When I ask people how long a brisket takes, I've heard some folks say, "It takes as long as it takes". I think that's the hard part about brisket, every other type of cook you can say x hours per pound is how long it will generally take. Just with my brief experience with brisket, I can tell you to have some plans in place if the cook happens faster/slower than you anticipate.
Growing up just outside of Memphis, pork is king of barbecue, I'm not sure I ever even tasted a beef brisket until I was grown. But damn, I can't believe what I've been missing.
I think the key things for smoking a brisket are:
- I try to cook brisket in the 230-250 range if I'm not in a hurry. Maintain a steady temp throughout the cook, don't be fiddling with the vents and dampers. Get the right tools to set it and forget it. There's a lot of differing opinions on the temperature to cook at, but the consensus is steady, whatever temp you choose. Brisket has a decent plateau where it seems to freeze in the 160s, don't freak out and just let it roll through it. That is the collagen converting to gelatin and moisturizing your beef.
- Letting it rest for at least an hour, and ideally more than that. I can't stress this enough. I know you do this for almost every type of meat, but its really important on brisket. I've let it sit in my Yeti for almost 5 hours and it was still piping hot.
- Slice against the grain when cutting to serve to get full flavor distribution. So do something to mark which way the grain is going because it can be hard to tell after it is cooked. Sometimes I cut just a little sliver off the edge so I'll know that's the way I need to slice when it's time. It's also important to note that if you're doing a whole brisket (point and flat) the grain of each will be perpendicular to each other. That means if you don't separate them, you will eventually start cutting one of them with the grain, which is not ideal.
- Brisket is big, long piece of meat. The grate on the large Big Green Egg is only like 18 inches with a little room to overlap before you're rubbing up against the inside of the egg. If you're cooking a whole brisket, make sure it'll fit. I wouldn't get one that was much over 20 inches long.
My first try was a flat from Costco, apparently they remove the point nowadays and don't sell whole ones any more. For more info on what the hell a point and flat is, see the link at the very bottom of this post.
Mustard and dizzy rub night before, plus kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper (I do it without mustard and can't tell a difference at all). Saran wrapped back up and left in fridge overnight. The morning of the cook I injected the coffee based marinade, "Bovine Nectar" listed below.
Using my adjustable rig, spider/stone and the highest rack grilling, I smoked the brisket until internal temp hits the low 160s. (Inverted plate setter on the grate would be an equivalent setup). Wrap in foil and put back on the Egg until about the low 180s and remove foil to let the bark harden back up and finishing cooking til about 190-205.
For brisket you don't necessarily go by the internal temps. Use the internal temp as a ballpark guide to start doing probe tests. A probe test is simply poking the meat with the probe of your meat thermometer or thermapen and then pulling it out. If it goes in like it's going into butter and pulls out just as easy, the meat is ready. This takes some getting used to, but once you pull that probe out of a done brisket, you'll know. They say that no cow is the same and some briskets are sliceable at 185 and others at 195. That's why you do the probe test instead of relying on internal temps. I've stuck my probe in and dragged the brisket across the grate trying to pull it out (clearly indicating that it's not ready). That's an extreme example, but hopefully helps get the point across.
Bludawgs Method:
http://www.texasbbqforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=14058
This is more of a method than an actual recipe.
Trim a packer Brisket and rub heavily with K- salt, Black pepper(table grind),and Mexican Oregano. Wrap in plastic wrap and store over night in the icebox.
Prepare your charcoal basket and add 3-4 chunks of Mesquite. Bring the UDS up to temp set to run at 230 deg.
Inject the brisket with BluDawgs Bovine Nectar.(recipe below)
Place on the UDS fat cap down and smoke 2 hrs. Flip the brisket fat cap up for 2 hrs. Remove the Brisket from the UDS and Place it in a Foil Pan fat cap up insert your temp probe and return to the UDS. Cook to an internal temp of 195 deg ,do a poke test if it passes pull it. Otherwise check it every 5 deg temp increase till it passes.
Remove from the UDS foil over the pan allow to rest for 1 hr. on the counter. After the rest remove to cutting board, separate the point from the flat. I chunk up the the point and add Bull Dust. Drain the juices from the pan to a defating cup. Place the cubed point back in the pan and back onto the UDS for Burnt ends. Slice the Flat, add the pan juices back to the slices. That is the best BBq sauce in the world for a brisket. Enjoy!!
BluDawg's Bovine Nectar
This Injection adds moisture,and is a flavor enhancer it adds beefiness to the brisket .
Bovine Nectar
1 pkg McCormicks Aus Jus
3 cups Black Coffee
1 tbl Worcestershire
1/4 cup cannola oil
1 tbl BluDawgs Bull Dust *recipe to follow
Dissolve the aus jus with the coffee add the Worcestershire and the Bull dust. Heat over med heat 1 min remove from eat and allow to cool to room temp. Inject about every 1" and go directly to the smoker. Smoke it as you normally do.
Bull Dust
1/3 cup Paprika
2 tbl brown sugar
1 tsp dry mustard powder
4 tsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Gebhardt's chile powder
Add all together. Mix well.
Great all around brisket info:
http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/brisketselect.html
