MARINATED BEEF BRISKET

Steps:

• Carefully slit just one end of the Cryovac bag, and remove the brisket, saving the bag.
• Rinse off the brisket, trim off any surface that looks like age, but leave on as much of the fat as possible, rinse again, and set aside.
• Rinse out bag, and set aside.
• You will be using it to marinate the meat if you don't have any giant food-safe bags.
• Alternately, you can use a roasting bag, such as the ones made by Reynolds.
• Do not use a garbage bag.
• They are not food-safe!
• Combine all of the liquid ingredients in a small bowl, except for the olive oil, and stir to combine.
• Add all of the dry ingredients, and stir to dissolve whatever is likely to dissolve.
• Start with the minimal amounts of spices, and work your way upward, stirring and tasting as you go.
• The marinade should be quite spicy!
• Whisk the olive oil into the marinade.
• Return the brisket to the Cryovac bag, and add the marinade, letting it drizzle down the sides of the meat.
• Squeeze out as much air as possible, and staple the end shut; the easiest way to do this is to fill the sink with water and let the water help do the squeezing.
• Massage the marinade into the meat, seal the Cryovac bag into a garbage bag to contain leaks, and it WILL leak!
• Place in the refrigerator, and marinate in refrigerator for at least 2 days, preferably longer, up to 5 days, massaging and turning over 2-3 times a day.
• Fold together the edge of 2 large pieces of heavy-duty foil to make a single piece large enough to enclose meat.
• Place the meat and marinade on the foil, seal it in, folding up all edges to seal.
• Alternately, place meat and the marinade in a large roasting bag, squeeze out air, and close the bag (I thought of this after the fact, of course!).
• Place meat on a rack in a roasting pan, fat side up so it will self baste, and roast in a 250-275 degree F for about 4-5 hours, until it reaches an internal temperature of about 130 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer.
• Carefully cut open the bag to expose meat, being careful not to burn yourself with the hot juices.
• Poke a couple hole in the bottom to let juices drain into the pan, and pull out bag or foil from under the meat, letting meat rest on the roasting rack.
• Return to oven, and continue roasting until internal temperature of meat reaches 150 degrees F, about another 1 hour or less.
• The meat will be pretty well done, but it will still be juicy due to the slow cooking.
• Remove roasting pan from oven, and allow brisket to rest at least 15 minutes before cutting.
• Trim off and discard all external fat before carving across the grain.
• Strain and degrease the pan drippings to use for jus or gravy.
• The drippings will be WAY TOO SALTY and SPICY to use as-is, so dilute to taste with low-sodium canned chicken broth and water before using or freezing.
• I ended up needing 2 cans of chicken broth and 4 cups of water to dilute 4 cups of drippings, and the jus was still very tasty!