Sous Vide

springtide

Get one of these and you can have lovely smoked Brisket:
Sage® by Heston Blumenthal Smoking Gun  | sousvidetools.com

If you want to cook beef that is medium rare but tender (when the beef isn't the the best cut), SV works really well.

This is a good guide for Brisket:
The Food Lab's Complete Guide to Sous Vide Smoked Brisket

Personally I find the texture a bit odd if cooked too long (goes to mush), but it is personal preference.

PsyVision

Thanks @springtide, I had done some brisket recently in the oven and it was as tough as old boots, didn't cook it long enough I gather.  Tried it on the smoker once before too and it was pretty awful.  

Will be interesting to see if I can crack it with the sous vide!!

springtide

If you don't have the time for SV Brisket, pot roast for 2-3 hours at ~140c works well (bit of red wine and seasoning)

PsyVision

So the chops were quite good.  I did them at 130 for 1 hour.  One side of the bone came out melty yum and the main part not quite as tender but still good.  I browned them up fairly well in the pan afterwards but didn't do the fatty edge well enough which was a shame.

There was a slightly off-putting smell when taking them out of the bag.  Not quite sure why, googling suggests (a) with certain meat it can be bacteria on the surface or (b) it can occur with certain long cooks.  I wondered if it was perhaps because I seasoned and sealed them a couple of hours before cooking rather than season and cook instantly.

Need to get a proper tub for doing it in too.

aVdub

Yeah the smell and colour are normal when taking out of the bag.
Did you pat the chops dry before adding to the pan?

Some useful info in this book for cooking Sous Vide.

A Practical Guide to Sous Vide Cooking

A Practical Guide to Sous Vide Cooking

My tub is a storage container with a toast rack (as seen in 4 in a bed) with the racks spread out slightly a grill tray for larger cooks and a rare earth magnet to keep everything down.

Have been looking to buy a large stew pot next and a few bulldog clips to hold the bags steady.

PsyVision

I did pat them down yes, I normally do it when pan frying steak and had also seen it in the SV Everything YouTube channel.  Brining them probably would have been wise.  Maybe I should have started with a steak!

I used a stew pot but it'd have to be huge to get the depth I think, mine was barely covering the min line on the Anova.  I'll either buy a pre-cut tub or do a DIY attempt depending on costs.

Thug

I use a container too and a rack I bought from TKMaxx (about £10 in total).
Was about a fiver rather than nearly 10x that for a proper sous vide tub.

                                                                                                                                       

PsyVision

Did some steak tonight, 130F for 1 hour, patted down and then fried.  Was really tasty.  Unfortunately steaks were quite thin so I didn't fry too much in case I over-cooked them.

Thyme and Taleggio slow cooked potatoes with it too, mmmmmmm...

aVdub

Silverside beef done @54℃ for 2 hours and then coated in cracked pepper and sea salt and finished in the pan.

PsyVision

Hmm, I'll try that next time, they had maybe 5 minutes or so after I'd patted them dry.  They were wafer thin though, I think next time I'll try one of M&S thick cut steaks.