Meat CutsBrisket is a cut of meat from the breast or lower chest. While all meat animals have a brisket, the term is most often used to describe beef or veal. The beef brisket is one of the eight beef primal cuts. According to the Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Second Edition, the term derives from the Middle English "brusket" which comes from the earlier Old Norse "brj?sk", meaning cartilage.
Brisket can be cooked many ways. Popular methods in the U.S. Southern States include smoking and marinating the meat and cooking slowly, not directly over the hot coals or wood. Additional basting of the meat is often done during the cooking process. However, most of the tenderness from this normally tougher cut of meat comes from the fat cap often left attached to the brisket. The brisket is almost always placed with the fat on top so that it slowly dissolves down into the meat as it cooks, turning the toughness into juiciness and tenderness rivaling all other cuts. Small amounts of certain woods such as hickory or mesquite are sometimes added to the main heat source, and sometimes they make up all of the heat source, with chefs often prizing characteristics of certain woods. The smoke from these woods and from burnt dripping juices further enhances the flavor. The finished meat is a variation of barbecue. Once finished, pieces of brisket can be returned to the smoker to make burnt ends.
In traditional Jewish cooking, brisket is most often braised as a pot roast.
Brisket is also the most popular cut for corned beef.
In the U.S., the whole brisket has the meat-cutting classification NAMP 120. The brisket is made up of two separate muscles, which are sometimes separated for retail cutting: the lean "first cut" or "flat cut" is NAMP 120A, while the fattier "second cut", "point", "deckel", "fat end", or "triangular cut" is NAMP 120B.
Competition Beef BrisketSmoker Temp: 225 degrees
Cook until 165+ internal
Double wrap in foil, cook to 205 degrees
One recipe called for the temp of cooker to be raised to 300 when you wrap in foil.
Slice thick enough so it doesn't fall apart, sauce and turn in!
8lb brisket, trimmed up a little bit with my Rub on (using the Dr. BBQ idea of making a paste of the rub...awesome)
After letting it sit out for around an hour or so, it went straight into my smoker at 350
After two hours at 350, wrapped it up and poured a Dr. Pepper in there to keep it happy.
Another two hours wrapped at 350 it was reading 200 at the point. Left it on for another 30 minutes or so.
Total time on smoker: 4 hours 30 minutes. I let it rest out of the foil for about 30 minutes, then cut it up.
Bottom line is that it was great! I read a lot about this method before I tried it. Some posters say you wont get a smoke ring or smoke flavor...I had both. Consider another converted to the great mixon Method for Brisket.
Brisket: Nice smoke ring, and plenty juicy.Oklahoma Joe's Smoked Brisket Flat Recipe
courtesy Jeff Stehney, Oklahoma Joe's BBQ
1/4 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons Spanish paprika
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon celery salt
1 tablespoon lemon pepper
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 (5 to 8 pound) beef brisket (flat cut)
4 cups oak or hickory wood chips, soaked in water for 30 minutes, drained
1 cup apple juice
1 1/2 cups your favorite BBQ sauce, for serving
Special equipment: spray bottle for apple juice
Combine all the spices in a bowl, mix well. Pat the spice rub onto the meat, making sure to heavily season the entire surface area of the brisket. Cover or wrap the brisket and let it sit at room temperature while getting the smoker or charcoal grill fired up. Do not leave at room temperature for longer than 1 hour.
The grill is ready when the charcoal has burned to a white ash. If using a grill instead of a smoker, arrange the coals on 1 side of the grill, leaving an area large enough for the brisket to cook indirectly with no coals directly underneath the meat.
When the grill has reached 200 to 225 degrees F, scatter 1/4 of the wood chips over the coals, close the grate, put the brisket on the grill and close the lid.
Maintain a 200 to 225 degree F cooking temperature inside the grill, adding coals every 2 hours or as necessary. Add wood chips and spray the brisket with apple juice every time you add new coals. Try not to lift the lid of the grill at any other time.
When the brisket reaches an internal temperature of 165 to 170 degrees F on an instant read meat thermometer (after about 4 to 5 hours), remove it from the grill and double wrap in aluminum foil to keep the juices from leaking out. Return the brisket to the grill (or smoker) The brisket is finished cooking when it is very tender and reaches an internal temperature of 190 degrees F, about another 1 to 2 hours. Let rest for 45 minutes, then unwrap and slice. Serve with BBQ sauce on the side.
This recipe was provided by professional chefs and has been scaled down from a bulk recipe provided by a restaurant. The Food Network Kitchens chefs have not tested this recipe, in the proportions indicated, and therefore, we cannot make any representation as to the results.