Finally Friday

It's finally Friday and Milady should be home in another hour or so.  Tomorrow we celebrate her mother's birthday, 94, I believe, and I'm on the hook for a couple of briskets.  So, this afternoon I went to the grocers and selected two nice packer-cut briskets.  Just before bedtime I'll crank off the smoker and put the meat on.  Low and slow is the secret to a good brisket.  Over they years, I have modified my brisket recipe somewhat, to make it simpler.  In 2005, I gave this recipe for brisket, but today I do it differently.  Of course, that recipe went in the oven, and it still works, but now I'm using the smoker, and this recipe works as well.

Ingredients

Packer cut brisket
Salt
Pepper
Beer

That's it.  A packer-cut brisket is sometimes called a whole brisket, or an untrimmed brisket.  It has two muscles, the point, and the flat, and while you can separate the two and cook them separately, I find it just as easy to cook the whole brisket and use the fat as seasoning while it renders through the meat.  Lots of folks use fancy rubs on their brisket, but the better cooks use what they call a Dalmation rub, which is simply white salt and black pepper.  You can add more seasoning if you like, but all the beef really needs is salt and pepper.

Preparation.
Take the brisket out of the package and find the fat cap.  That cap will be on top while we cook.  Liberally salt and pepper the brisket, then put it in a cooking pan.  Pour half a beer over the brisket.  Drink the rest.

Cooking
Put the brisket into the smoker, pan and all.  Set your temperature for about 225F and leave it alone for about ten hours.  When you take it out of the smoker, let it rest for a few minutes, then trim any extra fat, and separate the point from the flat muscle.  Slice across the grain of the meat.  Place into serving dish, then sit back and enjoy the accolades.

Brisket is easy.