Has anyone been using their Precision oven to do a braise on beef for a stew?
I prepped mine as usual let it cool so i could chamber vacuum the cooked on 75°C all day.
I do braising steak for 24hrs at 65°C
vBrick, does prepping include browning the meat and making a red wine reduction to use in your cooking phase?
Vacuum packaged meat doesn’t benefit from evaporation to concentrate flavours. How’s the taste?
Yes, and it tastes great. But Sorry I should read before I post I’m still in Sous vide in a bath world not oven
I rarely use my My wifes red wine
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I tried a 2-3 day brisket at 145F in the precision oven, but it was definitely not as juicy as it is when done in the plastic bags with a water bath. Then the second time I did it in the oven, it developed a horrible odor during the last 8 hours, so I threw it out, first time that has happened in all the years I have done sous vide. I since learned that the odor was probably caused by bacteria growing because I did not pre-sear the meat, but again this was the only time that odor has happened for me. So, for a long 2- 3 day braise, I would still use the traditional water bath, the meat is much much juicier (and probably won’t have that odor develop). At a 2 day braise, the meat was not tender enough, and was drier than I liked. Shorter cooking times, e.g. 2.5 hours has been fine in the oven.
When you say a 2-3 day brisket, is that a whole brisket? That’s quite a large piece of meat to cook at that low a temperature. If so you might want to begin cooking it in your oven at a much higher temperature with steam to kill all the meat surface’s odour causing bacteria. Once the surface has browned it might be safe to finish long and low cooking at your choice of temperature. I wouldn’t chance it with a whole brisket.
Cook’s tip: Always oven-roast using a wire rack to ensure heat circulates completely aroiund the meat.
You have to expect increased dehydration when cooking in the oven for that length of time. When you say * At a 2 day braise* i understand that to mean to retain moistness you’re cooking in liquids usually with flavourful vegetables . If not, you might have invented a new cooking technique, - Kier’s Dry Braise.
hah funny, dry braise.
I usually sous vide brisket, usually half, so about 4 pounds, in a sealed bag in a water bath at 145 degrees 2-3 days. No problem, very tender. When trying to duplicate it in the precision oven, at sous vide mode, 100 % steam, the meat surface was drier, the meat less juicy, more liquid in the pan, although that extra liquid may be from the steam function. It turned out “okay” but not as good as in the sealed bag/water bath version.
Kier, whole briskets weigh about 16 to 19 pounds and that’s what i thought you were cooking.
Just as you have discovered, I wouldn’t expect to duplicate SV results in your oven, particularly with long cook times.
The closest cooking technique to SV i have had was in the use of commercial air-tight low temperature ovens. They have surrounding ribbon elements that evenly heat the oven interior from all directions minimizing evaporation.
good to know Chatnoir 
The briskets I get are small organic grass fed ones from Alderspring, extremely low fat and small sized. That is why I like to sous vide them for 3 days at 145 degrees. I was hoping the Precision Oven would be closer to sous vide than it is, but this is my first experience with a combi steam oven. Overall, I am still enjoying the oven.
Kier
Kier, those briskets are likely from baby beef, - aka veal. That would account for their low fat and small size. Some calves are allowed to graze with the herd for a few months before being harvested. They have short but healthy and natural lives. They yield exceptionally good eating and low cost to the producer as they require little or no supplemental feeding, just lots of water. I will never understand the appeal of corn-fed or grain-fed beef.
I often served baby beef boneless NY Strip Sirloins as veal cutlets, steaks or roasts for their compact size and tenderness. I bought all i could get due to their high acceptability and the variety of menu items one cut provided.