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
  1. DRY RUB:
  2. In an airtight container with a lid, combine the salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic powder. Shake to mix well.
  3. Sprinkle over the entire surface of the meat, concentrating on the fat layer. Rub or press into the fat and meat.
  4. Makes 1/2 cup.
  5. BBQ SAUCE:
  6. Combine the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, brown sugar, mustard, water and garlic in a medium saucepan.
  7. Place over very low heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, 1 hour.
  8. Stir in the butter or drippings and cook 15 minutes longer.
  9. Pour into a container with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate to store, up to 2 weeks. Makes about 3 cups.
  10. SIDE NOTES:
  11. 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.
  12. 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.
  13. COOKING THE BRISKET:
  14. To prepare Beef Brisket using Slow Technique:
  15. Generously coat all sides of the brisket; especially the fatty side with the dry rub or salt and pepper.
  16. 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
  17. OR
  18. at the end of a barrel smoker opposite the end with the vent or chimney
  19. OR
  20. Light the coals in a water smoker.
  21. OR preheat a gas smoker/grill.
  22. 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
  23. Place a full pan of water over the coals or hot lava rocks, then add the grate and brisket.
  24. The fire should be low, 225 to 250 degrees F.
  25. 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.
  26. 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.
  27. 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.
  28. Trim off the fat layer (that's been basting the meat) and cut brisket in thin slices across the grain.
  29. Serve with warm barbecue sauce, if desired.
  30. To prepare Beef Brisket using combination Grill/Oven Technique:
  31. The following technique produces smoky, tender brisket and cuts the time almost in half.
  32. Generously coat all sides of the brisket, particularly the fatty layer, with the dry rub or salt and pepper.
  33. Cover and let the meat come to room temperature, about 1 hour.
  34. If using a charcoal grill:
  35. 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.
  36. Grill the brisket about 45 minutes or until the fat is charred, turning when necessary to stop fat from dripping into the fire.
  37. Squirt flare-ups with water to douse the flames.
  38. If using a gas grill:
  39. 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.
  40. Remove the brisket from the grill.
  41. NOW:
  42. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Place the brisket on a double thickness of aluminum foil in a shallow roasting pan.
  43. 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.
  44. Increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
  45. Return the brisket to the oven and roast, uncovered, for 30 minutes to crisp the top layer of fat.
  46. Allow the meat to rest for 20 minutes.
  47. Trim off the fat layer and cut across the grain into thin slices.
  48. Serve with warm barbecue sauce, if desired.
RECIPE BACKSTORY
For all of those who love BBQ, this brisket recipe will definitely cure your hunger pains.