{"id":105,"date":"2006-05-18T10:20:42","date_gmt":"2006-05-18T17:20:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.outdoorcookingmagic.com\/how-smoke-brisket\/"},"modified":"2014-06-30T21:54:40","modified_gmt":"2014-07-01T04:54:40","slug":"how-smoke-brisket","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outdoorcookingmagic.com\/how-smoke-brisket\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Smoke a Brisket"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_2268\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2268\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2268\" title=\"Brisket!\" src=\"http:\/\/www.outdoorcookingmagic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/brisket-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Brisket\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.outdoorcookingmagic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/brisket-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.outdoorcookingmagic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/brisket.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-2268\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo by willsfca via Flickr<\/p><\/div>\n<p>A brisket has historically been known to be one of the toughest cuts of meat--but when it is prepared and cooked correctly, it is on of the best tasting meats you will eat.\u00a0 Brisket is a favorite meat to smoke in Texas. \u00a0In fact, I just got back from there and actually tried the brisket in four 5 different restaurants over three days (Rudy's in Round Rock, Duke's in Georgetown, and Black's, Smitty's, and Chisolm Trail in Lockhart). The best? In my opinion, it was Rudy's! \u00a0It had the best smoked flavor of all of them, although Black's was pretty good also.\u00a0 Here's the secrets to cooking a great tasting brisket.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><strong>How to Choose A Good Brisket To Smoke<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There are two parts to a brisket, the flat and the point. The flat section generally has less fat; the point will have considerably more.\u00a0 The fat on top of the brisket is called the \"fat cap\" and should be white in color. Look for a brisket that has at a fat cap of at least 1\/4 of an inch thick;\u00a0 more than that is fine.\u00a0 Make sure the meat is a deep red color, which represents freshness.\u00a0 Look for fat throughout the meat.\u00a0 Don't pick one that has fat only on the top.<\/p>\n<p><div style=\"float:right;margin:3px\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\"src=\"http:\/\/ap.lijit.com\/www\/delivery\/fpi.js?z=262584&u=outdoorcook&width=300&height=250\"><\/script><\/div>This combination deep red color and white fat of a brisket is called marbling and is the key to selecting a good brisket for smoking.\u00a0 The brisket is a thick cut of meat and the marbling helps keep it moist while it's being smoked.<\/p>\n<p>If possible, try to find a brisket that has not been frozen. A frozen brisket won't have quite as deep of a red color as a fresh brisket and the fat may be a bit darker.\u00a0 The brisket won't turn out as tender and juicy as a fresh cut of brisket.<\/p>\n<p>One technique you can use is to lift the brisket in the middle to see how flexible it is.\u00a0\u00a0 You'll find some that are as stiff as a board and some that bend easily.\u00a0 The stiff ones have probably been frozen and may not be as tender as other briskets that are more flexible.\u00a0 Where possible, choose one a brisket that is more flexible.<\/p>\n<p>Look for a brisket that is between 8 and 11 pounds. A larger brisket takes longer to cook;\u00a0 the flat may end up tougher because of the longer cooking time.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Preparing The Brisket<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>After you've found the right brisket, get it ready the night before you want to smoke it.\u00a0 First, trim the fat to about 1\/4 inch thick.\u00a0 Thicker fat will keep the smoke from penetrating as well.<\/p>\n<p>After trimming the brisket, rub the brisket with mustard. This will help the rub adhere to the brisket and will help keep it tender.\u00a0 Surprisingly, the mustard doesn't seem to add a strong flavor to the brisket; in fact, you'll hardly notice it.\u00a0 Rub the mustard all over the meat, including the fat.\u00a0 Don't make it too thick, but enough to allow the rub to mix with it to create a paste.<\/p>\n<p>After you've covered the brisket with mustard, apply the rub.\u00a0 Try to put on evenly, but apply it all over the entire brisket.\u00a0 Wrap the brisket in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge overnight.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Time to Smoke the Brisket<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Take the brisket out of the refrigerator one hour before you want to put it on the smoker.\u00a0 Put the brisket in the smoker with the fat side up.\u00a0 As the fat heats, it will release oils into the brisket that will help keep it moist while it smokes.<\/p>\n<p>Your smoker will need to have some method of indirect heat.\u00a0 You can use a grill, but will need to make sure that there is a zone that is not directly over the heat source.\u00a0 Otherwise, the brisket will burn.\u00a0 There are many smokers made just for this job, including, water smokers, propane smokers, and charcoal smokers.<\/p>\n<p>You'll need to get some wood chips to use for smoking.\u00a0 Mesquite is a popular wood in Texas, but it can be a bit strong.\u00a0 I like a combination of hickory and a fruit or nut wood, such as apple, or pecan.\u00a0 Depending on your smoker, you can add the chips directly to the heat source, or wrap in aluminum foil and poke a few holes in the foil to allow the smoke escape.\u00a0 Put the foil packet on the heat source.<\/p>\n<p>Cook the brisket at about 225 degrees.\u00a0 Plan on cooking it for an hour and 15 minutes per pound.\u00a0 There are many variables that can affect the temperature, including outside air temperature, wind, how many times you open the smoker, so use this as a guidelines.\u00a0 Smoke the brisket until it is about 180 degrees.\u00a0 The fat will start to marbleize at 180 degrees, so hold it at that temperature for 15-20 minutes.\u00a0 That will help the tenderness of the brisket.<\/p>\n<p>Once an hour, use a mop sauce to baste the brisket while it is smoking.\u00a0 This keeps the outer part of the brisket moist and tender.\u00a0 Do it quickly so that you reduce the heat loss from the smoker.\u00a0 A mop of apple juice and olive oil will give the brisket a great flavor.\u00a0 You can even put this into a spray bottle and just spray it onto the brisket.<\/p>\n<p>After you've cooked the brisket for 6 or 7 hours, the brisket won't absorb much more heat.\u00a0 Wrap it in aluminum foil and allow it it finish cooking.\u00a0 That will also help keep the brisket moist.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SLICING THE BRISKET<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>ALWAYS slice the brisket against the grain.\u00a0 This will make the cuts of meat very tender. Remove some of the fat left on top of the brisket to see the direction of the grain and slice against it.<\/p>\n<p>Serve with your favorite barbecue sauce and see if you don't get rave reviews from your friends and family when they try your brisket!\u00a0 Please try this and let me know how it goes. The nice thing about brisket, is that if you do it right, you can feed a whole crowd and they'll be raving about your food!<\/p>\n<div class=\"signature\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.outdoorcookingmagic.com\/images\/scottsig.png\" alt=\"Scott\" height=\"35\" width=\"86\" \/><br \/><\/div>\n<p>P.S. If you want to know how the pros (and I'm talking about the ones that compete on the BBQ circuit--yes, there really is such a thing) do it, you'll want to check out <a href=\"http:\/\/www.outdoorcookingmagic.com\/competition-bbq-secrets1.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">Competition BBQ Secrets<\/a>. It will give you all the tips and tricks to not only cook great brisket, but to do it how the winners do it!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Brisket is the ultimate bbq challenge!  But you can learn the secrets to barbecuing delicious brisket, Texas style, right here! Learn exactly how to smoke a brisket.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2268,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[658,528,101,354],"class_list":["post-105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-smoking-tips","tag-beef","tag-brisket","tag-smoking","tag-tips","nodate","item-wrap"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Smoke a Brisket<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Brisket is the ultimate bbq challenge! 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