How I Do Brisket

I try to get a nice big whole brisket (sometimes called Packer's cut) that has the Flat & the Point. Sometimes I can only get the Flat. As for brisket (well all BBQ really), the key is monitoring your temperature.

You may want to check your cooker's thermometer to make sure its reading the right temp. To do that, remove the thermometer and put it in some boiling water. It should read 212 F or close to it.

Then you want to get a meat thermometer. Get the kind that you can leave in the meat or better yet get a digital one.

For my rub, I used about:

1/2 cup of paprika
1/2 cup of brown sugar or Turbanado
2 Tbsp of sea salt
2 Tbsp of pepper
1 Tbsp of cayenne (optional)
1 Tbsp of garlic powder
1 Tbsp of onion powder

Making your own rub is pretty easy. I tend to use Paprika and Brown Sugar/Turbanado for the base of my rub then add other spices depending on my mood.

Put most of the rub on both sides of the brisket. Then wrap it up in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge overnight.

Take out the Brisket and let it sit out about 30-60 minutes. While its sitting out, I'll sprinkle some more rub on it. I'll also get my smoker to temperature.

Once the smoker is at 225F-250F, I'll throw in my wood chunks and let them get going. The key here is to make sure the smoke coming out of your smoker is a nice thin blue color. You don't want thick rolling clouds, because that will give you meat a bitter taste. A BBQ cookbook I read states it perfectly, you just want the smoke to kiss the meat. Once the smoke is a nice thin blue color, put your meat in the smoker.

Smoke is just another spice for your meat. I usually use Hickory because I like that flavor but it can be strong. Mesquite is another pretty popular strong flavor. Apple and Pecan are a bit milder taste. I tend to use wood chunks in the first half of the cook. My first couple of smokes I probably used too much chunk. You just have to experiment here and figure out how much smoke flavor you want in your meat.

Once the meat is in the smoker I'll make a mop. I use a spray bottle to apply my mop.

Mop:

1 cup of Apple Juice
1/2 a Beer (or whiskey is a good substitute)
1-2 Tbsp of your rub
a couple of garlic cloves
half of medium onion
some EVOO

I'll get the EVOO warmed up and saute the onion and the garlic cloves and get the onion clear. Then add your rub and let it infuse with the oil. Then add the juice and beer and let it simmer for a bit.

Then strain it all out and put in your spray bottle (or you can use one of those little mop things).

I apply the mop about once an hour.

Cook the brisket to 165F degrees. Then wrap it in foil and pour some of your mop in with the foil. Then you can either put it back in your smoker or move it to an oven that's at 250F degrees.

If you want to slice your brisket, cook it to 185F degrees. If you want to pull your brisket, cook it to 200F degrees. I usually slice my brisket. Take it out of the cooker and put it in a cooler and put some towels on top of it. It will still be cooking. You can leave it there for 1-3 hours and it will still be hot.

If you got the Packer's cut ( with the Flat & the Point ), what you do is is when you remove it it, separate the Flat from the Point (there's a layer of fat between the two). Then cut the Point up into a little 1 inch x 1 inch cubes and put them in a disposable roasting pan, add some BBQ sauce,rub, and mop and put it back on your smoker and let it go for another hour or two. Maybe add a chunk. In Kansas City, this is known as Burnt Ends and is considered a BBQ delicacy.

For the flat, I usually slice mine as thin as I can. Then you can either just eat the slices or put it on a sandwich or whatever. Leftover brisket makes a mean chili. Also if your brisket is really tough, cooking it in chili might help tenderize it. I've also done fajitas with left over brisket. I love the stuff.