Just looking for some input. I have tried to sous vide corned beef two times now. After checking several recipes I tried 40 hrs at 140 F. The meal came out great but the meat fell apart. I then tried 185 F at 10 hours and the same result. I am looking for the meat to be moist, tender yet stay together when cut. I have made it several times using other methods and it always came out perfect. I am just trying to zero in on time and temp to cook it sous vide. I have to admit I did not use the thickness method for cooking time. I felt if others posted their time and temps and had good result I would just do it their way but I guess it didn’t work.
Time is largely going to depend on what muscle has been used to make it. Here (Australia) it’s usually silverside (leg muscle) or brisket. Both of these are heavily worked and require a long cook for the collagen/gelatin conversion.
I usually soak my corned beef in fresh water for 4-6 hours to remove some salt and then cooked it sous vide at 60C/140F for 48 hours for brisket and up to 60 for silverside. Falling apart has not been a problem.
You’d do much better ‘dialing in’ a time that suits you by keeping the temperature stable and adjusting the time backwards rather then jumping around with two different variables hoping to find a pair that coincide with your desires.
So, if 140F x 40 hours was too fall apart for you, try 36 hours… then 30… 6 hour blocks should be enough to have a discernible impact on the outcome.
And don’t forget to keep notes on process and outcome. Oh, and make sure your carving knife is super sharp.
Yes, thank you. This was brisket. I was going to back off on first time but saw another method so I thought I would try it. I was hoping it wouldn’t be such a big project but I guess it is all about trial and error. I have the same issue with my air fryer. Everyone has their time and temps but it is all experimentation then keep notes. Thanks for your comments.
I admit I am fairly new at this but how can time = doneness? I thought time is what it takes to break down connective tissues and that the texture of the protein changes with time. I have always used temp as doneness as in what temp to set for rare. medium, well etc while the time can remain constant. Do I have it wrong?