Brisket Help

mike

I'm needing some help in finding a good simple marinade and
receipe for a beef brisket. After marinading, I want to
slow cook the brisket and use for B-B-Qs. Want to give the
poker boys something they never experienced before... an
Egg Feast!

Mike Oelrich

Mike,[p] Check out NatureBoy's Eggfest 2000 Brisket recipe in the submitted recipes section . . .[p]MikeO

Citizen Q

Mike,
My personal preference is for a dry rub, and a 200 degree slow cook. Brisket is a wet piece of meat on it's own, it doesn't really need marinating and I don't like the effect of cooking it above 212 degrees as that's above the boiling point of water and steams off much of the natural juices. The trick to a dry rub is to let it sit on the meat overnight for deeper flavor penetration.[p]If you're still with me on this, start with about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of dark brown sugar, 2 Tbsp coarse non-iodized kosher or sea salt (I grind in a pepper mill), a Tbsp or more of each of the following: fresh ground pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and mustard powder, and 1/4 tsp each of ground clove, allspice, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg. Now look over the spice rack and add as much of whatever you think is gonna taste good in your rub and mix it all up. A good rub will smell nasty so don't stick your nose in the bowl. Wet the tip of your finger and dip it in the rub to taste it, it should be a quite pleasurable experience.[p]Now break out the brisket, wash and dry thoroughly. Pour half of the rub mix over the top and work into the meat, flip and do the bottom then gently roll over to pick up any spilt mix. Wrap snugly in plastic wrap and set in the fridge for 24 hours. Find an empty jelly jar and fill it with equal parts mesquite, hickory and maple chips and soak em in beer overnight. Now clean the counter so the wife doesn't freak out.[p]I'm going to assume you've got yourself a 10-12# packer trim brisket so you want to light your Egg about 24 hours before you want to serve. Fill the firebox up to within 4 inches of the cooking grid and establish a good solid fire. Play with daisy wheel and the draft door for a bit to make sure you're getting proper airflow then close down to regulate the dome temp to 200, place the brisket in a v-rack and insert your Polder probe. Once you're sure that you're at 200 steady for about 20 minutes, drain the wood chips good and spread em over the coals, replace the cooking grid, place a foil drip pan in there with the v-rack and brisket over it. Close the dome down tight and keep an eye on things for about an hour to make any minor adjustments. [p]Go to bed and get some sleep, you've worked hard. Set the alarm to get up extra-early to check on things. Chances are everything will be fine, but sometimes changing atmosphereic conditions (especially at sunrise) can run the dome temp up or down quite a bit so you want to be there to correct and adjust. Once you're sure that everything is good, go about your day, but you want to check things out every few hours so don't go too far. Once you've done this a few times, you'll get a feel for the way it works and if you know the weather is going to remain steady throughout your cooking time, you'll get to the point where you can walk away after dropping the brisket in without looking at it til it's done.[p]You've probably heard all about the plateau, so you know to just ride it out, a 160 degree piece of meat in a 200 degree cooker is eventually gonna come up to temp. As soon as the internal temp breaks 170, check how much time you've got left before dinner. If you still have 4 or 5 hours just leave it be, but if you're down to 3 hours or so, you can open her up a bit to the 225-250 range to finish it off a little quicker. Bring the brisket up to at least 190 internal, but the longer you can leave it to take it closer to 200, the better. Leave time to take the brisket out and wrap in foil on the counter for 40 minutes to an hour. Open it up to slice or shred the meat and serve.[p] Have a bottle of a good sauce on hand just in case somebody wants it but don't expect anyone to use it, my guests devour the meat with none.[p]Good luck.

Unknown

Mike,
If you're doing sammiches, nothing beats a good potato roll and Martin's makes the best. Also, if you are doing a smaller flat or point cut brisket (4-6 pounds) adjust the time down some but still expect it to cook for at least 18-20 hours at 200 as opposed to 20-22 hours for a full packer trim.[p]Good Luck and Good Q