I was doing sous-vide before I got into the whole barbecue/smoke world. There was an initial tendency to sous vide everything because it was novel and that's kinda when I started getting the hang of cooking in general. I wanna point out a few things:
1. Try Novel Temperatures
For instance, I'm not a huge brisket fan when its done traditionally. Even the very best I've had is never something I'd take over a similarly prepared chuck roast or beef ribs. However, medium rare brisket that's BBQ style? It's a thing of beauty. 3 days in a water bath at about 131ºF, the chilled, and smoked to reheat/form a bark is pretty awesome. And it's very different. I've done pork ribs at about 140ºF too and it's a new experience.
145ºF chicken breast, if finished properly, is a thing of beauty.
I also did a ham around 140ºF after curing it. The results were really good, but also quite different than what I was used to from ham. (I preferred the sous vide lower temperature stuff.)
2. Smaller Portions are an Option
Most traditional barbecue requires large chunks of meat or you end up with leather. With sous vide, you can do a 4lbs pork roast. That's a plus when you're cooking for two or three and don't want to eat pulled pork all week long.
3. Divine Burgers
My favorite steakhouse burgers are done using sous vide. I sous vide at 131ºF for a couple hours and then chill for later. When it's time to actually make the burgers, I smoke them low'n slow till they get up to a reasonable internal temp (around 100-110ºF), pull them off, salt, rub and old them, then do a quick sear over coals (or just use a cast iron skillet).
1. Try Novel Temperatures
For instance, I'm not a huge brisket fan when its done traditionally. Even the very best I've had is never something I'd take over a similarly prepared chuck roast or beef ribs. However, medium rare brisket that's BBQ style? It's a thing of beauty. 3 days in a water bath at about 131ºF, the chilled, and smoked to reheat/form a bark is pretty awesome. And it's very different. I've done pork ribs at about 140ºF too and it's a new experience.
145ºF chicken breast, if finished properly, is a thing of beauty.
I also did a ham around 140ºF after curing it. The results were really good, but also quite different than what I was used to from ham. (I preferred the sous vide lower temperature stuff.)
2. Smaller Portions are an Option
Most traditional barbecue requires large chunks of meat or you end up with leather. With sous vide, you can do a 4lbs pork roast. That's a plus when you're cooking for two or three and don't want to eat pulled pork all week long.
3. Divine Burgers
My favorite steakhouse burgers are done using sous vide. I sous vide at 131ºF for a couple hours and then chill for later. When it's time to actually make the burgers, I smoke them low'n slow till they get up to a reasonable internal temp (around 100-110ºF), pull them off, salt, rub and old them, then do a quick sear over coals (or just use a cast iron skillet).
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