Brisket Diagnosis Please!!

I attempted making this recipe: https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/smokerless-smoked-brisket

Everything went well, until it came time to carve and eat. The brisket was as solid as a brick! Very tasty but absolutely no moisture/juices at all!

The brisket I purchased had absolutely no fat (I would've had to do a special order and didn't want to wait!). Also, it was small, just 800g, so I scaled the recipe down.

I brined it for almost 5 days in the fridge, then sous-vide for 24 hours on 68C then 3 hours with the rub on 125C in the oven.

Anyone have any ideas what I was doing wrong?

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fisher23

IMHO it was because it had no fat. When it comes to brisket I always get the highest grade I can afford with a fair amount of fat.

wolfiegirl

Exactly what John said....brisket needs fat. Period. Otherwise it will be nothing more than a dried up hunk 'o cow.

Brandon_Byrd_40557

The sad truth is that brisket isn't that great of a cut of meat. And it can be downright sad if it doesn't have fat. When you try it again, spring for a fattier brisket and try hitting it with a Jaccard needler (or asking your butcher to do that for you).

hairyotter_273859

Not sure what may have gone wrong, my guess would be it was the 3 hours in the oven. I would have put it in the oven at high heat just long enough to put a nice sear on it... like 15-20 min at 230C/450F after the 24hr sous vide. If you have a meat slicer you can save the roast by turning it into sandwich meat. I made a rib roast a few days ago that came out kind of hard and tough, I was disappointed. But after slicing it up thin it made fantastic tender meat.

Shaya_Green_76723

Thanks for the replies. Next time I'll order a brisket with some fat!