Smoked Veal Brisket

 I ordered a Veal Brisket from the local butcher shop.

It was a lot larger than I expected... online sources suggested it would be 3-4 lbs, but this was 11+ lbs. Consequently, the $20/lb was felt quite a bit more acutely!

 Having said that, it was absolutely delicious, and in my honest opinion, better than normal Beef Brisket. It had less of a beefy punch, with a more subtle almost pork-like flavor, but it was extremely tender. It was quite possibly the juiciest meat I've ever eaten!

 I cooked it two ways. The first piece, which was mostly point, I smoked like a traditional Beef Brisket. I smoked it up to 203F and pulled it off and let it rest.

 

I smoked it with Cherry Wood in leiu of my usual Mesquite because I knew it would have a sublte flavor. 10/10 would eat again! I'm not sure I would pay $20/lb for it again, though.
 

 The second piece was a strip of Flat, and I initially cooked it like a Steak. I had heard you could reverse-sear it to 135F and it would be just fine due to the nature of veal. It was not, at least not when trimmed like a briket. Had I trimmed ALL of the fat off, it would have worked just fine, but as it was, the fat simply did not render Sous-Vide at 135F for 4+ hours. It was still chewy and bad. So, I put it in the oven, brought it up to 205F, and that "saved it" and I ate it just like brisket. It was also delicious!

The remaining flat I put in the freezer... it was too big to cook for my family at this time. Perhaps I'll revisit this topic later on. 

Why Sous Vide?

 Essentially most beef cuts fall into one of two categories: Lean and Tender (Tenderloin, Sirloin, Strip Steaks) and the traditional wisdom is that these are best cooked as rare as you care to eat to preserve that tenderness. The classic issue comes with trying to get good dark crust on the outside without overcooking the inside. So you gently bring the meat up to temp (like in a 225F oven). Then blast it with the hottest heat you can for the shortest time you can, e.g. a charcoal fire or a cast iron skillet.  Sous Vide helps here but isn't essential, it's just a fancy oven and ensures you don't overcook it. You can overcook a Sirloin in an oven by bringing it to 140F instead of 130F but in a 130F Sous Vide bath it will simply never overcook. 

The other common types of meats are Tough and Fatty. These are the classic BBQ meats. Brisket. Chuck. Ribs. Tail. These are fantastic cooked to a done temp of ~205F for hours and hours where the fat the renders and the protein breaks down and you get an extremely tasty, tender cut. Sous Vide can help here if you don't have a smoker or a reliable oven... essentially an apartment dweller without access to other cuts might benefit.

Then you have fatty, tender cuts like a Ribeye. These are delicious pretty much any way you cook them. Sous Vide can help by cooking these longer than you normally would, helping to sofen up and render otherwise unappetizing fat chunks. You cook the roast for hours and hours but keep the temp around 137F. It never overcooks but it renders the fat. It's especially good with Prime Rib. 
Then lastly you've got Lean, Tough Cuts. Your Top Round, Bottom Round, Bottom Sirloin, and Shank steaks are all very lean and very tough. Traditionally these would be ground up. Or tenderized with a mallet. And/or marinated with a tenderizing agent like Worcester. But the Sous Vide offers another option... cook them a long time at a low temp. You can Soua Vide them for 12 hours at 133F and never overcook them, but the long cook time will soften up the protein fibers and you will get a decent steak. It will never be a Ribeye or a Tenderloin, but it will be good.

Today I Sous Vide cooked a London Broil at 133F for 8 hours. Doing it again, I would probably go longer, to get it more tender. 

The meat comes out gray after the Sous Vide step.

 Light up the cheap grill using old briquettes. These might be the hottest briquettes I've ever poured!

 Meat goes on, and all we're looking for is color.

Looks great! Time to take it off and slice.

 

Looks great and tasted fantastic!