Sous Vide Brisket

In January 2024 I was lucky enough to attend Camp Brisket at Texas A&M.  For more information about Camp Brisket click here. One our presenters taught us how to smoke a brisket, freeze it and reheat it using a sous vide.  In November 2024 I was able to use the method and found it to be as good as he said.

The story the teach began his presentation with was:  “My wife and I like to serve brisket for parties occasionally.  My wife wants to has dinner served at 6pm. The problem with that is brisket is done when brisket is done.  To preserve my marriage I had to come up with a way to have the brisket ready when Momma want it.  That is when I decided to try smoking a brisket or two weeks early, vacuum pack it and freeze it.  Then defrost it days early and put it in a sous vide bath hours before the party.  Lastly, cut it out of the vacuum packing and serve”.  

I can validate that this method works!

Here’s what I did.

On Saturday night I smoked a 20 pound prime brisket from Sam’s Club.  I followed my Overnight Brisket method.

After defrosting the brisket, place it in a sous vide bath set to 140 degrees F / 60 degrees C and heat for several hours until heated throughout.  After reheated pull from bath, remove from vacuum packing, slice and enjoy.

How To

1. Smoke your brisket
2. Cool the brisket by putting it in a large ziplock bag in an ice bath
3. Vacuum pack the brisket
4. Freeze the brisket
5. Defrost the brisket – plan on 24 hours per 5 pounds
6. Reheat the brisket in a sous vide bath using these items
   1. Large sous vide container
   2. Sous vide cooker
7. Fill container with water
8. Set the sous vide to 140 degrees F / 60 degrees C
9. Place brisket still in vacuum packing into water bath
10. 10 to 15 minutes before serving time remove brisket from sous vide bath
11. Remove from vacuum packing
12. Slice and enjoy