Brisket Blogging

Oyster wants to try my brisket, and as happy as I am to entertain, I doubt anyone would want to wait till I get down South again, so I'll just post the recipe here.

Brisket is easy, if you start with just a little knowledge about it. Brisket is a tough cut of meat; not one of the prime cuts, so you have to handle it a little differently. A brisket is actually two muscles and these have to be sliced separately.

Go to the grocery store and find a brisket. 12 to 14 pounds is about right. You want one with the fat on it. Not a trimmed brisket. Then go over to the aisles and find an inexpensive foil roasting pan. You will also need a cheap bottle of italian dressing. The store brand is fine actually, the cheaper the better. Get the small bottle. You aren't going to use it all.

You are also going to need:
Red pepper, crushed or ground
Beer, 6 ounces
Garlic powder
Black pepper, crushed
Worchestershire sauce
Heavy duty aluminum foil.

When you are ready to cook, plan for 12 hours. Lets say you want to eat at lunchtime tomorrow. Start tonite about 10:00.

Turn the oven on to 250 degrees F. Get out your brisket. Look at it carefully. There will be a cap of fat along one side. That is the top. The fat cap goes on top. Put the brisket in the aluminum roaster, fat side up. If the meat doesn't fit in the pan, fold the skinny end under.

Now, the brisket is in the roasting pan. Over the top of the brisket, pour half the bottle of italian dressing. Sprinkle on one tablespoon each of garlic powder, red pepper, black pepper and worchestershire sauce. Pour across this, the six ounces of beer. If you are like me, you'll just have to drink the rest of the can.

Cover it all in aluminum foil, and go to bed. You are done for tonite. The brisket will cook all night in a low oven, and that cap of fat will melt down through the meat, tenderizing it.

When you wake up tomorrow morning, make coffee, then go outside at about 8:00 and fire up your pit. Put the fire on one end so that you have a cool end to the pit.

Go back inside and take the brisket out of the oven. That roaster is full of liquid fat, and you are getting ready to make a damned mess in the kitchen. Sorry about that. Dispose of the fat. I pour mine down the sink, and get out a cutting board. Slice the brisket into serving size pieces, trimming fat as you go. You are going to lose a big part of the weight of the meat, but we needed that fat to tenderize the meat. As you slice the brisket, pay attention to that line of fat in the middle that separates the two muscles. Cut that out and slice those muscles separately. Slice across the grain of the meat. Put the slices in a smaller roasting pan. When the meat is sliced take it outside and put it on the cooler end of the pit, roasting pan and all. Close the lid of the pit and adjust the airflow to give you good smoke.

What we are doing now is letting the smoke interact with the meat. Leave the brisket in there for about two hours, then take it out when the guests arrive. Serve with beans, salad, and bread. Choice of cold beverages. Accept all accolades.

Now, a lot of you might ask why I use the stove inside when I blogged yesterday about using charcoal. Well, I am consistent. I used the stove inside, and the meat finishes on the pit. You can cook a brisket entirely on a charcoal or wood pit, but you have to stand over the pit for all ten hours, tending a fire. With the stove inside, you don't have to tend anything. You can sleep thru most of the drudgery. The secret of brisket is 250 degrees, ten hours.