A Little Slice of Smokey Heaven

OK, it was more like a big slab of smokey heaven. On Monday, I tried my hand at smoking a brisket. Brisket always intimidated me, since it's not an easy hunk of meat to cook. But this one turned out "company worthy" on the first try!

If you'd like to try it, be sure to allow all day for the cooking. This is not something you rush. (although I will tell you about a little short cut you can take near the end of the cooking process.)

Here's how I did it.

This is an 8 pound piece of brisket. I rubbed it with some corn oil then Montreal Steak Seasoning. I put the seasoning on fairly thick.

The plan was to refrigerate it overnight then smoke it. But life gets a little crazy around Crossed Sabers sometimes, and I did not have time for it the next day. It sat in the refrigerator for about 48 hours and didn't seem to suffer any for it.

Before popping it into the smoker I injected it with about a cup of beef broth. Nothing fancy, just broth straight out of one of the boxes you buy at the supermarket. 

Remember that the key to success is a digital thermometer with a probe. It's impossible to tell if it's done unless you know the internal temperature.  Your target temperature for brisket is 203 degrees. 

Into the smoker it went. I had some assorted hardwood bisquettes for the Bradley smoker, so I just loaded up the chute with  oak, hickory, pecan and Bradley's 'special blend' bisquettes. 

I kept the smoker at about 225 degrees. 

After 4 hours I opened up a couple cans of regular ol' pork and beans, dumped them into a cast iron skillet and put them right underneath the brisket in the smoker. That way, all the fat melting off the brisket could drip down into the beans. 

Yup, I did that. I cook with reckless abandon and sometimes with a complete disregard for fat and calories. This is one of those times. 

At six hours, the brisket hit what's called "the stall". That's when the evaporating liquid from the meat cools the meat enough that the temperature refuses to budge for what seems like an eternity. If you've got all day you can just wait out the stall. Eventually the excess moisture is gone and the meat temperature will begin to rise again.

This is what it all looked like at "the stall".

However, if you have a hungry husband (or dinner guests) on the way, three horses to feed and a corral to muck, you can employ a little short cut called a Texas Crutch. Take the brisket out of the smoker, put it in a roasting pan along with about a half cup of beef broth. Wrap the pan tightly with aluminum foil and put it in a 225 degree oven. Leave the thermometer probe in the meat. You still are waiting for that magical 203 degrees. What you're doing now is braising the meat.

You'll also want to remove the pan of baked beans from the smoker now, too. Just cover them up and let them wait for the brisket.

The brisket's going to take another few hours in the oven. Be patient. 

When the internal temperature of the brisket is at 203 degrees, remove it from the oven. Leave it covered with foil and let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes. While it's resting (it's tired after all that smoking), put the skillet with the beans into the oven. Leave it covered with foil so they don't dry out.

Once the beans are hot, start slicing the brisket. Be sure to slice against the grain. 

We like to serve our brisket very plainly....just a little BBQ sauce and some buttered bread and of course the pork and beans.  

The beans undergo a sublime transformation in that smoker. They were not at all greasy even with the brisket fat showering down on them. Eating them was like a little party in your mouth! 

Your mouth's watering now, isn't it? Yes it is! What are you waiting for? Go try this out yourself. It's easy!