A cheap and lazy brisket experiment

[Hugh]

I went to buy some chuck today at my friendly butcher shop. No chuck in stock. BUT, she did have a brisket she was willing to sell me for the price of chuck. . I took two thirds of it and left her most of the flat. She trimmed it to 7 pounds. They don't grade their meat so it is probably 2A (I think that is choice in USA). Risky, but I've always had good luck with their meat.

So I have a brisket in the bath. I'm going for traditional so 155 degrees. It was spur of the moment so no time to dry brine. Kosher salted and directly on to the gasser for a quick smoke. Then into the hot tub for 24 hours. I'll sear it tomorrow and serve it for supper.

Wish me luck.

[JCGrill]

Sounds like a good experience.

[kmhfive]

Great experiment! Looking forward to the results!

[DWCowles]

Don’t forget to post pics

[hoovarmin]

Yes, pics please. Looking forward to hearing how this goes.

[Hugh]

The ante has been upped. My buddy is joining us for supper and his wife is the best cook I know.

Here are the two pieces of brisket cooking at 155.

3 more hours till I find out if this worked.

[jgreen]

Looking great. For the price of chuck, you should grab the rest of that flat and make pastrami.

[Hugh]

I do have to research pastrami. I don't know the difference between corned beef and pastrami and I don't know how to cook either. I can eat both of them quite well tho!

[EdF]

First you make the corned beef, then you layer on the spices, smoke, and voila: pastrami!

[Hugh]

So I would say it worked out quite well. Here is a pic of the first slice. The photo doesn't do it justice. Juicy enough and very tender. Got the texture I was going for. Very traditional.

[kmhfive]

Excellent!

[hogdog6]

I do need to try that. Thanks for the post.

[fzxdoc]

It looks wonderful. Did you take it right out of the bath and give it a quick sear, or did you chill it for a bit first before the sear, Hugh ? I bet your guests were impressed!

Kathryn

[Potkettleblack]

Yeah, I was gonna say, you're probably gonna want to sear it up afterwards, just to firm any bark you may have built in the pre-sous smoke.

[HouseHomey]

Wow, that looks pretty darn good.

[Hugh]

fzxdoc and Potkettleblack - I didn't chill it. I was going for as simple as I could make it. I pulled it out of the bath 10 minutes before meal time. Quick cover in oil, salt and pepper and then on to the BBQ for a good sear. Had a nice smokey flavor to it from the pre-smoke. Only downside I could see of my "Lazy Man's Brisket" is the bark was thin (I liked it so much I'm giving it a name

[Potkettleblack]

Smoking after sous vide processing, preferably after a chill will improve the bark.

[Hugh]

Potkettleblack - I worry about drying it out by bringing it back up to temp in the smoker after a chill. You don't find that happens?

[Potkettleblack]

I don't do them at 155. For better bark, SV then shock and chill, then smoke.

[Troutman]

Nice job there Hugh, I'm going to do the same thing only with chuckie this weekend. Found some awesome CAB chuck, will post afterwards. Lovin' what SV does to these inexpensive pieces of meat, turns them into prime steak !! Again great job for a simple method.

[Hugh]

Hey Troutman - how did the chuckie turn out? I'm curious to know if it was juicy enough. My impression is that chuck isn't quite as juicy as brisket.

[Troutman]

Weekend ain’t here yet but I’m anticipating!!!!

[Hugh]

As I get older, the only thing I miss is my mind....

[FlaBouy]

Nice cook my man... That 155* is the sweet spot in my opinion.. I agree with the others.. chill and post sear nails it. I also pre-smoke a couple hours before the bath to about 135 or so.. but for a down and dirty cook, it looks like you nailed it my friend.