Help With Sous Vide And Smoke???

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darita

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Just got my Inkbird Sous Vide and haven't tried it yet. For some reason, I just can't get my head around integrating Sous Vide and smoking. For instance, what' the procedure for a good, smoked/Sous Vide chuck steak? How about pork steaks? I'll bet you can't improve on a rotisserie chicken with Sous Vide, right?
 
I only use the combo smoking/sous vide with brisket. But you could use the combo with anything except a whole chicken or whole turkey.

The problem is, if you sous vide before smoking, you can kiss any chance of a smoke ring good bye. Unless you cheat with nitrates.


If you smoke first (my preferred method) you get the smoke ring, but if you don't set the bark really good before sous vide, you can kiss a good bark good bye. Unless you lower the sous vide temp toward the end and then remove from bag, and while still wet, apply more rub and throw in the oven on high heat to bring the bark back to life and then serve.


Think of sous vide like wrapping and holding in a cooler for upwards of 6+ hours ive seen people do. Same idea except you can hold at higher temp 175F for as long as you want.
 
Soooo, it kinda sounds like smoking and Sous Vide don't really play well together. I'm assuming Sous Vide and grilling is about it?
 
I use it to re-heat BBQ all the time and works perfectly. I don’t use it for the cook itself, but reheating bbq via sous vide is almost as good as right out of the smoker to me.
 
The last tri-tip I cooked was 16 hours at 134 in the sous vide. After 16 hours in the sous vide I put the bag in an ice water bath for about an hour. I then put the tri-tip into the smoker at 250 and brought the internal temp of the tri-tip back up to 134. Great smoke flavor and bark was attained and was one of the better tri-tip I've eaten.
 
luv2smoke said:
The last tri-tip I cooked was 16 hours at 134 in the sous vide. After 16 hours in the sous vide I put the bag in an ice water bath for about an hour. I then put the tri-tip into the smoker at 250 and brought the internal temp of the tri-tip back up to 134. Great smoke flavor and bark was attained and was one of the better tri-tip I've eaten.
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Thanks! Just the kind of thing I need to hear...Sous Vide recipe from a smoker.
 
I think the jury is still out on the sous vide/smoked combination for certain meats like brisket, some smoke first, others sous vide first. I did a sous vide finish on a pastrami, which took 48 hours. Given the time I'd rather do the pressure finish in 40 minutes. However, the sous vide/grill combination works great for steaks, chops, tri-tip etc.

The one thing I do like sous vide for is smoked chicken, and here is the best example because breasts are the hardest to cook and keep moist. I cure boneless skinless breasts for 24 hours, season with coarse pepper, then smoke for 2.5 to 3 hours at 175°ish until the internal temp is ~100°. Then I sous vide @ 147° for 90 minutes.

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The breasts are fully pasteurized, super moist and cooked perfectly from end to end. These are great leftover for sandwiches or Chef's salad. I'm curing 6 breasts today, some for my neighbor and will freeze a couple.

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thirdeye said:
The one thing I do like sous vide for is smoked chicken, and here is the best example because breasts are the hardest to cook and keep moist. I cure boneless skinless breasts for 24 hours, season with coarse pepper, then smoke for 2.5 to 3 hours at 175°ish until the internal temp is ~100°. Then I sous vide @ 147° for 90 minutes.
Click to expand...

Well I am definitely going to try this! How did you cure the breasts?
 
Smokie185 said:
Well I am definitely going to try this! How did you cure the breasts?
Click to expand...

I use a version of Pop's Curing Brine. Which is:

1 gallon of water
125 grams canning salt (or kosher salt)
25 grams white sugar
25 grams brown sugar
20 grams Cure #1 (heaping tablespoon) This is not a variable amount.
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
15 to 24 hr cure time (for chicken breasts)

HERE is my article about Pop's Brine which has the range of salt and sugar that can be used. My version is low salt and less sugar. This curing brine is foolproof.
 
Whats the difference between chicken brine and curing chicken brine?

thirdeye said:
I use a version of Pop's Curing Brine. Which is:

1 gallon of water
125 grams canning salt (or kosher salt)
25 grams white sugar
25 grams brown sugar
20 grams Cure #1 (heaping tablespoon) This is not a variable amount.
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
15 to 24 hr cure time (for chicken breasts)

HERE is my article about Pop's Brine which has the range of salt and sugar that can be used. My version is low salt and less sugar. This curing brine is foolproof.
Click to expand...




I brine chicken and turkeys, but am not familiar with the term "curing brine". What does "Cure #1" do? by way of example, I use 1 cup regular salt and 1 cup of ordinary dry rub to 1 gallon of water, for chicken wings and boneless skinless chicken breasts. Breasts brine 30-45 min, wings 40-60 minutes, followed by cooking in the smoker. For turkeys, I've used published recipes with slight variations. Guy Fieri's Mean Green Turkey Machine is one of my favorites, but I smoke it rather than cook in oven.


What is different with a curing brine?
 
Remember two things; one - meat takes up smoke flavor best when cold, and two - with sous vide you almost can't overcook the meat - leastwise not overly dry. There is no right or wrong way to do this but reheating via sous vide while effective is a lot of extra work when using the oven works just as well. So whether you smoke first or last you can use sous vide to accomplish everything except get a good crusty bark.
 
jimstocks53 said:
Remember two things; one - meat takes up smoke flavor best when cold, and two - with sous vide you almost can't overcook the meat - leastwise not overly dry. There is no right or wrong way to do this but reheating via sous vide while effective is a lot of extra work when using the oven works just as well. So whether you smoke first or last you can use sous vide to accomplish everything except get a good crusty bark.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Good advice. I also have confusion understanding how to make tuff cuts, tender. For instance, how do I get a pork steak tender? Does Sous Vide tenderize that well? Same thing goes for a chuck steak.
 
Last edited:
oldgfbbq said:
I brine chicken and turkeys, but am not familiar with the term "curing brine". What does "Cure #1" do? by way of example, I use 1 cup regular salt and 1 cup of ordinary dry rub to 1 gallon of water, for chicken wings and boneless skinless chicken breasts. Breasts brine 30-45 min, wings 40-60 minutes, followed by cooking in the smoker. For turkeys, I've used published recipes with slight variations. Guy Fieri's Mean Green Turkey Machine is one of my favorites, but I smoke it rather than cook in oven.


What is different with a curing brine?
Click to expand...

In addition to water, salt, sugar and maybe some aromatics, a curing brine contains Cure #1 which is sodium nitrite that is suspended in a salt carrier. The ratio is 6.25% sodium nitrite and 93.75% salt. It's dyed pink so it does not get confused with table salt. A curing brine has a preservation effect on meat (but it still needs refrigeration), gives flavor and color but most importantly it allows you a safety net from bacteria multiplying if you are smoking your food for longer than 4 hours in the safety zone of 40° to 140°. Things like bacon, ham, corned beef, pastrami and some sausages are cured first, then smoked or cooked to the appropriate internal temperature.

You probably have made pulled or sliced pork from a pork butt or a shoulder picnic, and know what that meat is like. If you cured the same pork butt, or picnic then smoked it you would have ham.

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Originally Posted by oldgfbbq View Post
I brine chicken and turkeys, but am not familiar with the term "curing brine".
Click to expand...

A better example since you smoke turkeys would be the smoked turkey drumsticks you get at the fair. Those are usually cured and smoked so they have a deeper flavor and the meat is lightly pinkish.
 
darita said:
Thanks. Good advice. I also have confusion understanding how to make tuff cuts, tender. For instance, how do I get a pork steak tender? Does Sous Vide tenderize that well? Same thing goes for a chuck steak.
Click to expand...

Sorry for delay in answer. Sous vide can make ANYTHING more tender. It's simply a function of sufficient time and the right temp. The Anova website and the internet has lots of info to help with this.
 
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