Smoked Brisket

There’s a zen like experience in smoking a brisket.  It’s a slow, long cook that requires a relaxed patience and awareness.  The way the internal heat slowly rises, then falls (called the stall), and then finally hit the done temperature.   

Ingredients 

• Brisket - My advice is to avoid super trimmed and find one with a nice layer of fat on the top (about 1/4 to 1/2 inch).  I don’t think prime vs choice matters as much as other cuts but others may disagree.
• Butcher paper
• Heavy foil
• Kosher salt
• Course ground pepper
• Optional rub additions: brown sugar, smoked paprika, chili power.
• Wood - Most smoking woods do well.  I’ll usual prefer oak or pecan and usually avoid mesquite as it can be a bit too strong.
• Charcoal (if you are using a gas grill then skip the charcoal and wood chunks/logs and get wood chips

Instructions

1. Get the brisket out of the fridge to start warming up a bit towards room temperature  
2. Start your fire in your smoker!  I use a Weber Smokey Mountain with a base on charcoal and added wood chunks.  You can also use a gas BBQ but use indirect heat (e.g. don’t put the meat above the heat source - put heat on one burner and the meat away from it) and put a handful or two of damp wood chips in a tray formed from foil over the heat)
3. Once the coals (or gas) is hot you’ll want to fine tune the smoker (e.g. adjust dampeners, prop lib slightly, etc) to get a steady temperature of ~225 degrees (see wireless remote thermometer in our ‘cooking toys’ section).  A water pan in the smoker can help maintain an even temperature.
4. As the smoker or BBQ is getting ready and stable it’s time to apply the rub!  This is basically the seasoning of the meat - and warning, people’s opinions and emotions around this topic can be right up there with politics.  Here’s my advice - have fun and, as I’ve heard it said, play with your meat as much as your religion allows.  The famous Franklin’s BBQ just uses equal kosher salt and corse pepper.  I’ll like to add brown sugar, smoked paprika, & chili power.  Experiment - I’ve also tried other stuff so have fun but I will tell you that I would not try coffee grounds again.  To apply the rub, pat dry the meat and sprinkle the seasonings from about 5 inches up (to avoid clumps) liberally over the entire cut.  Then push and rub the seasoning into the meat.  Some other variations I’ve tried are rubbing mustard or buffalo sauce over the meat before applying the rub.  
5. Now put your brisket on the grill fat side up.  Ideally you have an oven temperature of 225 and a gentle stream of smoke (not too thick but like a wisp of smoke coming from a country cottage on a cool day - whatever this is BBQ not prose; just don’t make too  thick or the meat can taste bitter). 
6. Now the brisket is going to take a long time to cook - about 1 hr 15 minutes per pound at 225F.  For the first 3 - 5 hours its best to just let it be and avoid the temptation to open the grill to look at or poke the brisket.  But do maintain that heat at 225F.  
   

There’s two interesting things about cooking brisket: one, the smoke taste and impact mostly happens in the first half of cooking.  At this point the outside of the meat is pretty close to the smoke saturation point and the cooking magic moves to the inside of the meat.  This leads to item two, the stall.  On the brisket’s journey from an internal temp of below room temp to the done temp of 195F (well not really - see more on this later), instead of a steady rise the internal temp seems to ‘stall’ or maybe even dip around 150F.    Now there are scientific and more accurate descriptions of this in books and online but basically at around 150-160F the meat starts changing from a tough and chewy cut towards that delicious  soft as butter delicacy that will be served up.  This transformation causes liquid to be released inside the meat and sweated to the outside.  As this liquid evaporates you have 2-4 hours of ‘the stall’.  Here’s comes the “Texas Crutch”!  

7. When the internal temperature hits around 150-160F warp the brisket in heavy foil or butcher paper to help speed up the stall and maintain moisture in the the meat.  I prefer heavy butcher paper (A tip from Franklin’s BBQ book) as it allows some breathing but both work fine.  

Note: You can, and many smokers do, leave the brisket naked for the whole cook and they get a nice crispy bark.  But I lean towards moist and a faster cook time.

8. Leave the brisket on heat at 225F until the internal temperature hits 195F.  The BBQ gods will strike me down for this but if necessary (bad weather, dead fire, etc), this step can be done in the kitchen oven.
9. At 195F take the meat off the heat and let it rest for at least an hour with out cooling it down.  Wrap it in heavy foil and put it inside an ice chest (with no ice) or the kitchen over (with no heat).  More magic as the meat relaxed and redistributes the flavors inside.
10. Slice and enjoy!

Music recommendation:  The cook is long and slow and goes well with live Grateful Dead - I’d recommend Europe ’72 or Wake Up To Find Out: Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY 3/29/1990.