BBQ Smoked Brisket & Sauce Recipe
The Gist of it:
- Smoke for 6 hours - until brisket temp is 135-150F
- Oven for 2-3 hours - until brisket temp is 205-210F for at least 30 minutes
- Smoke 1-2 hour - until bark is solidified on outside.
- Let brisket rest for AT LEAST 30 minutes in foil before serving
The Process:
Meat Prep (24 hours prior):
- Trim fat, leave 1/4 inch
- [Only for my smoker] Find seam in brisket (normally a fat line) and fillet so there two equal (l x w) brisket halves (might have to Google this one)
- One will come out more moist, one lean
- Make rub for one large brisket:
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- Rub good quality honey into brisket
- Then combine and rub:
- 3 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoon fine sea salt
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tablespoon Paprika
- 1 1/2 tablespoon Herbs de Provence
- 3 tablespoon brown sugar
- 3 tablespoon onion powder
- 2 tablespoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons mustard powder
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or more if you like it spicier - e.g. my 6 yo can still eat this)
- 3-4 cups fresh ground coffee (8 O'clock coffee works great)
- **Personal opinion - Best way to contain operation: Overlap lengths of saran wrap on counter top first
- Pour rub evenly over each side of brisket and rub spices onto brisket (on top of/with honey)
- Rub coffee liberally over entire brisket - thick
- **Lay saran wrap over top, and wrap three layers of saran wrap.
- Place on cookie sheet (with edges) in refrigerate overnight
Smoke the Meat
- Put straight onto smoker for ~6 hours at ~225F - I normally start at 5am.
- Prepare Sauce and simmer for at least 1.5 hours.
- Meat should be about 135F after 6 hours
- Remove meat from smoker and wrap tightly in two layers of butcher paper
- Note - using foil will make the brisket crumble, butcher paper is a good alternative and lets the brisket breathe
- Place in kitchen oven at 300F
- Monitor meat temperature:
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- Remove meat when temperature reaches 205-210F for at least half an hour,
- While meat is in the oven, add sauce to foil tray and place uncovered into the smoker
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- This step will add smoky flavor to the sauce. Highly recommend (see details below)
- Put meat back in smoker for another 2-3 hours or until desired hardness on outside
- Let the meat rest for AT LEAST 30 minutes - this is critical
Sauce - (Start as soon as brisket gets wrapped in foil or butcher paper and put back in smoker)Ingredients:
- Peeled tomatoes (preferably from garden)
- Hunts tomato sauce - 1 regular can
- V8 – 1 large can
- Entire Onion
- Cinnamon - liberal amount - depending on taste
- Entire Clove Garlic
- Mustard x 3-4 tblspn
- Worcestershire x 1-2 tblspn
- Brown Sugar x 2 tblspn
- Beef soup base – 1tblspn
- Cayenne pepper x good amount
- Herbs de Province - dry
- Ground Pepper
- Rosemary – fresh
- Basil – fresh
Smoke the Sauce
- Cook for 1.5 hours on stove (ensure there are no tomato peels, pull ‘em out. )
- With emulsion blender (or actual blender is better if you feel like cleaning the mess) blend until chunks are gone.. (for a while)
- Put into doubled tin-foil tray
- Add a a couple cups water to dilute strong smoke taste and thin sauce (thickens as water evaporates quite a bit on grill)
- Smoke on smoker last stretch until brisket is done. Do not stir! Will get too smokey
- Blend once again with emulsion blender and serve with brisket.
