The best advice I can give when it comes to selecting any kind of meat is to talk to the butcher, and make sure the person you are talking with really is a butcher and not just counter help. Discuss grades and cuts so you know what you are getting. If you feel that the butcher is trying pull the wool over your eyes then find a new one. A good butcher is like a good barber, someone you can trust with the important stuff.
Timing and patience are the secret to the perfectly smoked brisket. A large one can go for 20 hours. You need to be serious about smoking to last it through and get it out at just the right moment. Low and slow and I mean low and slow. At temperatures around 225o you are looking at 1 1/2 to 2 hours per pound. That means a 10-pound brisket can take 15-20 hours.
A good rub and the right sauce will round out your brisket to reach perfection. Now there are a lot of different schools when it comes to adding flavor, but once you have the basics down you'll be ready to start you own school. There is a lot you can do with a brisket. Marinades, rubs, mops, sauces and more are used in various combinations to give just the right flavor. Of course you can get a great brisket with slow cooking and good smoke so remember not to overpower your brisket with a lot of seasonings and sauces.
There is probably a different rub, marinade or sauce recipe for everyone that loves smoked brisket. However you will find that there are a few basic recipes and a few traditional recipes. With these you will be well prepared to set off on your own.
Brisket: Preperation
Like any masterpiece a great smoked brisket starts with the raw materials. You need the right cut of meat, good wood for smoke and About Brisket You Guide to the best Brisket the proper techniques to start you brisket masterpiece.
In Texas, Barbecue means Brisket, just as Barbecue means Pulled Pork in North Carolina. In fact Barbecue is about the only way to eat Brisket. As you can see from the image below, Brisket is cut from the underside of the cow.
This part of the cow is tough and filled with fat and collagen. Collagen is a fibrous protein that connects tissues together. It is very strong. As collagen cooks it turns into a gelatin and dissolves into the meat. This is one of the things that make smoked Brisket so good. But Collagen breaks down very slowly and at low temperatures. Also to keep the Brisket from drying out and becoming tough, you need to cook at a low temperature.
So you can talk to your butcher let me give you some of the terminology you will need. A brisket is generally divided into two parts, the flat and the point. For barbecue brisket you will want it undivided. You will also want it untrimmed, also called a "Packer's Cut". This cut will have a strip of fat running through the middle and a layer of fat on the top. The layer on top is called the fat cap. The fat cap is very important, as it will keep the brisket moist while it is smoking. The fat cap should be about 1/3 - 1/4 inch thick.
The Brisket Champions of the cook-off circuit will tell you that you need to get an expensive cut of Brisket. USDA Prime from grain feed cattle or nothing. Unfortunately the highest quality Beef tends to get shipped off to Japan, because they are willing to pay for it. I've had good success with a $1 a pound Brisket. You might want to shop around if you get serious about Brisket, but I don't recommend sinking a lot of money into a brisket if you're just starting out. As for the size plan on the brisket losing about half it's weight during cooking.
Whatever you buy, try to get a brisket with good marbling, white fat and a deep color in the meat. There should be good fat throughout the meat and not just in one place. Though the fat cap will add moisture to the meat during smoking, the fat spread throughout the meat will be much more effective. If the fat cap is more than 1/3 inch thick you might want to trim it down. It's best to have a single even layer. When smoking you will want the brisket to cook fat side up so that the melting fat will run over the brisket and keep it moist.
Before the brisket hits the smoker it needs to be rinsed in lukewarm water, patted dry with paper towels and be at room temperature. If you are going to marinade it should be done for at least 12 hours before you smoke. If you are going to apply a rub it should be done about 30 minutes to an hour before you smoke.
To enhance the tenderizing affect of smoking you can marinade the brisket with lemon juice, lime juice, vinegar or any other acid based marinade. This will help breakdown the tough fibers in the meat and the acid will carry any flavor you add to the marinade deep into the meat.
Brisket: Flavor
There are as many ways to flavor your barbecued brisket as there are people who love barbecued brisket. A sauce for every pitmaster, About Brisket You Guide to the best Brisket a rub for every cook. However there are the traditional recipes and there are the general basics.
Wood: First however there is the smoke. The cornerstone of the briskets flavor is the smoke. Since brisket is smoked for a very long time you want to avoid a strong or bitter smoke. If you really like mesquite then I suggest extreme moderation. The usual wood for brisket is a mixture starting with oak. Because of oaks more mild flavor it is a great wood to use. To enhance this flavor try adding some hickory or apple.
Marinade: If you want to go with a marinade for your brisket plan on soaking the brisket in it for a good 24 hours to let the flavor deep into the meat. To make the meat more tender use an acid based marinade. Try using lemon or limejuice or any type of vinegar. Add to this the seasoning of your choice. Brisket is usually seasoned either sweet or hot. Is you want hot add cayenne, or your favorite hot chile. For sweet I recommend you pack the brisket in brown sugar overnight. The sugar will mostly liquefy by morning and can be a sticy mess so make sure if you do this that you wrap it tightly in foil or plastic wrap and put it on a large platter in the refrigerator.
Rubs: You have the world open to you when it comes to rubs, garlic, spices and herbs. Any seasoning that you fancy will generally make a great rub for brisket. Remember not to over flavor though. A plain brisket, smoked without seasonings is still good eating. Also remember that if you choose to do a combination or rubs and sauces (mops or finishing sauces) that the flavors should complement and not combat. Try using the same spices in your rub that you do in your sauce. The combination will dig that flavor into the meat and make it great.
Bastes and Mops: A mop is basically a baste. Barbecue people like mopping the meat with large cotton cooking brushes, hence the term mop. The legendary pitmaster, Walter Jetton, actually used a kitchen mop to sauce up his food, but he cooked for very large crowds. Anyway you use a mop or baste to keep the brisket moist while smoking. The seasoning you add to the mop is just a bonus. A mop should be thin and watery. Adding too much vinegar or acidic juices can make the meat bitter. Also adding too much sugar like that in tomato based sauces can lead to burning, especially in an off set fire box smoker. Keep mops and bastes simple and thin.
Sauces: When I talk about sauces I usually mean something you add after the food is cooked. Sometimes called a finishing sauce or a table sauce, this can be thicker, sugary, whatever you want it to be. It won't see the fire so it won't burn. Traditionally with barbecue the sauce sits on the table and each diner can add what they want. Sauces for Brisket usually rely on the tomato but not always.