Hey I'm new here and excited to learn some new cooking techniques and hopefully share some things I know, I trained as a chef for a couple years at a college in London. My first post is actually to get some help so bear with me with the onslaught of questions! I have been Sous Viding brisket. I generally get 2.5kg cuts of cured brisket (salt brined) from my butcher which I have been experimenting with cooking Sous Vide. Normally I would cook it conventionally in a stock pot to obtain a corned beef effect and I have been doing this for years with success. But recently I have began using my Vacstar circulator to cook it - because I find it much easier for me to eliminate some mess and not have to spend the best part of my day supervising. I have pretty much perfected a 2.5kg piece cooking it at 76dgc for 45hrs. It usually comes out great and my family and friends love it but recently I've noticed the shapes/sizes/cuts all deviate slightly and I do get different results because of this - should I just reduce the time if the briskets are smaller? I want consistency and my most recent feast was a little under par due to the beef being somewhat 10-20% drier than usual. Its normally super tender and I'm really happy with the results. Could it be the size/width/depth were different this time round even though its the same weight? Any tips on how I can achieve consistent results and maybe work out times for different sizes? I know alot of this is trial and error but I dont have too many opportunities to do this and it could get costly! Secondly, once cooked as per above - can I 'hold' my brisket in the vacuum bag at a lower temperature so when it needs serving I just take it out the tank and serve it up? I was told if I keep it above 60dgc I should be fine as the texture is unlikley to change much due to it already being cooked for so long - but I did this the other day and maybe that caused it to dry out - even thought you can't 'over cook' via Sous Vide?! Sometimes I have a dinner party or cater my friends parties (which I'm doing more of) where I make 3-4 sides of brisket and want to keep these warm without jeopardizing the texture or peoples health ...... which brings me onto my next question!.... Health & Safety - is it safe to leave them 'holding' in the bags at a lower temp (I know bacteria thrive at below 60dgc so I purposely keep it 60-63dgc)? But I read recently something about the Botulinum toxin which scared the life outta me. The briskets I get are vacuum sealed by the butcher with useby dates on them and I unpackage them and reseal with my own ingredients, cook them and normally eat it immediately. But I'm hoping I can keep a couple in the tank at a constant temp especially for my parties? I am yet to try the cook/chill/regenerate method and am worried the texture will suffer but I could be fearful of it because I've never tried it, would this be easier? If I'm catering a party should I be doing this for large amounts of guests - is it easy/safe to do? Also because its cured beforehand and because I cook it for so long I assume its pasteurised so that eliminates some of the health and safety worries, but not this Botulinum toxin?! I'm so confused! Anything else I should be aware of, I realise alot of bacteria stuff is mentioned in the stickied posts but I want something specific for my brisket and I onyl tend to find other info on regular sous vide techniques such as cooking steak that dont relate to my long process of tougher cuts like brisket. The 2 things I want to make sure are that a) its consistently tender and juicy and b) I dont poison anyone at my parties! Thank so much and sorry for the wall of text! I will try to repay the favour with some of my own knowledge in other posts.
