The brisket is one of the pectoral muscles of the cow.  When a cow lies down, they’re resting most of their body weight on this cut, which makes it extremely tough and full of connective tissues.  This recipe takes about an hour of actual work and most of that is preparing the brisket so it can be sous vide.  In the sous vide bath it will take 24 hours and then an additional 3 hours in the smoker.  Long cook but well worth it. 

The meat is a 14 pound, Black Angus brisket and it cost me $38 at Sam's Club.  That is $2.71 a pound.  A lot cheaper than any steak. 

Now, this is the hard part of this cook for this brisket is a whole packer.  First, a 14-pound brisket is not going to fit into 11-inch wide sous vide cooking bag.  Second, both the point muscle and the flat muscle are together and it is best for preparing and serving them to be apart.  In the diagram you can see there is a fat layer that separates them and it is this fat layer that is going to direct how we disassemble this brisket so we can sous vide it. 

There also is a small area called the fat cap and that is where the external fat links up with the internal fat.  So the first thing we need to remove is the fat cap.  Now do not throw it away for there is some of the best meat on the brisket buried in that fat.  As you cut your way following the layer of fat that separates the flat from the point.  Make sure you remove all large chunks of fat.  Here in the diagram section D is the fat cap and that needs to be removed in one piece. 

Make sure you take your time and make small cuts that follow the layer of fat.  When you are done removing the fat cap put it off to the side.  One thing you must remember that when cooking in a plastic bag there is no place for the fat to go.  So try to leave no more than a ¼ inch of fat on the brisket. 

Now it time to cut out the flat. 

Usually, when you buy a small brisket this is the part you are getting.  The points usually go to the restaurants.  So now you have the flat and the fat cap we can move onto the point. 

The point is not just large but is tall making it hard to put a complete point into a cooking bag.  For that reason, I cut the point in half.  In the picture, you see all three pieces of this brisket.  On the left is the flat and on the right are the two parts of the point.  Now it is time to season the brisket and I normally just use salt and pepper but last year I tried Montreal Steak Seasoning and my family really liked the taste.  I season every inch and I normally apply one coat then wait 10 minutes and then apply another coat. 

I don’t know about you, but I really enjoy using the vacuum sealer.  The food always comes out looking very nice and neat.  One thing you need to remember is that the sealer is setup for moist or liquid based on your model.  Now that the brisket is properly bagged and sealed it is time for the bath. 

I set my sous vide bath for 137F and programmed my cooker for 24 hours.  Some people I know go as long as 36 hours but I personally did not see the benefit going longer. 

After a full 24 hours, I removed the brisket from cooking bags and then put them in a pellet smoker set at 225F and smoked for 3 hours.