I give unto you...the ultimate brisket

[Poppinfresh]

Since I asked a question in the Q&A section, only fair I pass along a recipe that was passed along to me--the single greatest brisket I've ever had the pleasure of having. It's sorta complicated and takes the better part of a day, but it's WELL worth it.

The rub:

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup season salt
1/4 cup garlic salt
1/4 cup onion salt
1/4 cup celery salt
1/3 cup paprika, 1/2 cup if desired
1/4 cup chili powder
1/4 cup black pepper
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon all spice
1/4 teaspoon ground clove
1 teaspoon ginger (I've had good success removing this item and using cumin, as well)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon nutmeg

The mop:

3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 can of beer (I always use Michelob)
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon of the rub
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon black pepper

* Mix mop ingredients together, heat up and simmer for 10 minutes

The mustard:

1 cup yellow mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon sea salt (has to be sea salt...needs to be very fine)
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce

*Mix together, simmer for 10 minutes.

The BBQ sauce:

1/2 cup finely chopped onions
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup ketchup
1/3 cup chili sauce
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
1 cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon allspice
1 tablespoon dry mustard
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
2 teaspoons chili powder
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon paprika
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons maple syrup
(OPTIONAL): I sometimes add a couple shakes of habernero sauce to this, but it tends to *really* heat things up. Use at own risk.

*Heat large sauce pan to medium, saute the onions in the butter until they go soft. Add everything else and bring up to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for another 20 minutes.


The piece de resistance:

1 whole brisket, about 8 pounds

The prep:

Rub the brisket well with the dry rub--more ya rub it in, the better it'll be. It breaks up the connective tissues or some such. Refrigerate it overnight.

The heat:

Get your smoker up between 200 and 220 degrees. You'll need 6 cups of wood chips (I prefer hickory; my wife prefers mesquite...I'm right). Soak 1/3 of them in water for half an hour. Trim the brisket of all but 1/4 of an inch of fat and let set at room temperature for an hour to get the inside of the meat the same temp as the outside. Put in 1 cup wet wood chips to 2 cupsdry into the smoker, toss the brisket on, and mop with the mustard sauce. Cook it for 3 hours, add the remaining wood chips and mop with the beer based mop sauce this time.

Cook it for another 2 hours, then transfer the brisket onto some heavy duty aluminum foil and "bowl" it, pour about 1/3 cup of the beer based mop into the bowl, and close up the aluminum foil and seal the whole thing up tight. Put the wrapped brisket back on the smoker and cook it for another 2-5 hours--remove when the internal temperature reaches 185. Remove the brisket from the pouch, tent and let rest for about 15 minutes. Cover it with the barbecue sauce and become the envy of those around you.

[pdswife]

Sounds good ( maybe a little toooo spicy though) can I reduce the amount of HEAT?

[Poppinfresh]

Just don't use the habernero pepper sauce (I'd recommend at least putting a little extra vinegar to replace it though so it'll still have some bite). I know that recipe list has a lot of hot ingredients to it, but they really mellow out during the smoking. If you really want to take it down just don't put in ginger or cumin in the rub, but honestly, it doesn't end up all that spicy. My wife doesn't really dig spicy foods either (unless it's my jambalaya; a recipe I shall take to my grave--she'll take the heartburn to have that) and she loves it.

[pdswife]

Thank you Poppinfresh!

[Robo410]

my that sounds fine

[callie]

Thanks, 'fresh! Looks well worth the time and effort.

[Phil]

...preferably below the boiling point. I'll bet the brisket would be great done in the oven with the sauce, a little thinner though. You're BBQ sauce sounds awfully familiar to a Voo-Doo sauce recipe I have. BTW, does the brisket know the difference in beer

[Poppinfresh]

Most BBQ sauces are about the same...I've got 7 or 8 of em stored and they're all (with one exception) within a couple ingredients of eachtoher.

On the beer issue...I tried it with Guinness once...didn't work. So I'd avoid stouts or microbrews (which typically don't serve well for cooking), but other than that, fair game.

[phinz]

Really dark beers tend to get bitter when used in cooking. At least that's my experience. I'd say a mid-grade domestic usually works best. I've use hefeweizens before with pretty good luck.

[Chef_Jimmy]

and we all know phinz knows his beer!..........

[Hopz]

I like the looks of the recipe and process. I lived in Texas and did a lot of briskit.
As for what type of beer.... the microbrews generally have more hop flavor- which most beer-people appreciate.
Using a Michelob will guarantee you not only have little hops, but little flavor to worry about.

[phinz]

Originally Posted by Chef_Jimmy

and we all know phinz knows his beer!..........

...

[kitchenelf]

(I prefer hickory; my wife prefers mesquite...I'm right).

Sorry wife, I love the Hickory chunks too - mesquite has it's place though - more with chicken I think.

Now, about that recipe you will take to your grave? Wouldn't it be ashame that no one can enjoy it EVER when you are gone. I used to feel that way about a couple recipes - but not anymore. I would hate for some of my favorite family recipes to be lost forever. .........

[Poppinfresh]

Originally Posted by Hopz

I like the looks of the recipe and process. I lived in Texas and did a lot of briskit.
As for what type of beer.... the microbrews generally have more hop flavor- which most beer-people appreciate.
Using a Michelob will guarantee you not only have little hops, but little flavor to worry about.

Ehhhh, I don't really think a microbrew would work. It's one of those things where it'd be worth SOMEBODY trying, but the **** thing takes so long to make I'd not want to be the guinea pig to see whether it works or not.

Then again, I'm not a real big beer fan and figure it should be one of the accent flavors you can just *barely* detect. There is so much already going on with the brisket that giving it another distinct flavor might be overkill.

[phinz]

The thing is, "microbrew" can be *any* kind of beer. "Microbrew" is just a term for "not mass produced by someone like Budweiser." To just discount "microbrew" as not working is to discount a *huge* part of the market, unless you're just determined to use a rice-based pilsner or a generic lager in your recipe.

[thumpershere2]

Sounds perfect poppinfresh. I would love to make this recipe this summer. One of the best I have seen.

[licia]

What would be the very best sides to serve with brisket? Our neighbors are doing one next week and have asked us down. I would like to take something that really goes well. Thanks.

[phinz]

Growing up in Texas we always had pinto beans, cornbread, turnip/mustard/collard greens, tomato slices, corn-on-the-cob, cole slaw, baked beans. Really, any kind of barbecue-type food.

[Chef_Jimmy]

corn on the cob, cole slaw and baked beans and maybe potato salad. Keep it simple.

[Poppinfresh]

I usually side it with German potato salad, smoked corn on the cob (you haven't lived till you've had smoked corn on the cob with the right kind of butter mixture...), smoked baked beans and 9 times out of 10 one of those Jell-O parfait deals.