BBQ Beef Brisket
CATEGORIES
INGREDIENTS
- Cooking Time: Varies (5-10) hours
- Servings: 10 min
- Preparation Time: 1 hour and 30 min
- 1 (10-lb) first-cut beef brisket; untrimmed (thick layer of fat on one side)
- Your home-made dry rub (if you have one) or the recipe below; otherwise use salt and black pepper; to taste of course.
- Generic dry rub:
- 5 tablespoons Salt
- 5 tablespoons Black pepper
- 5 tablespoons Paprika
- 5 tablespoons Garlic powder
- 2 teaspoon Salt
- 2 teaspoon Dry mustard
- 2 teaspoon Chili powder
- 2 teaspoons Paprika
- 1/3 cup Vegetable oil
- 2 large cloves garlic; crushed
- 1 large (or 2 small) Bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon red pepper sauce
- 1/2 cup Worcestershire Sauce
- 1/3 cup Cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Soy sauce
- 3 1/4 cups Beef stock
- Barbecue Sauce (See Below) otherwise use your favorite commercial BBQ sauce
- 1 1/4 cups of Ketchup
- 1/3 cup of Worcestershire Sauce
- 1/3 cup of Lemon juice
- 1/3 cup of packed brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon of yellow mustard
- 1/4 cup of water
- 1 large clove garlic crushed and chopped
- 1/4 cup of butter (1/2 stick) or pan drippings* from barbecue
DIRECTIONS
- DRY RUB:
- In an airtight container with a lid, combine the salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic powder. Shake to mix well.
- Sprinkle over the entire surface of the meat, concentrating on the fat layer. Rub or press into the fat and meat.
- Makes 1/2 cup.
- BBQ SAUCE:
- Combine the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, brown sugar, mustard, water and garlic in a medium saucepan.
- Place over very low heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, 1 hour.
- Stir in the butter or drippings and cook 15 minutes longer.
- Pour into a container with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate to store, up to 2 weeks. Makes about 3 cups.
- SIDE NOTES:
- To obtain pan drippings, place a drip pan under the brisket during cooking or save the juices that collect while the meat rests during slicing.
- You can also heat some of the fat trimmings to obtain some fat drippings. If you are doing the grill/oven technique to bbq your brisket, the meat drippings collect in the foil and can easily be spooned up and added to the sauce.
- COOKING THE BRISKET:
- To prepare Beef Brisket using Slow Technique:
- Generously coat all sides of the brisket; especially the fatty side with the dry rub or salt and pepper.
- Cover and let the meat come to room temperature; about 1 hour. Meanwhile, prepare a fire by lighting wood or a combination of wood and charcoal in the firebox of a cooker
- OR
- at the end of a barrel smoker opposite the end with the vent or chimney
- OR
- Light the coals in a water smoker.
- OR preheat a gas smoker/grill.
- When the fire has burned down to glowing embers or the coals are covered with gray ash, place the brisket on the grate but not directly over the coals. OR
- Place a full pan of water over the coals or hot lava rocks, then add the grate and brisket.
- The fire should be low, 225 to 250 degrees F.
- Cover the cooker and smoke the brisket, turning every hour or so, until it is tender and the internal temperature reaches 180 to 190 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer; 8 to 10 hours of cooking.
- Be sure to keep an eye on the fire by adding wood (or wood embers from a separate fire) or coals to keep it from going out and to keep the temperature inside the cooker between 225 and 300 degrees F.
- When the brisket is charred and tender (a fork should be able to be easily inserted), remove it from the cooker and allow to rest about 20 minutes covered.
- Trim off the fat layer (that's been basting the meat) and cut brisket in thin slices across the grain.
- Serve with warm barbecue sauce, if desired.
- To prepare Beef Brisket using combination Grill/Oven Technique:
- The following technique produces smoky, tender brisket and cuts the time almost in half.
- Generously coat all sides of the brisket, particularly the fatty layer, with the dry rub or salt and pepper.
- Cover and let the meat come to room temperature, about 1 hour.
- If using a charcoal grill:
- Light a fire in a charcoal grill that is big enough to hold the brisket. Allow the coals to burn until covered with gray ash. Place the brisket on the grill, fat side down.
- Grill the brisket about 45 minutes or until the fat is charred, turning when necessary to stop fat from dripping into the fire.
- Squirt flare-ups with water to douse the flames.
- If using a gas grill:
- grill directly over a medium flame for about 20 minutes or until the fat side was charred, then over indirect heat for another 20 minutes.
- Remove the brisket from the grill.
- NOW:
- Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Place the brisket on a double thickness of aluminum foil in a shallow roasting pan.
- Wrap it tightly and bake for 4 to 5 hours or until the meat is very tender. Remove the brisket from the oven and peel back the foil.
- Increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
- Return the brisket to the oven and roast, uncovered, for 30 minutes to crisp the top layer of fat.
- Allow the meat to rest for 20 minutes.
- Trim off the fat layer and cut across the grain into thin slices.
- Serve with warm barbecue sauce, if desired.