I typically get mine for 2.50 a pound, but sometimes I'm just ****ing lazy and don't want to do all the trimming.

2.96/lb for whole brisket is pretty typical around here. Problem I have is fitting them in my smoker

Yeah thats not a bad price for the bag. It should smoke up nicely.

So there's nothing wrong with going with one of those? What this $6/lb and up type brisket you guys are talking about ($12 KC!!)? Straight from the butcher?

$6 is cheap for me, but I'm in Alabama. Beef down here is expensive.

Not a thing wrong with those

They arent trimmed, it's the point and flat. A lot of people only consider the flat the "good" part. But for smoking, they're fine. I suggest watching a video on how to slice brisket, separate the point from the flat, etc.

Here and there I will get a trimmed one if I am just feeling lazy as hell and I want a quick smoked brisket. That's hardly a thing for me though.

Trimmed is much higher per pound, but you're also not paying X dollars for pounds of fat. If you like real lean meat, than that's a bit of a bonus. Learn how to trim your own meat though, and save some money.

I'm more partial to the packer brisket as the cap is lovely for doing BBQ (burnt ends).

Has anyone ever both smoked and sous vide a brisket? I'm thinking of smoking for a few hours then throwing into sous vide for a day or two. Maybe at 140 degrees. I don't know what the best process is.

That's the way to do it, IYAM. Smoke to 140 to maximize time in the smoke, pull it from the smoker, cool it, bag it, sous vide it.

Never done it myself.

And now that I think about it, maybe you sous vide it first, then cool it, then smoke it up to serving temp...

Hmmmm.... I think you need to test it both ways and report back. Either way, I think you need to cool it between cooking methods.

That is interesting. I saw a modernist cuisine article that suggested 7 hours at 149 in the smoke, then 140 degrees in the sous vide for 72 hours. I don't worry about low and slow for thinner cuts but don't know if I should be worried for thicker cuts for brisket. Bringing the brisket up to temperature in the smoke feels safer to me. Then how long should I toss into the sous vide? I'm guessing maintain at the 140 degrees.

Actually for safety, I think you'd want to sous vide second. The long cook time at 140 would pasteurize the meat within a couple hours. I'd just worried about washing out the smoke flavor.

Totally worth testing though, IMO.

If brisket weren't $6+/pound here, I'd try that myself.

What are you Smoking/Grilling/BBQ'ing this weekend?
 

About to slap these baby backs on my WSM.

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Nice, you need to buy a real grill though

This is a smoker.