Pseudo "Smoked" Brisket

I wanted to smoke a brisket.  I spoke to a local rancher and he had 2 briskets in the freezer.  He told me that it was small and not very fatty.  After looking at it, I decided not to smoke it.  I looked on the web and looked at different recipes for sous vide brisket.  

I customized a recipe and came up with this.  After the water bath I smoked it.  The flavor was good, texture was nice, but it did not fare well with the pull test (tender to the bite).  

The jus from the bag had a great flavor.  I thickened it and turned it in to a gravy for the lean meat.

I kept the other one frozen and will try to make pastrami out of it.

E'ai ka kou!!! (Let’s eat)

Procedures

1 ea Brisket, beef (the one I used was about 6 lbs)

2 kg Water

2 kg Apple Juice

120 g Hawaiian Salt

80 g Brown Sugar

40 g Liquid Smoke, I used mesquite flavor

60 g Molasses

40 g Shoyu, soy sauce

You can use any rub you want, I used our Big Island Seasoning Salt

Procedures

1. Trim the brisket.  Do not take all the fat off, I trim off the hard fat (the fat that will not render down to a tasty bite).

2. Cut the brisket in half.  If you have a container large enough to brine and cook the brisket, you don’t have to cut in half.

3. Make the brine.  Combine the water, apple juice, salt, and brown sugar.  Mix well, make sure the ingredients are combined well.

4. Inject the brisket with the brine.  Brine the brisket for 24 to 36 hours.

5. Take out and let dry.  

6. Make the glaze; molasses and shoyu.

7. Glaze the brisket, save the rest of the glaze until later.

8. Vacuum seal the brisket.

9. Water bath the brisket for 20 hours at 157 degrees.

10. Take out of the water bath.  

11. Let rest for 20 minutes. Take out of the package, let it dry.  Save the jus to make a gravy.

12. Glaze the meat one more time and add the rub.

13. Smoke at 250 degrees for 3 to 5 hours. I smoked the flat part for 2 hours then wrapped in butcher paper.  I did not wrap the fatty end. Slice at the last possible minute and eat.

If yo have a lean brisket like I did, use this recipe. Take a picture and post, tag me and use #cookingwithclay. I would love to see how yours comes out.