Heating up Brisket

I smoked a brisket in our smoker. We had some left over & I vacuumed sealed it & put it in our freezer. What is the best way to heat it up in the Anona? Time & temperature please. Thank you

Hi Cooker, in the Anova means you intend to reheat up brisket using your oven. Correct? If not, please clarify.

OK, here’s how to proceed:

  1. Thaw the piece of brisket in your refrigerator before you plan to heat it up.
  2. Decant the meat from its packaging. Place the meat on a wire rack over a shallow rimmed pan.
  3. Take the remote thermometer that you use to monitor smoker temperatures and put the probe in the brisket. Set your smoker thermometer’s alarm to 165F.
  4. Set your Anova to 270F, 50% steam, and place the pan with the brisket in it and process until the thermometer’s alarm signals you. It will be readty to slice and serve.

You should know that times for reheating food in Anova are always mass dependant. Some isn’t a helpful measurement. Think about it, a large piece of meat will require a longer time than a smaller one.

Happy cooking.

If you ARE using the oven, I expect you could swap the remote smoker thermometer with the oven’s built-in probe, and set the target to Probe:165F as well. Thoughts, @chatnoir?

BTW, listen to Chatnoir. I have learned so much from him in a very short time.

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Hey Cooker, doesn’t your Anova have a temperature probe? Some do.

If your’s does, why ask for time and temperature when your Anova will inform you? Does your Anova have a reheat food mode setting? If so, then use it with its probe. If your Anova doesn’t, well then it should.

By now it should be obvious i am not an Anova owner, just a cooking coach.

Happy cooking,- and keep well,

Hey Joe, how’s it going? It appears we are double-teaming Cooker.

I spoke up when there were no responses to his request after 9 hours.

Enjoy the snow.

Keep well.

Bite me.

Er, I mean, thanks, I’ll try.

:slight_smile:

The oven doesn’t have a reheat mode, but for most things, I find 180F/100% gets you where you’re going in a hurry – the probe will tell you when it’s ready. Then, if you need a crust, 5-6 minutes under the broiler (in the oven) at 0%.

The exception to this is chicken with skin, because, once waterlogged, it’ll never crisp up. For that, I’d go 180/20%(max). I’m still very much experimenting, so YMMV.

And it does leftovers spectacularly well!

Lunch today was leftovers from three previous meals: Half a chicken breast, pieces of 3/4 of a roasted potato, a dozen Brussel sprouts, and, just for variety, three (count 'em, three!) leftover frozen onion rings. I set up two stages:

  • 5 minutes at 180/100%, rear element, timer starts when the oven reaches temp
  • 6 minutes at 350/0%, broiler, timer starts immediately (because I really just want the broil, the temp is irrelevant on this short stage)

Everything in the oven for stage 1, added the three onion rings at the start of stage 2. Lunch was warm, crispy, tender, and delicious.

I’ll second the recommendation to “listen to the Cat”! A more knowledgeable source of information would be difficult to find.

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I appreciate your compliment, Mirozen.
It’s good to know i’m more than just chronologically valid.

We appear to have lost Cooker.
It would be useful to know his result with the piece of brisket using the Anova oven’s probe.

Whoever said, “Feedback is the breakfast of champions”?

JoeinOttawa has discovered how beneficial pressure-less steam can be for gently reheating single portion-size menu items. Many chefs use that technique with chilled items instead of holding them in a steam table while hoping they can be served before they expire.
Thanks for sharing the details of the experience.

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That was said by Ken Blanchard, PhD, The One Minute Manager, whose symbol was the one minute display of a digital clock. It was to remind us to take one minute each day to look into the face of every person we lead and realize our people are our most important resources in any business.

I would slice the meat get it to room temp, vacuum seal and Sous vide around 130 for maybe 15-30 minutes. You just want it warmed up for eating. Or if I was going to make sandwiches with sauce, heat sauce in a fry pan and put meat in for a few minutes. It is cooked and you just want to warm it up not cook it. Keep it simple, no meat probes etc.

@chatnoir and @JoeInOttawa I’m brand new here and just learning my way around, but when I first read @cooker1 's post, my thoughts went to sous vide reheat. If he is using the cooker, is there an online guide to answer a reheating question?

Welcome Slow, by cooker you mean the Anova Precision circulator, - correct?

Cooker wrote “in the Anona” (sic) , not with the Anona, so i understood the leftover brisket was being reheated in his oven. Cooker is economical with his posts here so we may never know with any certainty.

There seems to be an online guide to just about everything imaginable thus there could well be one to answer your question. Why not start here now that you have our attention and interest?

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Chatnoir, quite right. My apologies, I seem to be having some difficulty with the vernacular, as I thought I WAS posing the question here. No matter. I appreciate your response.

No apologies are due at all Slow, entirely my fault.

I want you to know that throughout my work life first as a chef, and later as a servant-leader and coach i developed a fetish for the use of precise communications to be correctly understood.
As a work in progress it has been a difficult habit to shake.

Now that that’s over, what is your question on reheating?
And with what instrument?

Preliminary warning: i don’t do microwave reheating.

In general, the best method of reheating for large items is to use the cooked food’s original technique. Through practical research for single meal-sized items i discovered that 270F was the optimum temperature to preserve flavour and moisture within a reasonable length time, 20 to 30 minutes for foil covered plates or pans. The APO probe thermometer is best used for precise heating. Otherwise time varies with total mass being reheated so use your scale and keep records.

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Chatnoir, as the proud new parent of the Anova Sous Vide Precision Cooker I’m questioning it’s efficacy in the “reheating” process; indeed, even the logic. Trying to broaden my horizons you see, being well versed with cast iron and, yes, the microwave, and somewhat under impressed with the air fryer…

Congratulations Slow, and i hope you didn’t suffer any injuries unpacking and setting it in place. There’s reports of back injuries from new owners in another forum.

I’m just arriving at an understanding that cooker = oven.
I’m slow too.

I frequently use my cast iron skillets and 19" round griddle as they function well on an induction cooktop. I have had no experience with an air fryer, just not interested in owning a redundant appliance.

Prepare to be impressed with your substantially enhanced horizons as you advance beyond your Middle Ages of culinary experiences. Learn as you go by keeping a detailed record of every experience.

I’m curious, what evidence do you possess that leads you to question its reheating efficacy?
And what about that logic?

You might find it useful to visit the Miele or Wolf sites to see their steam oven marketing. I’m not recommending their ovens, just their steam oven marketing information. To me, the Miele with over 20 mode selection buttons is a high-point in useless German over-engineering.


Chatnoir, not oven. Rather, this stick looking appliance. I have absolutely no experience with sous vide cooking and thought this item would be a good place to start. The question of reheating simply came up as I familiarizing myself with this site. I look forward to the learning (and eating) experience. Thank you for your willingness to share your thoughts.

Pardon my screeching mental brakes as i suddenly pull a 180. So that’s a cooker. What isn’t?
In common culinary vernacular it’s a circulator.

Here’s a few suggestions to get you started with a solid foundation.

Step 1. Read and keep Baldwin bookmarked as he covers all the essential SV knowledge you will need and answers many of your questions before you think of them.

http://www.douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html

Step 2. Start fresh by opening a new brain compartment and label it SV. Little to none of your cast iron, microwave, and air fryer knowledge and experience will be useful with your SV cooking technique so keep them out.

Step 3. Don’t trust your brain. You can’t remember everything.
Instead start keeping your SV Journal and record the details of every cook.

Document the menu item name (ie. Boneless Rib-Eye Steak), its thickness, physical state - frozen or fresh/refrigerated, cooking temperature, total time cooked, finishing method (grill, skillet, and oven are some), and Outcome. Dates are optional.
(And yes, you can SV cook frozen items.)

Outcome? That’s your sensory evaluation of the cooked item as served. Did it meet or exceed your expectations? If not Excellent!, then note any adjustments to be employed next time. Those adjustments will usually just be cooking time and/or temperature. Many beginners tend to overdo the last step of the technique, finishing or browning. Overcooked meat or poultry results from an aggressive finishing step.

One last suggestion, begin with something simple that you enjoy. Chicken thighs are a good beginner’s item and the results are usually surprisingly successful.

Do the work and you will be delighted by your results.

Keep well, and stay safe.

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Chatnoir, ahhh… circulator, of course! Got it :heavy_check_mark:
Love your suggestions. Baldwin…bookmarked✔
Journal. Never been good at it I’m afraid, but certainly recognize the merit and will try again in the interest of success with this new adventure.
Thank you for your patience. And advice.
Bon appetit :blush:

Hi Slow, now we’re on the same page, SV-wise.
Thank you.

Baldwin, before you begin your SV life, read at least up through Section 5.

Journal are habits. Saying never reinforces a habit. This cat recommends a hard-covered model with blank ruled pages. By making a serious cash commitment you are more likely to begin and grow your new habit.
Try not, - do.
Your journal becomes your SV championship building feedback system.
It can also prevent growing a dependance on using often suspect, and sometimes just plain wrong internet and app recipes. If you need recipes Serious Eats and Chef Steps are trustworthy resources. If you are a dedicated carnivore, then Sous Vide Everything on You Tube could be useful.

Anova is giving me their dreaded verbosity hook. If you have any SV questions, they want us to use the personal message link to prevent anyone else from benefiting from this discussion.

Keep well and stay safe.