Double Smoke Sous Vee Cue for the Fourth

[CFLBob]

Tomorrow is Independence Day, which is one of the big barbecue days of the year. I wanted to try something different. Last time I did pulled pork, I did sous vide followed by a few hours in the smoker to create a bark and add smoke flavoring. It came out good, but while doing some reading around Anova, Serious Eats and a few other sites, I stumbled across this guy:

Sous Vide: A Tale of Two Briskets: Sous Vide+Hot Smoke= The Sous-B-Q™ Solution

I hadn’t come across the idea of smoking before sous vide, but the argument is you get a better bark and more smoke flavor. The idea of putting it back in the smoker is because most of the cooking occurs while it’s in the sous vide tank, and the juices coming out get the bark too wet. Putting it back in the smoker should help that.

So the experiment is in full swing. I took a completely raw pork butt, rubbed it with some spices, and then put it into the electric smoker with a thermometer probe on the rack in front of the meat. I’m keeping that thermometer at 225. I’ll smoke this for four hours or until the internal temperature starts to get in the what seems to be too high. Then into the sous vide tank at 165 for 18 hours. That will be over about 11 AM tomorrow. Then it will go back into the smoker for another few hours.

More details will follow.

[Freischuetz]

that sounds hilarious! i wish you good luck! and pics, why no pics?

[David_Stilley]

Obviously he’s still in the middle of it @Freischuetz

Today is the Fourth of July.

I personally would be concerned with overcooking, If you reach an internal temperature above what it will be cooked at during the sousvide process you won’t reap the benefits of long and low temperature cooking. I have used liquid smoke with sousvide cooking and I like how that works. Searing before and after sousvide might create gray meat area that kind of undermines the end product in my opinion. Pre or post searing is one of the things many sousvide enthusiasts disagyon, I always post sear and I don’t have a smoker but I would think it applies in a similar way. Have a great fourth and I hope your pork comes out great.

[CFLBob]

Searing before and after sousvide might create gray meat area that kind of undermines the end product in my opinion.

Read that article on the Tale of Two Briskets. He does a medium rare brisket at 129, pink and tender, then smokes it at 225 for six hours and it looks the same.

Even though the BBQ (or oven, or deep fryer, or sauté pan) does not have the temperature accuracy of sous vide, the results of food being prepared “in partnership” between sous vide and other technologies benefits from the sv processing. I tell people that even if your non-sous vide finishing temperatures exceed your original sous vide target temperatures, your food will still be better than it would have if you had never used sous vide. It is counterintuitive, and I was skeptical at first too. I do not claim to understand it fully. It’s true, nonetheless!

My problem with pictures is I always think of it when I have yellow mustard and rub (or equivalent) up to my elbows and have to get the thing into the next stage. I’ll put the camera out to remind me.

The second smoke is almost done - about 45 minutes left. Internal temp is 190, so just about where I’d declare it done if it had started as raw.

[daddyoh]

Okay can’t wait to hear about the results.

[David_Stilley]

@CFLBob I tried to read the article but was too angry to finish it with that stupid Lapavi add pop up that covered over 1/3 of the page diagonally with no X out, making it unreadable. Maybe it looks different on whatever you’re viewing it on. I hate it when web sites do that stuff, what if I already own their stupid product?

Sousvide has become like keto, as it grows in popularity it spawns endless useless product marketing that makes people think they need more than a stockpot, a bag system and an immersion pod.

[CFLBob]

I never get popups on this computer. My blockers get them so well I don’t even know they’re there.

Sorry about that.

[CFLBob]

The results were fantastic. The bark was better than the smoke after sous vide approach. It pulled very easily. Moist, delicious. All in all the process took from about 11AM yesterday through to 5PM today, so there’s the aspect of planning, and doing things on schedule, but with the exception of needing two consecutive days outside with no rain, that’s not particularly hard.

Right out of the smoker:

Pulled for serving (3 adults):

My plate. Probably about a pound, with Alabama white sauce.

I had my doubts this would be worth it this morning after the sous vide bath. It went into the bath (double bagged) last night around 5PM, and when it went in, the Internal Temp was 145 (F). After 18 hours at 165, at 11 this morning, the roast had given off a lot of juices, and I thought it washed away the bark that had started. It’s tricky to handle food at this stage because it’s fully cooked and fall-off-the-bone tender. It was trying to fall apart right then and there, but I gave it a rub with yellow mustard and then the same rub I used yesterday. When I put it in the smoker, the meat was trying to slide off the generous fat pad that the pork had. I think next time I’ll tie it up with butcher twine.

It was into the smoker by just before noon for the second smoke and by 3 I could see it was getting a good looking bark.

I think this will be my standard way of doing pulled pork from now on. I don’t know if the bark that started yesterday really did get washed away, and I put it back today, or if it mostly survived and I added to it. I just know it’s better than my single smoked version with sv first and then a few hours in the smoker.