My appoligies to the cow.

[willxfmr]

Thank you everyone for your encouragement and advise!
It seems the consensus is I either need to up the SV temp, or time. That would show that the real problem is really nothing more than me outsmarting myself without connecting all the dots. That does sound just like me.

I really like the smoke profile I get with the smoke first method, and I have gotten good results in the past, so I'm going to stick with that for now. The adjustment is going to be to the temp on the SV step. I'm thinking 150 was a step too far in lowering the temperature without raising the time, so the next one will hit the bath at 155° for the same 24 hours. I will also be more diligent about doing the squeeze test. Maybe. If I remember. We'll play that one by ear. I've got a couple of weeks before the next day off rolls around, so I should have plenty of time to second guess myself. But just for my own sanity, brisket is right back on the top of the list of things to do.

[rickgregory]

I'd move the time out MUCH more. The 5F won't make much of a difference. In your shoes I'd do 48 hours. As Potkettleblack chants... temp is doneness, time is tenderness and your problem is the latter, so...

[HouseHomey]

Sooo.... looks like I nailed this one. Better to be lucky than good.

[Polarbear777]

Whether you choose to do the pre-smoke "Q" in QVQ or just start with SV is a smaller difference than leaving out the final "Q" step. That finish is essential if you want any bark since the SV will soften it and remove some you’ve got to dry it/crisp it a little.

In SVQ you are relying entirely on the SV part to break down collagen and tenderize so it HAS to be tender and jiggly out of the SV bath. You can usually achieve that with 135 x 56-72 hours or for instance Clint’s 150F for 30 hours. Just test for tenderness out of the SV bath before you decide if you need more time.

if it comes out tough it’s probably undercooked and if it falls apart easily and is dry it is over cooked.

and please don’t skip the finishing step. It’s just not the same without a surface treatment at the end.

looking forward to seeing your next 5 tries :-)