Brisketexan's brisket 'recipe'

[cbs]

I was going to forward this to someone, but I can't find it. Does anyone have the link?

 

[hullabelew]

From the Hornfans recipe at the top of Rusty's. Also includes an entry from AustinTexas. BT has some more brisket posts in the cookbook.

Brisket
Simple as hell on technique -- just requires time and patience.

Rub the night before with Bolner's brand brisket seasoning (add a little bit extra coarse cracked pepper).

By 8:30 a.m., my fire (started with some charcoal) of oak and pecan is ready. Put briskets on the smoker. Maintain heat at 170-225 for about 10 hours. At 6:30, remove beautifully black briskets from fire, wrap tightly in foil. Place in oven at 220 for 4-5 hours.

Result: perfectly smoked brisket, tender and moist as can be. Doesn't fall apart, but pulls apart with little expert. No knives were provided to my guests, and none were needed.

Submitted by: brisketexan

Brisket 101
First, I built my fire. Used charcoal to start it and used oak logs for the duration. I prefer oak to mesquite, as I think is gives the brisket more flavor and gives it that nice charred finish.

Adjusted the temp with the damper and chimney stack:

Rubbed the brisket. I just use equal parts salt and pepper and a little paprika or really whatever I feel like adding on that particular day. It really doesn't matter, because the flavor truly comes from the smoke and the meat.

Got the temp up to 200-225. If you go over or under, don’t panic. Just add logs and/or adjust the damper/chimney. When you're talking about 10-12+ hours of cooking time, an hour too hot or too cool can be remedied easily. When the temp was right,

I put the brisket on. Placed it as close to the thermometer as I could. I don’t use a meat thermometer, but you can.

Cracked a Dos.
Stared at my pit for a few hours. The dogs were going crazy. The one on the right is wearing a National Championship collar.

This brisket was 10.5 lbs. Basically following the 1.5 hours/lb., I pulled it off at 11:00 am after putting it on at 8:00 pm. I let it smoke all night, adding one log at about 11:30 pm. Got up around 6:00 am. The temp had dropped to around 150, but, I didn't panic and added another log and ran it up to 250 for about an hour before leveling it back to the 200-225 range.

After pulling it off, I let it sit for about 20-30 mins before slicing.

When I slice it, I first slice the fat cap off the top. (notice the nice charring the oak gives it?):

I slice my brisket perpendicular to the grain of the brisket. Nice smoke ring!

Slice all the way down. You can use about 80% of the brisket, if it’s a good, lean one. BTW, you know you have a lean brisket if you can bend it in half. Kinda like thumping a melon. If you can't bend it, it's likely too fatty.

That’s it. Simple. Rub it. Start a fire. Put it on. Leave it the hell alone. This was a particularly good one. No BBQ sauce needed on this one…

Some folks do a lot more than this, but I keep it as simple as possible, letting the smoke and the meat speak for themselves. The more I usually try to do, the more I typically screw it up.

Submitted by: austintexas