Brisket

When it comes to BBQ, a perfect brisket is a work of art. I understand there are several opinions about BBQ and the way it is supposed to be. This post is about how I personally like to prepare my brisket. I am going to cover several topics and hopefully I will provide you with information you can take to your pit and try. This is a long read, so get yourself some popcorn and sit back as I take you through techniques, recipes and all other kinds of information I've learned about smoking a good brisket through the years.

Trimming

My personal opinion is that you should always trim your brisket. Flip your brisket upside down so the fat cap is on the bottom. If you have a full packer cut (a brisket with the flat and point) you will probably see a large chunk of fat on the bottom. If you look, this is part of the fat that runs between the flat and the point of the brisket. Cut that sucker down. It is a hard fat that will not render down and it will not do anything for you. I wouldn't trim it so far down that you have a crater in the bottom of your brisket, but you should be able to cut a large portion of it out. If you flip the brisket back over you should see on the opposite side where that same vein of fat comes out on top. Trim that down too. Now, trim the top layer of fat on your brisket down to about 1/4 inch. This fat will render down and caramelize into a sweet fat which can actually be a wonderful addition to the flavor of a slice of brisket. If you look at the larger version of the first image on this post you can see how the top layer of fat has rendered down nicely. Look at the color of the fat. Some of it has turned to a darker almost yellow color. I don't normally eat fat, but that was really tasty brisket fat!

I would like to point out that I know this was frozen, but I was still able to pull off a very successful smoke.

Injecting

There is a lot of debate about injecting vs not injecting. I think it will come down to personal preference, but what I can say is that injecting (if done properly) will give you more flavor on the inside of any large cut of meat. A lot of competitive teams that win inject their meats. I have found that injecting with an injection that contains phosphates helps meat retain moisture.

Finding the right injection to fit your flavor profile might take some time. A few injections to check out are Kosmos, Butcher and FAB. These are not the cheapest thing on the block, so you might have to spend a little $ till you find one that you like. I've had pretty good success with the Kosmos injection.

I'm not going to be stingy with my injection recipe. Here it is, like it or hate it I've had success with the flavor:

• 2 cups water
• 4 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 beef bullion cube
• 3/4 cup Kosmos beef injection

I use a protein shake mixer I got from Walmart in the same isle as the protein shakes which is by the pharmacy. Pour the water into the mixer cup. measure out the Worcestershire sauce into the mixer cup. Use a mortar and pestle to smash, then grind up the beef bullion cube and then add that to the mixer cup. Measure out the Kosmos beef injection powder into the mixer cup. Now, the protein shake mixer cup should come with a kind of plastic grate which helps with the mixing process. Put that in and screw the lid on. Shake till the injection is completely mixed.

Ignore the color of the injection in this picture (it was a pork injection). Now it's time to inject. I made my own injector for about $20. I already had needles. I modified the needles to have holes around the needle so that injection can spray out of the needle from multiple directions.

The most important thing when injecting your meat is TIMING! Have you ever brined a chicken, or a turkey? You can't just dunk a turkey in brine for 10 minutes and expect to have any kind of success. Injecting is very similar to brining. You've just injected a ton of flavor into the meat, but it now needs time to penetrate the surrounding areas where it was injected. After injecting the brisket let it rest for at least 4 hours. I like to inject my brisket the night before I smoke and wrap it in a large bag with the fat cap on top so the flat is sitting in the remaining injection. This gives the injection plenty of time to evenly disperse throughout the meat.

The Rub

Brisket needs a good rub. You can buy a rub, but I prefer to make my own rub. Here is a basic one that has worked for me:

• 1 cup course ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup kosher salt
• 1 Tbsp garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp onion powder
• 3 Tbsp paprika

Mix the ingredients in a bowl and then pour them into a shaker to evenly distribute on the Brisket.

Before I put my rub on to my brisket I do a couple things. Save all the leftover injection in a metal or glass bowl, this will be used later. I use my hands to try and wipe off any injection that I can into the bowl I'm keeping the leftover injection in. Once that is done, coat the brisket in mustard. You might be thinking this is a terrible idea. If you have never done this before, trust me and give it a try. I cannot stand the flavor of mustard, but when used with a good rub it can form a fantastic bark on your brisket like you see in the main photo. Do it at least once so you can see what I am talking about.

Now that our brisket is ready, it is time to rub it down with the dry rub we made earlier. I like to start with the fat cap down. Give the flat a nice even coating of the rub. It should stick nicely to the mustard. Flip the brisket over and do the same thing to the fat cap. Once this is done, I like to flip it back over and go over the flat one last time to re-coat the parts that lost their rub while I was coating the fat cap. I leave the brisket fat cap down from this point on until it goes on the smoker. I don't touch to prevent scraping off any rub I've worked to get on to my flat. Once the brisket goes on to the smoker I put the fat cap on top and I re-coat the top with rub prior to closing the lid. This technique works for me to make sure I have a good rub all around my brisket which develops a great bark in the end.

Fuel

What you use to fuel your fire is an important decision when it comes to the flavor, and interestingly enough the look of your brisket. There are three basic ways to fuel your smoker: Wood, lump charcoal, charcoal briquettes. Beyond those there are several different types of wood which will give your meats different flavors. I have had a lot of success with Royal Oak lump charcoal mixed with my choice of wood. I most frequently use pecan wood, but I sometimes use mesquite for brisket or apple/cherry for pork or chicken. If you visit or live in Texas, you will most likely see the pit masters using post oak in their smokers.

Find a place that only sells wood. Here in AZ Paul Bunyan's Firewood and Berry Bros. are two good places to check out. Look for places similar to these where you live. If you can't find something like this in your area, you can usually buy wood from Walmart or Home Depot. Of course, you might live in an area where you can cut your own.

It is possible to over smoke your meat. Take special care to use the right blend of charcoal/wood for your smoker. backyard smokers are not made to strictly use wood. There are ways to pull this off with an offset smoker, but it's not something I am willing to cover in this post and it burns through a lot more wood than you might like. If you have a backyard smoker, use a mixture of wood and charcoal. Too much wood and you will have a heavy thick gray smoke. You want your smoker to eventually turn out a clean clear smoke. This is something you will have to learn as you practice.

I mentioned earlier that the type of fuel can affect the look of your meat. This is only slightly true. In a super efficient smoker like a Big Green Egg (or any ceramic smoker) you can have smoked meat that does not develop a smoke ring. Do not get too hung up on this, but it has to do with how efficient your smoker is. Using lump charcoal in an efficient smoker can actually prevent a smoke ring. If this is you, try mixing in some briquettes, or soak your wood prior to putting it in the charcoal basket. I've heard some people claim that cherry gives a more distinct color to the smoke ring, but I do not believe this to be true. I don't have any evidence to support this theory, so if you're feeling up to it give it a try and see what your results are. This really has nothing to do with the flavor, so I will leave it at that. If you can get a good flavor, who cares if it has a smoke ring?

Cold Or Room Temperature

I have heard both ways for smoking brisket. I have also tried both ways several times. Personally, I prefer putting my brisket out on the smoker while it is cold. I do not let it warm up. The thought process behind this is that your meat has a short window of opportunity to do two things:

1. develop a smoke ring
2. absorb smoke flavor into the meat

Once the meat hits a temperature of about 140 (on the outside) it will not develop more of a smoke ring. Putting meat on cold can help it develop a thick smoke ring.

From what I understand, the proteins in meat will be set and they will not absorb more smoke flavor into the meat once it hits an internal temperature of 160 degrees. If you let your meat warm up to room temperature, you are shortening that window of opportunity. Perhaps you want a lighter smoke flavor to your meat. That could be a very valid reason for letting it warm up first. I like a good smokey brisket, so I put mine on cold.

To Wrap Or Not To Wrap

There are usually two types of people when it comes to BBQ: those that prefer to wrap and those that do not. I believe there is merit to both ways; however, when I am smoking brisket there is only one real way to do it properly. I do not wrap my brisket.

Wrap

Large piece of meat will eventually hit what is referred to as the stall. This process usually happens between 150 degrees Fahrenheit to 170 degrees Fahrenheit. I tend to see the stall right at about 160 when I am smoking brisket. So what is "the stall"? As you meat heats up it eventually gets to a temperature where the liquid/juices on the exterior of the meat are hot enough to change phase from liquid to gas. As the liquids evaporate this cools the meat not unlike an evaporative cooler. As the outer liquid evaporates it will create a suction which pulls juices from the insides of the meat towards the outsides of the meat. This evaporative cooling process causes the meat to sit at a steady temperature for quite a long time. You might panic and think that your meat is never going to finish. If you've planned for the stall in your timing, then you will already have anticipated this process.

Wrapping a brisket in heavy duty tin foil between 150 and 170 degrees internal temperature (whenever you notice the stall) will help prevent the evaporative cooling and it will push the meat quickly through the stall. This is unfortunately not without side effects. Wrapping a brisket could potentially wash away any bark you have worked so hard on forming. Additionally, it will soften the bark which may or may not be what you're looking for. I personally like a good firm bark on my brisket. With this process I can smoke an average sized  brisket in about 8 to 9 hours.

No Wrap

If you plan for the stall in your timings, then you can get away with out wrapping your meat. This too has its side effects. You could over smoke your meat if you are not using the right mixtures of wood, charcoal and air. You could also dry out your meat. Fortunately for me, I've found that injecting my brisket helps so that I do not have to wrap it. This way I get a nice firm bark and I still have juicy meat. I usually plan for about 1 hour per pound. That's pre trimmed weight. If I buy a 13.5 pound brisket, I expect it to be on the smoker for about 13 and 1/2 hours. If I don't trim the brisket, it will probably take a bit longer.

Temperatures

Temperatures are a very important factor when cooking, and smoking a brisket is no exception! You might see people talk about smoking a brisket hot and fast. Leave that up to people that know what they are doing until you have mastered the art of slow and low. I like to keep my smoker between 230 and 250 degrees Fahrenheit. This temperature gives the fats plenty of time to render out and it helps develop the type of bark I am looking for on a brisket.

I like to measure the temperature of my brisket with a leave in meat thermometer, the Maverick ET-732. I place the meat probe into the flat towards the back side of the brisket where the point is. I think this gives me a good measurement of my meat temperature. A well done steak will reach an internal temperature of about 170 degrees. You might think that a brisket should be treated the same as a steak when it comes to temperatures, but you couldn't be farther from the truth. The binding tissues in a brisket will not soften and render down until well beyond the "doneness" period. These same tissues are what help to keep moisture in the meat as it cooks past that 170 degree point. I like to check my brisket at about 195 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperature at this point is only a guide. Use it to give you an indication of when to start probe testing your brisket. A brisket is done when a probe can enter the flat like a hot knife through butter. If you feel a lot of resistance then it is probably not done. Every brisket will behave slightly different, so it is best to probe test for when it is done rather than going strictly off of temperature readings. I use an instant read thermometer once my ET-732 hits 195. My instant read will give me a much more accurate read on the temperature, and I can also feel how tender the brisket is as I poke it with the instant read.

The Rest

Brisket is a very large cut of meat. If you remember back to the section about wrapping or not wrapping the meat, you will remember that some of the juices were being sucked out of the meat. It is very important to let those juices re-distribute. When the brisket is done, wrap it in heavy duty foil. Once wrapped in point I like to wrap it in a couple of towels and let it rest for at least an hour. If I have to rest it longer than 2 hours I will put it in a cooler towels and all. Coolers are wonderful insulators and I've been able to keep a brisket hot for over 6 hours wrapped up like this in a simple Coleman cooler.

Congratulations, you've got a wonderful brisket to eat now. I hope this post has been informative and useful to anyone looking for tips on how to smoke a brisket. Please feel free to leave comments below. I would love to hear what others have to say.

UPDATE:
Here are my results for today. How did your brisket turn out?