Entrée — Lazy Man’s Barbecued Beef Brisket by dvdlee

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Entree -- Lazy Man's Barbecued Beef Brisket
Submitted by dvdlee on August 27, 2004 at 10:07 am

DESCRIPTION
Entree -- Lazy Man's Barbecued Beef Brisket

SUMMARY
Yield 0 File under Family / Ethnic / Regional

INSTRUCTIONS
While not a "authentic" true-blue barbecued brisket -- this method (from Cooks' Illustated) gives consistent and great results -- and takes very little work -- (lots of time, but little work). I have also included three spice rubs in this post and other info....

There are 3 parts to making a great barbecued beef brisket. The spice rub, the cooking, and the barbecue sauce.

I'm going to discuss the cooking first - then list 3 spice rubs, then refer to you a barbecue sauce recipe I've posted.

What cut of meat??? Barbecue brisket is not something you do every day - I believe that if you're going to do it - cook the ENTIRE brisket. You can buy a point-cut or a blade cut (which are portions of the whole brisket), but whole briskets are usually much cheaper per pound, and if you have friends or family it works out to be a not-too-expensive meat choice. Cooked brisket does not freeze well - but it will keep for 3 days. I can usually find brisket on sale for 80 cents a pound - so for a 10 pound brisket that's only $8!!

What is good barbecued brisket??

Good brisket has an almost black crispy exterior with smoke and spices blending together to form a flavorful crust - but has no burnt taste at all. The interior of the brisket is super tender - and I usually have to be very careful when moving the meat so that it does not falls into pieces when placed on a cutting board. The sauce serves to enhance the crusty outer portion and flavor and provide a sweet, tangy complex taste with overtones of vinegar and spices to the tender interior. Barbecue brisket is always served with Pinto Beans (with lots of meaty salt pork, spices, cilantro, onions, green pepper, etc.) which have been cooked the day before. Other side dishes can be slaw, potato salad, maux chou (a Cajun spicy corn dish), and even green-bean casserole!

You first need to let the meat "cure" or slowly season with a dry rub (wet ribs are a pain and would also require basting and adding coals -- and remember, our goal is to be lazy and not have to 'fiddle' or do any extra work!).

I usually cut the whole brisket into two sections (so the pieces will easily fit into two 2-gallon ziplock bags) to keep things simple. Trim fat from the brisket (I usually trim as much as I can, some people like to leave up to a quarter of an inch). Using your hands completely coat all sides of the brisket pieces with your spice rub. Really press the spices in and make sure everything is well coated. Seal in plastic bags and place in the refrigerator and let "marinade" for around 48 hours (more or less). You do not need to turn the meat or do anything to it. Just let it sit there.

Remove meat from the refrigerator around 45 minutes before you'll put it on the grill (15 minutes before lighting the fire). A critical part is preparing the right kind of fire for grilling the brisket. You want to take around 3 quarts of charcoal and do your regular lighting procedure. After around 20-30 minutes, spread the charcoal over HALF of the grill pan - half of the grill grate has coals under it - and half of the grill grate has NO COALS. (This is not front or back, but left and right). I usually add some unlighted natural hardwood charcoal on top of the lit briquettes to make sure there is enough fuel for the entire process.

Take around 2 cups of mesquite, hickory or pecan chips (or a small chunk of wood) and wrap them in HEAVY-DUTY foil. Punch or slice several holes in the chip pouch. After you have spread the coals, place the chip pouch on top of the hot coals. If you have a gas grill you have to be able to control the burners so that only half of the burners produce heat (left or right). You can still do the chip pouches on a gas grill.

If you are using wood chunks (kindling), you can also just soak that in water for 20-30 minutes, then just lay that on top of the lit charcoal. I usually use two pieces of kindling-sized wood.

Place the brisket FAT-SIDE UP on the side of the grill that has NO COALS under it. (If you've trimmed off almost all the fat - I spray a little oil on top of brisket so that the spices are moist.)

Adjust the air vents so that air enters on the bottom side with the coals and exits on the top side where the meat is. Close the cover and walk away for 2 & 1/2 hours to 3 hours. Don't open it. Don't touch. Don't turn. You are 'lazy cooking' after all!

You are hot-smoke cooking and this is to give the "smoke" taste and create the crusty exterior - but you're not to completely cooking the brisket in this step - that happens in the next step. Don't worry if the temp doesn't seem that high, the meat will finish in the next step.

When the time is up, gently remove the brisket from the grill. In your nice cool house, preheat the oven to 300F. DOUBLE-WRAP the brisket pieces in HEAVY-DUTY foil (not regular weight!) to form a tight pouch. Place the meat on a rimmed baking sheet and continue to cook in the oven for 3 to 4 additional hours. Don't turn it. Don't baste it. Don't touch it - just let it cook. (Isn't this easy!).

When the time is up, open up one end of the foil pouch and carefully pour off the hot fat and juices, slightly open the foil pouch and let the meat rest for another 30 minutes before attempting to slice it. (I put some of the fat and juices in the barbecue sauce, otherwise throw it away.)

TO SERVE:

Slice AGAINST THE GRAIN. I like to cut slices so they are 1/3 of an inch thick. Be very careful as you slice and transfer pieces to plates that the brisket doesn't fall into pieces - but then you can always have chopped barbecue sandwiches!

Try to slice only what will be eaten at time. To reheat - slice the cold meat, place on heavy-duty foil. Drizzle barbecue sauce over the slices so that some falls inbetween the slices. Close the foil and wrap into a pouch. Put the pouch in a 250F oven for an hour. Open and serve. (Or course you can microwave it if time is really urgent - but it won't be as moist.)

Any of these can be altered, changed, played with, etc. You need around 1 cup of rub for a 8 to 9 pound brisket. You can increase by ratio if need be, or just throw some more stuff in...

PLAIN DRY RUB

1/3 cup kosher salt
1/3 cup ground black pepper
1/3 cup paprika

MEDIUM SPICY RUB

2 Tablespoons ground black pepper
6 Tablespoons Kosher salt
1 & 1/2 Tablespoons Garlic Powder
1 Tablespoon Cayenne Pepper
3 Tablespoons Chili Powder
4 Tablespoons Paprika
1 to 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

SPICY CHILI RUB

Adjust the ingredient amounts or add or subtract ingredients, as you wish. For instance, use ground ancho chiles instead of cayenne and you can also add or substitude dry adodo powder.

4 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon ground oregano
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon ground white pepper
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

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