Main events, RecipesMike PittsOctober 30, 2020smoked, beef, sous vide

Smoky brisket

Main events, RecipesMike PittsOctober 30, 2020smoked, beef, sous vide

Hunks of smoked beef is very FatSteak Club and Adam is our king of the smoker. But what if you don’t have one? Can you still get that lovely smokiness and glistening meat through other slow cooking methods? I like the precision of using sous vide so set out to try liquid smoke for the same effect. This isn’t a quick recipe - it takes 3 days - but the effort is minimal and the results very much worthwhile.

Step 1 - Brine

Dissolve 50g of the smoked salt, 200g of the brown sugar and 150ml of the liquid smoke in about 2 litres of water in a container big enough for the joint.
Immerse the beef in the brine and leave covered in the fridge or a cool place overnight.

Step 2 - Sous vide

Set the sous vide up and heat the water bath to 57°C.
Take the brisket out of the brine and pat dry with kitchen towel.
Mix a glaze using the barbecue sauce, molasses, soy sauce and the rest of the liquid smoke.
Brush the glaze all over the joint (you should only need half of it - retain the rest covered in the fridge) and then vacuum seal in a sous vide bag.
Place the sealed bag into the bath for 50 hours (yes - it takes planning!).

Step 3 - Roast

Preheat the oven to 105°C.
Remove the bag from the water bath and the brisket from the bag. Pat dry with kitchen towel.
Mix a rub using the remaining smoked salt and brown sugar along with the smoked paprika, pepper, garlic powder and onion salt.
Using the remaining glaze, coat the joint before then applying the rub to all sides.
Put the joint in a tray and roast in the oven for 3 hours, occasionally basting and flipping the joint.