Brisket

In what was a very long overdue event, I have finally done briskets in the smoker. There are a wide variety of recipes out there, which are all some variation of:

1. Coat liberally with the rub of your choice for 24-48 hours before smoking
2. Smoke for roughly 45 minutes per pound

You will see variations on the cooking time based on size, weight, temperature and thickness. As far as cooking time goes, it is really hard, perhaps even impossible, to overcook a brisket. Don't worry too much about the time. For future briskets I'll stick with 45 minutes per pound as a minimum.

I did brisket two times inside of two weeks, the first for some friends that have a new baby in the house (their third, they are now outnumbered, pray for them) and the second for a slightly less than traditional Hanukkah feast.

The first one got taken off the smoker a bit early because the weather was really, really crappy. So it had about 3 - 3 1/2 hours in the smoker and then spent about 5 hours tightly wrapped in foil in our counter top roaster. This was literally so tender you could cut it with a fork. Other than being a bit heavy handed with the salt on the rub, this was fantastic.

The second was done for about 8 hours on the smoker, loosely wrapped in foil for the entire time. I went lighter on the salt with the rub and this had a much smokier, heartier, beefier flavor. The texture was a little different, mostly, I think, because it got a lot more smoke and was not braising in its own juices. The foil was a lot looser so a lot of the liquid ran out or evaporated. This also was delicious, but actually required a knife.

Given my professed love of smokey barbecue, it almost pains me to admit to liking brisket one slightly more than brisket two. The flavor of the second was superior, but the tenderness and juiciness of the first was like nothing I had ever pulled off the smoker before. It was absolutely wonderful.

According to some things I've read and seen, some of the better known brisket joints do their brisket in a two step process, where the first step of the cooking is the naked rubbed meat in the smoker for several hours. The second step is the brisket tightly wrapped in foil and then back in the smoker, sometimes with a touch of sauce or liquid of some sort, for several more hours. I had thought this might be overkill until doing it myself. You will still get a great brisket if you just toss the meat in the smoker, but step two takes it to a whole new level.

When you smoke some brisket, try to do enough for leftovers. Brisket in scrambled eggs is a great way to start the day. And if you like beef stroganoff, replacing the usual beef with cubed hunks of leftover brisket takes this classic dish to new heights.