Name: Sous Vide and Smoked Brisket
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 42 h
Total time: 42 h 10 min
Cuisine: BBQ
Ingredients: Half Brisket (about 7 pounds); 65 grams (1/4 cup) kosher salt; 30 grams (5 tsp) black pepper; 7 grams (1 1/4 tsp) pink curing salt

Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

Sous vide brisket will be the best brisket you’ve ever tasted. This recipe combines sous vide and smoke for traditional flavor and perfect texture.

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

My favorite combination of kitchen gadgets: my immersion circulator (for sous vide) and my smoker. Sous vide means I know that I’ll get the perfect texture, no question, and the juciest meat. My smoker gives my cooks that classic smoky bark I’m looking for when it comes to BBQ.

There is no question: this recipe takes effort and time. But it is WORTH IT. Believe me.

What You Need to Make Sous Vide and Smoked Brisket

The food:

Obviously, you’ll need a brisket. I highly recommend getting your brisket from Porter Road. They have half and whole briskets for you to choose from. A half brisket will feed PLENTY of people.
Kosher Salt
Black Pepper
Pink curing salt. You can easily get this on Amazon.

Supplies:

Immersion circulator for sous vide – I highly recommend purchasing from Vesta Precision. I have three, yes three, of theirs, and love them all!
A vacuum sealer. This isn’t technically required, but it makes things much easier. Again, I can’t recommend the vacuum sealers from Vesta Precision enough!
A large container for the water bath. You could use a cooler – I like to use Cambro containers.
A smoker. We have the Green Mountain Grill Davy Crockett – it’s the perfect size for our tiny balcony 🙂

How to Make a Rub for Brisket

I wanted to keep this rub really simple and traditional, so mine contains only three ingredients:

65 g kosher salt
30 g black pepper
7 g pink curing salt

If you cook or bake a lot, it’s worth getting a kitchen scale. It’s so much more accurate than measuring and frankly, easier!

Then really rub it into the brisket. I’m talkin’ all the nooks and crannies.

Time and Temperature for Sous Vide Brisket

Vacuum seal your brisket after you’ve seasoned it super, super well.

Then drop it into the water bath at 155 degrees Fahrenheit for 36 hours. Long cooks like this tend to create air pockets in the bags, so make sure to weigh down the bag/s of brisket. I usually just use a ceramic dinner plate or bowl – don’t overthink it.

How to Smoke Sous Vide Brisket

After the brisket is done cooking in the sous vide bath, the best way to finish it is on the smoker (although the oven will work, too, if you don’t have a smoker). To avoid the meat getting tough, I like to smoke it low and slow at 150 degrees Fahrenheit for 6 hours.

You’ll know it’s finished when it has a deep, even bark all over the surface! Then slice and serve.

What to Serve with Sous Vide and Smoked Brisket

Looking for side dish ideas? Look no further!