Smoked Beef Brisket
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Beef Brisket has a reputation for being tricky – I’ve found it to be very straightforward and predictable with the correct recipe and cooking method. This can be held for 1-4 hours after cooking, so start on this early and you can then hold it until serving time. The recipe here is for cooking on a Pit Barrel Cooker, but can be adapted for other smokers.
Smoked Beef Brisket
Category
BBQ/Grilling
Persons
12
Prep Time
40 minutes
Cook Time
10 hours
Total Time
10 hours, 40 minutes
Ingredients
- a Full Packer Brisket
- Kosher Salt
- Beef Rub
- 3 Tbsp coarse pepper.
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp onion powder
- 1 Tbsp paprika
- 2 tsp mustard powder
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp cayenne powder
- Beef Mop
- 1 cup coffee
- 1 cup beer
- 1 cup beef stock
- ½ cup ketchup or tomato paste
- ¼ cup cider vinegar
- 3 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 2-3 Tbsp Molasses
- 1-2 Tbsp butter or beef fat
- 2-4 tsp hot sauce
- Simmer together for 20-30 minutes
Instructions
- Trim the fat from the brisket, down to 1/4” – 1/8”. Remove any silver skin. Trim off any gray edge meat. Put a cut across the flat at the narrow end perpendicular to the grain so that you can tell what way to cut the brisket against the grain.
- Put some slices diagonally across the fat to help the rub penetrate.
- Sprinkle with kosher salt (½ tsp per pound) and inject with at least a cup of beef broth (parallel to the grain) then let sit overnight.
- Before cooking, rub with olive oil and apply a ½ cup of the beef rub an hour before going on the cooker. Put a hook in to just catch the bar, and put in a second hook to support the first hook.
- Hang in a hot PBC, and take it to 150-165 degrees F internal; this will take 4-6 hours.
- Remove and wrap with foil, adding a ¼-½ cup of beef broth. Place in a 250 degree F oven or roaster and take the brisket to 200 degrees F internal temp.
- When it hits the target temp, take the foil wrapped brisket, wrap in a towel and place in a cooler to stand for at least an hour, and up to 4 hours.
- Remove the brisket from the foil, being careful not to lose any of the juice.
- Remove the point from off the top of the flat so you can slice them separately since the grain in one runs perpendicular to the grain in the other.
- Remove an inch of the flat from the point end, and 2” from the other end of the flat – these ends will be drier and work better as chopped brisket with sauce.
- Cut the remaining flat and point ¼“thick against the grain, and serve on buns. You can use a combination of the wrap juice and mop as a sauce on the meat.