen which are at 300 or more from the jump. Placed the point closer to the known hot spot in the smoker.
- inserted probes about 3 hours in and bumped up temp to 300 with the idea that I wanted the internal temp to be climbing when I wrapped it. Once the internal got over 160 I double wrapped in foil. I did not put in a liquid before wrapping which I've seen some of the hot and fast recipes do, and I think this is what allowed me to keep a good bark.
- bumped up the temp to 325 and it was reading 350 by the end. Probably two hours in foil before internal hit 205 and I removed from heat.
The smoke, texture, and especially the bark were all better with the hot and fast than with the sous vide.
But, frankly, as this was one of the best briskets I've ever done even vs a traditional low and slow, I may be converting to hot and fast from now on. This assumes that I can repeat the results, as there is always some randomness to brisket and I don't even have the times and temps to go by.
I'm definitely going to do my next brisket hot and fast, though, and see if I can get similar results. Got several compliments that it was the best brisket they'd ever had and I was quite happy with it. Might have been an unrepeatable fluke, but I hope not.
Now that I'm reading this again I think I may have underestimated on the times. I'm not sure if I could get the internal temp on a 15ish pound packer up over 160 in that short of a time. I definitely started the smoke closer to 250, so I think I may have gone a little longer before wrapping, but not more than another hour I don't believe.