Directions: |
Directions:As you can imagine there's 1 million different ways to barbecue. Let's start with the basics, preparing the meat. Often times at the grocery store when you see a beef brisket you're getting the what is called "the flat". The flat is the skinny end of the brisket muscle and typically does not have a lot of fat on it. You never want to trim all the fat off of the brisket. The fat is very important to keeping the brisket moist. If you get a whole beef brisket, typically 15 to 18 pounds it will have a lot of fat on it and will require trimming. I removed the excess fat and leave about a quarter of an inch of fat on the brisket to ensure that it stays moist. If you're cooking the big boy, the whole brisket you're going to have to trim it down considerably. If your cooking the flat and there is very little fat on it you can lay bacon across the top to help keep it moist during the cooking process. This is the only time really cheap bacon comes in handy! The fattier the bacon the better the basting process will work.
Once you've prepared your meat, apply the rub. There are no measurements so you kinda have to go by what you feel is right for you in terms of quantity of spice. The Chinese hot oil is what I call the binder that holds all the other spices to the brisket. Apply a generous, and I do mean generous layer of rub to your brisket. I like a full eighth to quarter inch of rub that literally is caked on. Place the brisket in a metal pan, cover and refrigerate overnight. If you don't have the luxury of refrigerating and marinating overnight, apply your rub and let set at room temperature for as long as you possibly can, a minimum of four hours. The marinating process is a key element to good Bar-B-Q and it should never be sidestepped if at all possible.
When it comes to how to cook your brisket we have a lot of latitude here. It really gets down to what type of barbecue pit you have. No matter what type of pit you have there are some steadfast rules that you have to stick with. Here are the basics. The first rule is always, start cooking your brisket at room temperature. This is a steadfast rule that cannot be ignored. Second rule, always use indirect heat. If you try cooking a brisket over direct heat you'll end up with something so tough you could retread your tire with it. Slow cooking allows the proteins in the brisket to break down and therefore you get tender brisket. Third rule, you always cook between 200° – 225°. You cannot rush the cooking process. I've never cooked a brisket for less than six hours and often times up to 10 to 12 hours. Fourth rule, always have some type of moisture apparatus in your barbecue pit. A tin pan with water works well. Some smoker pits have water pans built into them. Use them! The added moisture really protects the meat from drying out. Fifth rule, based at least once an hour. It's important to keep moisture on the meat during the cooking process. Sixth rule, and this one is debatable. After four or five hours into the cooking process, or halfway through the cooking process remove your brisket and rap in heavy duty tin foil. I say this is debatable because a lot of pit masters do not agree with this. I agree with them to a certain extent. If you're using a smoker that has a water pan built into it and the heat is extremely indirect you may not need to do this. If you're using a smaller barbecue pit where the meat is much closer to the coals it's a good idea to use this technique. You'll have to decide this one for yourself. Last rule, pay attention to your coals. You want to strive to keep a consistent temperature in your pit. Don't let it get too hot and don't let it get to cold. If you're cooking on a small pit it's always good to make coals outside the pit and then add it to the pit as needed. If you're using a very indirect method of cooking such as a smoker you can just though your coals in their.
About smoke. Once again it's a personal preference. I grew up using oak because that's what we had. In Texas it's everywhere so it was easy to get. Applewood and Pecan works great as well. A little bit of mesquite is an interesting flavor and burns a very hot. Be careful with this stuff.
There's a lot of people that have a lot of theories on how smoke interacts with the brisket. Many believe that after three or four hours the meat will not retain any more smoke flavor. This is one reason people remove the brisket from the heat and wrap in tinfoil. I think there's real merit to this concept. I have seen people make a big mistake by throwing so much wood on the fire and adding so much smoke that the brisket becomes bitter from over smoking. Be careful not to make that mistake. I totally agree that the first 3 to 4 hours is when the meat picks up the vast majority of that luscious smoky flavor and after that it becomes moot.
Last but not least always use a meat thermometer! If you use a good quality probe meat thermometer you will not screw up, and that's a fact! It's the best cheater there is out there to ensure perfectly cooked brisket. 99.9% of the time failure comes from overcooking, hence drying out your brisket. Meat thermometers cover your Heyne and ensure you do not overcook your brisket. You're a fool not to use one.
In review, keep your meat moist, your temperature consistent and be patient and you'll end up with great barbecue no matter what type of meat you are cooking. |
Personal
Notes: |
Personal
Notes: As you can see by what I've written above this recipe is more about rules and how to use than a step-by-step do it my way type of recipe. There are way to many variables that affect the outcome of your barbecue such as type of pit, cut of meat, size of your brisket and more. If you stick to the basic rules that I laid out above you're going to achieve the end results you're looking for.
There are a few variations worth mentioning. One is your baste. Using Worchester shire sauce and apple cider vinegar is a classic baste but there many, many more." Pa's barbecue sauce" is a good option that you can use. It's a catchup and brown sugar-based sauce that I love on ribs. When I use this sauce I also use it as a marinade rather than a dry rub. I marinate the brisket in the sauce and I use it as a base during the cooking process. There so many ways to cook barbecue it's just ridiculous. A great and I mean great website to go to is "amazingribs.com". These guys are the absolute pros. You have it all here. I hope this website doesn't go away over the years because you can find anything you want to know about barbecuing from pits to sauce to technique on and on and on. Enjoy your time at the barbecue pit. The best times of my life always have seem to gravitate around good old Texas style barbecue and the friends and family that always accompany it.
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