Cooking a low and slow beef brisket is the quintessential Texas-style classic and along with ribs is usually one of the first recipes a budding pitmaster looks to try.
Ingredients
1 beef brisket – chosen according to the size you want to cook. Make sure it still has a reasonable amount of fat cap on it to keep it moist.
Texas Rub, Red rub or any rub of your choice.
Beef stock (optional)
Method
The day before cooking prepare the beef brisket. First ensure the brisket is properly trimmed. Too much fat and the end result will be too fatty. Too little and the brisket can end up too dry. 3mm to 5mm fat maximum all round is about right.
Injecting the brisket with beef stock is completely optional. But it help keep everything moist. There are also some excellent off-the-shelf injectable marinades on the market or you can create your own. If you choose to do so, inject a good quality beef stock in as many places as possible using a meat syringe.
Next coat the brisket generously with the rub you have chosen (despite the name the rub it patted on, not rubbed). Coat over the entire surface and place the brisket in a pan in the fridge over night. If you have used an injectable marinade, then wrap tightly with cling wrap.
To start cooking, remove the brisket from the refrigerator with enough time to allow it to come up to room temperature.
While the brisket is warming up, prepare the smoker pit (or if using a charcoal grill, prepare it for indirect cooking using the snake method). The best way to get an offset smoker going is to use a charcoal starter, known as a chimney. Fill it with charcoal or briquettes and light it. Once the outside of the charcoal is white, tip the charcoal into the firebox. Add a couple of small sticks of smoking wood (e.g. ironbark). Using this method brings the temperature up slowly with good control. Lighting a kindling fire tends to get the pit too hot and it is then hard to bring the temperature back down again. Alternatively, get a fire going elsewhere (like in a fire pit) and transfer the coals into the firebox with a shovel.
You want the entire chamber to be heated up for good heat control, but not too hot. Temperature you are aiming for is just above boiling point, or about 107-120 degrees C (225-250 deg F).
Place a tray of water on the tuning plates directly under where the brisket will sit. Place the brisket on the grill plate over the top of the water tray. The water tray help keep the meat moist and also acts as a heat sink to help keep the temperature even.
Now add your smoking woods which can be basic iron bark or use chunks of hickory wood or pecan wood. Also try fruit woods like apple and cherry. Best time to have these smoking woods on is early when the brisket is taking on flavor. Always remember, cook with the heat, season with the smoke.
Throughout the cook, keep the vents open as much as possible and control of the fire to control temperature. Always leave the top damper open to ensure fresh smoke is going through and if necessary, choke down the temperature with the firebox damper.
Cooking time will depend on the size of the brisket and the temperature. In general a brisket needs at least 8 hours and bigger ones or briskets cooked at low temperature are often given 12 hours. Some us a general rule of thumb is 1 1/4 hours for every 0.4kg of brisket (we prefer longer). Every hour or so spray the brisket with a spritzer of your choice. Apple juice is a common choice. Beer is also a good choice. The spritzer helps keep the meat moist and prevent drying out.
During the cook, avoid opening the door to take a peek. You will lose the heat and the whole cook will take longer. Especially if you have one of the cheaper, thinner smoker pits. These lose their heat very quickly whereas a good smoker with a 6mm thick chamber retains the heat better.
After roughly 6 hours cooking you will encounter what is known as ‘the stall’. This is where evaporation on the outside of the meat makes the internal temperature plateau. Usually at about 70 degrees C (160 deg F). You can simply wait out the stall and the internal temperature will eventually start rising again. Or you can do the ‘Texas Crutch’ which is simply wrapping the brisket in foil for about an hour to bring up the internal temperature.
When the brisket is done the internal temperature should be around 90 degrees C (200 deg F) and the brisket should be a little wobbly and soft. Remove from the smoker and let rest for 1 hour.
Slice up the brisket and if you have done it right (and cooked it on an offset smoker) you should see a nice pink smoke ring and a nice, dark bark. Serve with bread rolls, coleslaw, pickles, finely sliced white onion and lashings of home made barbecue sauce.
Notes
If you are trying to win barbecue competitions you are looking to make the brisket perfect and thus it is important to get the temperature right for the best results.
If you are just cooking for yourself, don’t get too hung up on the temperature. We have cooked briskets at 150 degrees C before and it has worked fine. It can come out a bit drier but if you are not submitting it for judging, what does it matter? Just give it less time (8 hours instead of 12) if you are unable to get your temperature down low enough. As you skills in controlling the temperature increase with experience you can make adjustments.