Sous Vide Brisket: Temperature, Time and Bark

Sous vide brisket cooks at 155°F (68.3°C) for 24 to 36 hours for a moist, traditional barbecue texture. For pink, firm slices closer to steak, use 135°F (57.2°C) for 36 to 72 hours.

These are tenderizing times. They apply to any piece up to 3 in (7.6 cm) thick, so a whole brisket is cut into pieces before it is bagged.

Brisket temperature and texture

The calculator has three settings for brisket. The temperature sets the texture, and each temperature has its own time range, shown in the Time column of the table.

135°F (57.2°C), firm and meaty. The brisket stays pink and slices like a tender steak. At this temperature it gets more tender the longer it cooks, from sliceable at 36 hours to spoon-tender at 72 hours. Pick the short end for firm slices and the long end for a softer bite.

155°F (68.3°C), traditional. This is the default. Anova's brisket guide explains the trade: the meat expels a lot of moisture at this temperature, and it gains tenderness and moisture back from broken-down connective tissue and rendered fat. The texture is extra moist and close to traditional barbecue.

176°F (80°C), braised. The brisket comes out very soft and falling apart, like a classic braise. The calculator uses Douglas Baldwin's time of 24 to 36 hours at this temperature. Its notes record that Amazing Food Made Easy gives 12 to 24 hours for the same temperature.

Why brisket takes a day or longer

Brisket is cut from the lower chest of the animal. Britannica describes it as a tough cut that slow cooking tenderizes by breaking down connective tissue and collagen.

Douglas Baldwin's guide to sous vide cooking gives the mechanism. Collagen begins to dissolve into gelatin above 122 to 131°F (50 to 55°C), and prolonged cooking can more than double the tenderness of the meat by dissolving the collagen and reducing the adhesion between muscle fibers.

The same guide explains why temperature changes the texture. Above 140 to 150°F (60 to 66°C) the muscle fibers shrink lengthwise and lose substantial water. A 135°F (57.2°C) bath stays under that range, so the meat keeps more of its water and stays firm and pink. It needs the longest time of the three settings: 36 hours at minimum, against 24 hours at 155°F (68.3°C) and 176°F (80°C).

The center reaches the bath temperature within hours, and the rest of the cook is tenderizing. That is why thickness is not an input for brisket in the calculator: it changes the total time very little.

Thickness still has a limit. The times cover pieces up to 3 in (7.6 cm) thick, measured through the thickest part. Thicker pieces heat too slowly and are not covered: Baldwin's guide says the center of the food should reach 130°F (54.4°C) within 6 hours to keep Clostridium perfringens from multiplying to dangerous levels.

Choosing and cutting the brisket

Anova's guide describes the two parts of a whole brisket. The flat is a wide, thin muscle with little marbling and a fat cap on top. The point is a triangular piece that sits on the flat and has much more fat within the meat.

The guide recommends brisket with the fat cap still on and visible marbling, because very lean, trimmed brisket is more likely to come out dry.

How to sous vide brisket

1. Portion. Cut a whole brisket into pieces that fit your bags and are no more than 3 in (7.6 cm) thick.
2. Season. J. Kenji López-Alt's smoked brisket recipe, published by Anova, uses a Texas-style rub of kosher salt and coarsely ground black pepper on every surface. The recipe lists a small amount of liquid smoke in the bag as optional.
3. Bag. Vacuum seal each piece. If you use zipper-lock bags, the guide to the water displacement method explains how to seal them and why they are double bagged for long cooks.
4. Heat the bath. Set it to 155°F (68.3°C), or to the temperature for the texture you chose.
5. Cook. Keep the bags in a single layer, fully under the water, and not overlapping. Leave them for 24 to 36 hours at 155°F (68.3°C). The recipe covers the bath with a lid or foil to limit evaporation.
6. Finish or chill. Go straight to the smoker or oven, or chill the sealed bag in ice water and finish it later.

Smoke and bark: after the bath

Baldwin's guide notes that food cooked sous vide looks poached, and that browning takes temperatures around 300°F (149°C), far above any water bath. Brisket comes out of the bag without bark, so the bark is built in a second step.

Anova's guide weighs both orders. Smoke adheres to and penetrates raw meat better than cooked meat, which favors smoking first. The guide still recommends smoking after the bath, because the smoke flavor from that session is ample and the whole process is more efficient.

The recipe gives two ways to finish:

• Smoker or grill. Pat the brisket dry and rub it again with salt and pepper. Put it on the cooler side of a grill or smoker held at 275 to 300°F (135 to 149°C) with hardwood chunks on the coals, for about 3 hours, until it has a dark bark.
• Oven. Set the brisket on a wire rack over a foil-lined sheet in a 300°F (149°C) oven for about 2 hours, until the bark is dark.

Without a smoker, the optional liquid smoke in the bag is the recipe's only source of smoke flavor.

Slicing

The recipe rests the finished brisket for 15 minutes, then slices it against the grain.

Iowa State University Extension explains why: cutting perpendicular to the direction of the muscle fibers leaves short fibers in each slice, which are easier to chew. Look for the direction of the grain before you cut.

Cooking brisket from frozen

Cooking from frozen at 155°F (68.3°C) adds 3 hours 15 minutes for the center to thaw and heat.

The first cell of the table gives the size the time covers: pieces up to 3 in (7.6 cm) thick. Measure through the thickest part. At 176°F (80°C) the frozen time is 27 hours 30 minutes to 39 hours 30 minutes, for the same size.

Safety

All three settings are pasteurized at their minimum time. The one exception is the frozen 135°F (57.2°C) result, which is not recommended and does not count as pasteurized.

The USDA safe minimum internal temperature for beef steaks, roasts and chops, the group brisket falls in, is 145°F (62.8°C) followed by a 3 minute rest, as listed on FoodSafety.gov. The 135°F (57.2°C) setting is below that. It pasteurizes the brisket only because the meat is held for the full minimum time shown, so do not shorten it. The explainer on whether sous vide is safe covers how time and temperature work together.

An acidic sauce or marinade can make beef take up to twice as long to pasteurize. If the brisket is bagged in one, do not rely on the pasteurization time shown.

Crowded or overlapping bags heat more slowly, and the times shown will be too short for them.

If you cook ahead for meal prep, Baldwin's guide says to cool the sealed pouch quickly in ice water that is at least half ice. Anova's guide gives up to five days in the refrigerator in the bag before the finishing step.

Common problems

Dry brisket. Anova's guide ties this to very lean, trimmed brisket. The flat has little marbling, so with the fat cap trimmed off there is little fat left to render. The temperature matters too: more water leaves the meat at 155°F (68.3°C) and 176°F (80°C) than at 135°F (57.2°C).

Tough slices at 135°F (57.2°C). The brisket needs more time. Tenderness at this setting keeps increasing across the 36 to 72 hour window.

A bag that floats at 176°F (80°C). Baldwin's brisket recipe notes that at 176°F (80°C) the bag puffs from water vapor and may float to the surface. It says to hold the bags under water with a wire rack or another restraint, so the meat cooks evenly.

Brisket is also the cut used for corned beef, which has its own temperatures and times. Chuck roast takes the same 155°F (68.3°C) barbecue treatment with a different time. A lean tough cut such as London broil is cooked at steak temperatures instead, 131°F (55°C) for 24 to 60 hours.

Barbecue sides need their own bath. Corn on the cob cooks at 183°F (83.9°C) for 30 to 45 minutes, far hotter than any brisket setting.