Mmmmmm....Brisket

[WYPirate]

My love for bacon, and all things pork knows no bounds. On the 4th I usually smoke huge amounts of baby back ribs. Yet this year, I deviated my course, and went beef. Eek I know, I know, I should have my head examined. Blame it on my wife, yeah, that's it! Her hailing from the great state of Texas, and her in her in no condition to travel for authentic TX BBQ, I decided to bring it to her....and me, of course!

Cruising the 2 grocery stores her in town, I found the best looking brisket I have had the pleasure of working with in a long time. Nice and deep red, fat glistening white. This lump of beef critter meat was fresh. A clean palette for me to work with. I usually whip up a Texas style dry-rub:

Kosher Salt

Black Pepper

Paprika

Chili Powder

Cayenne

Garlic Powder

Cumin

Dried Oregano

Dried Thyme

While alone, this rub is excellent. I decided to elevate it a bit, and rubbed on a generous layer of LaRue Tactical 'Dillo Dust. This all went on the night before. The next day, the 4th, I stoked up the firebox on my smoker with Mesquite chunks. Once the temp reached 250, and the brisket came to room temp, in it went for 12 hours.

Every hour or so, I stuck a few wood chunks on the fire, and mopped down the brisket with a cider mop:

Apple Cider

Apple Cider Vinegar

Bourbon mmmmmmm, bourbon

Water

Worcestershire Sauce

Lemon Juice

Salt

This concoction prevents the meat from drying out, and adds a LOT of flavor to the end product.

During the smoking process, I also whipped up a sauce for the side. While the brisket is FINE on it's own, sans sauce, a little ketchup and vinegar sauce is complementary to the meal. Sopped into a little white bread and pinto beans. Smile

Ketchup

Cider Vinegar

Worcestershire sauce

Yellow Mustard

Lemon Juice

Liquid Smoke

Chili Powder

Paprika

Hot Pepper Flakes

Black Pepper

Dark Brown Sugar

Brisket or Bacon Drippings

Water

I left out the portions on the recipes, as each batch is different, and is modified to taste. Both the sauce and mop are brought to a boil to incorporate all the ingredients, then reduced to a simmer to reduce and thicken.

This is good!

Smoke ring

Yes, the brisket looks dry in these shots. The pics were taken the next day after the meat had been put up in the fridge overnight. bringing the heat to warm it back up will release all the congealed fat and gelatins back out.

[Don Candido]

Looks like "smoked love" to me.

[tacmedic]

Dang look at them smoke rings....any chance you've got a spare bedroom?

[Olblue]

I moved back north from Texas in 1990, My Wife also is from there. One of the things I miss most is...no, not the heat, but the brisket. I have tried to low temp grill over the years without satisfactory results. Two weeks ago, I got smoker as a Christmas gift. Now to find some good, non-corned brisket.

Thansk for the recipe, great ideas and looking forward to my own results.

[DocRKS]

That is a BEAUTIOUS brisket !!!!! One of the 'prettiest' I have seen in a long time..

I second the observation about the smoke ring - just perfectly done

Congrats!!!!

[WYPirate]

Thanks gents. I'm getting punchy for summer to show up again (and hopefully for my LDL numbers to come down) so I can smoke some more briskety goodness.

[FlyFishingDude]

Thanks gents. I'm getting punchy for summer to show up again (and hopefully for my LDL numbers to come down) so I can smoke some more briskety goodness.

Man, that looks good. Don't let winter slow you down. What! you've never BBQ'ed or Smoked in 2 feet of snow and temps around zero? What kind of BBQ dude are you? BTW for the low LDL numbers they have Zocor, Lipitor, etc.......

Mike