I decided to do a brisket for the Fourth of July weekend. My wife loves brisket, and really loves my smoked brisket from the Cookshack, so I decided to do one. Beef is my least favorite meat to smoke, and brisket is my least favorite beef. It is too unpredictable. But I do one every now and then to preserve domestic tranquility.
Good smoking begins with good quality meat. The local independent grocer usually has packer trimmed cryopac briskets, usually Select, but often Choice. This time he only had heavily trimmed flats. Pass. Off to a large regional grocery chain and they had cryopac flats, trimmed, but it was not graded, only certified inspected. Probably utility grade or worse. Off to the excellent butcher in town who had only trimmed briskets in the case, but brought out an untrimmed one from the back when I asked. As they looked at me funny for asking for an untrimmed brisket, I did not try to ask for the left brisket. Anyway, it looked good, had great marbling, but had the point removed. At 8.66 pounds it was smaller than I like, but I bought it. I am not going all over town just for a piece of meat I am not all that crazy about. It was expensive from the butcher, but I only gulped once and accepted it.
I cook my brisket with a rub and no sauce or mop. I use a simple rub for nearly all of my smoking:
1/2 cup Paprika (hot, sweet or smoked according to your taste)
1/2 cup Kosher salt
1/2 cup Turbinado sugar (raw cane sugar or brown sugar are acceptable substitutes)
1/4 cup fresh ground pepper
This will make enough for several smokes, and I keep it in the freezer between smokes. Now you can make any excursion off this rub you want. Texans don't like sugar, so you can leave that out, but the bark is not as crispy or flavorful. You can add a couple of tablespoons of granulated garlic and/or onion powder if you are so inclined. If you like things with more of a kick, substitute your favorite powdered chile for a tablespoon or two of the paprika or fresh ground pepper. I like fewer flavors in my rubs than most do, I think once you get past 5 or 6 flavors, they start to get in the way of each other. I am not sure what the Colonel accomplishes with 11 herbs and spices that he doesn't with just salt and pepper, but that is a discussion for another forum.
Just like good quality meat makes a big impact on the final result, so do good quality herbs and spices. There is really no substitute for freshly ground pepper, so I grind my own when I make up the rub. Manually grinding that much pepper is a real chore. I use an old electric coffee grinder dedicated to grinding herbs and spices. You can use the same coffee grinder you use for coffee, but run a few bread crumbs through when you are done so that you don't have peppery coffee. Alternatively, you can take the nut and top off a regular pepper grinder and chuck the threaded rod in an electric drill. Yes, people will think you a bit weird.
The herbs and spices you get from the local grocery store are unlikely to be really fresh, so I order them from Penzey's or The Spice House. Paprika by the pound or half pound won't last long if you do a lot of smoking, and the same goes for peppercorns. The sugar and salt at the local supermarket are usually pretty fresh.
I sprinkle the rub over the brisket with a teaspoon, you can also use a pizza cheese shaker. Then I rub it in by hand, making sure every bit is covered and that all of the nooks and crannies have rub in them, wrap it in plastic wrap, and put it in the refrigerator until time to smoke. This time it was 10 hours ahead, but that was just convenient. Anything from immediately before to 12 hours is OK. I think the flavor is deeper if you leave the rub on for a bit. When I am ready to smoke, I put on a light dusting of rub.
Into the smoker at 1000 PM with three chunks of apple wood; a Smokette 009 set at 250 F, although to be honest I have never seen the internal temperature go above 235F. You can use lower temperatures, and I probably should have, but it really isn't critical. What I have done in the past is set the Smokette to 225 F until the brisket gets out of the plateau, then crank it up to 250 F. I stuck a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the brisket and went to bed.
My briskets usually take from 1.5 to 2 hours per pound to cook; so I suspected that it would be done by 1000AM or 200PM, either time for a brunch or late lunch. I woke up a few times during the night to the wonderful smell of smoking brisket, so I knew it was going OK.
Much to my surprise when I got out of bed at 0715, it was already at 186F. I like to pull it at 190F for slicing, so it looked like brisket for breakfast. No big deal, as it was just my wife and I. If we had ahd company coming I would have wrapped it in foil and a towel and put it in a cooler or in the oven, without towel at 150F. Anyway, it hit 190F at 0800, so I pulled it, covered it with aluminum foil to let it rest. My wife had put the baked potatoes on when she learned it was going to be early. She started a salad and heated some beans.
The brisket sliced fine, it was a bit coarse textured, but tender enough, although it could probably have gone to 195F. It was a big hit with my wife. Who could ask for more?
Did I mention that brisket is unpredictable?
But now I am getting hungry for breakfast.
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