Texture of Brisket

Food + Cooking
#1

Hi, I cooked a Thick Brisket the other day 1.2kg ( in 2 bags) 57.5C for 36 hours. I then seared it in a very hot Weber Q 250C for around 15 mins. It got a nice slightly charred crust. This is good but the Texture of the meat had quit an odd mouth feel. I can’t describe it, not slimy but odd. Any thoughts? Thanks Peter.

The Brisket was a Point Cut but too big for the bags, and following the instruction on Anova Site, I cut it in Half, the Temperature and timing was as advised in the Anova Recipe. The flavour was fine, as was tenderness, my only concern was the mouth feel. I have experienced a similar texture in Food Court take away beef in black bean, etc. Lets call it slimy for want of a better description.

#2

Welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of sous vide.

Kind of difficult to work out what the ‘issue’ might be without having a few more details, not the least of which would be a description of what you consider ‘odd.’ Did the brisket get any pre-cooking treatment? How thick was it? It is thickness and not weight that determines how long it takes for heat to penetrate your product.

36 hours is really not very long for cooking brisket sous vide. Brisket is a tough piece of muscle and at 57.5C, a relatively low temperature, the conversion of collagen to tender gelatin is slow.

#3

Wecome Peter.

I’ve not experienced Thick Brisket cut in small pieces. Briskets are usually separated into the Flat and Point retail cuts and then cut smaller for sale. I wouldn’t consider them particularly thick cuts.

You will discover that relating thicknesses details rather than weights will assist you in obtaining more helpful information on SV cooking results from this Community forum.

My first thought was that was a lot of heat pumped into those little chunks of 36-hour cooked meat for 15 minutes. Have you done that before this unsuccessful cook?

Also have you previously enjoyed Medium-Rare cooked brisket? It would have a significantly different texture than the same cuts cooked conventionally, more often Well Done, and could be considered “odd”. whatever that is.

I equate “slimy” to spoiled meat and that probably wasn’t what you tasted because you would know it by now.

Improperly aged meat can develop a taste i describe as funky. That’s not quite “bad”, or disgusting, - and certainly not in the Motown sense of Funk which is delicious listening. It most often happens in Croyovac packaged subprimal cuts kept too long. The meat looks alright but just doesn’t smell or taste right. Unscrupulous meat cutters will heavily salt and rinse those cuts and price them for a quick sale.

Finally, was it too tender?
Or maybe not tender enough?

Some more details could help prevent you repeating the same disappointment.

#4

The Brisket was a Point Cut but too big for the bags, and following the instruction on Anova Site, I cut it in Half, the Temperature and timing was as advised in the Anova Recipe. The flavour was fine, as was tenderness, my only concern was the mouth feel. I have experienced a similar texture in Food Court take away beef in black bean, etc. Lets call it slimy for want of a better description.

#5

I missed your 2nd paragraph. I regret it’s not much help to me as i have never used the Anova recipes although i have assisted cooks who have in this forum.

The usual description for that beef is “velvet” translated from Mandarin. It’s not likely you dredged your meat in cornstarch to get that effect, which is what Chinese cooks do, so the mouth feel puzzle remains.

Until there’s more evidence i’m still thinking you might have bought a low quality piece of meat. It happens.

#6

Thjanks, Maybe, It was supermarket Brisket. I will buy some that may not be “Pumped” from my market butcher on Saturday. I am tempted to change my Dinner Party menu to Onglet just to avoid disappointment.

#7

Peter, by law in most places any adulteration to meat must be declared on the item. In NA it’s most often called “Seasoned”. I think “pumped” is more accurate.

I second your instinct to adjust your menu. Brisket is one of the most difficult pieces of beef to cook really well. It’s best to avoid serving it to dinner guests until you have consistently mastered it.

Just pay close attention to the changing direction of the grain and keep the angle of your knife low when slicing l’onglet and you will have raving guests.

#8

Point cut brisket is quite fatty (more so than flat cut), so I would definitely have used a higher temperature to get that fat rendered out. That may be why you found this particular attempt to be slimy - too much remaining fat.

FWIW, this is a fantastic recipe for sous vide smoked brisket from Serious Eats that I’ve made many times. I cook at the higher 155F (68C) temp Kenji Lopez recommends.

#9

I agree with JoshK… I’ve used Kenji’s recipe that is stated, at 68C for 36 hours… let it cool or ice bath it… then I finish it off in the oven… it is sooooo good. I use a lot of Kenji’s recipes… he seems to have a pretty good hold on it.