Anything known as the “national dish of Texas” is going to be hardy, big and meaty, and beef brisket is the perfect choice to take on the honor. Cooked low and slow, this tough customer falls apart, tender and delicious. We’ll let you in on the some of the secrets of today’s best pitmasters…and they’re not just in Texas anymore.
First, a quick cut into the brisket’s beefy history. The name derives from “brjosk,” an Old Norse word for cartilage, a nod to the copious amounts of connective tissue contained in this meat from the lower chest of the animal. According to What’s Cooking America, in its earliest form, colonial ancestors covered brisket with salt crystals and aged them in a cool place for four days, creating corned beef. For decades, however, brisket was considered a useless cut of meat in the U.S., good only for chili, stews, or even animal feed. But thanks to German butchers in the early part of the 20th century, who put brisket in a smoker and cooked it over low, indirect heat, the juicy delight of Texas barbecued brisket was born. Even today, at legendary Texas places like Kreuz Market and Louie Mueller Barbecue, which started as German-American smokehouses in the last century, brisket is served on a piece of butcher paper and accompanied with sausage.
Although brisket has a reputation for being a challenge to beginning pitmasters, getting the meat to that tender place can be done, according to Ardie Davis, a member of Kansas City Barbecue Society’s Hall of Flame. “Cook it right and it is tender, juicy, and flavorful. Cook it wrong and it is like a wrangler's leather chaps,” warns amazingribs.com blogger Meathead Goldwyn. We’re going to share some tips from Davis, Goldwyn and other masters of the pit below.
• Start with a 10 to 12 pound untrimmed packer-cut brisket in a vacuum pack, well marbled on the interior. Pros like to trim it to 1 inch or as thin as an eighth of an inch. Many restaurateurs and bbq competitors prefer StockyardsAngus Beef because the specifications require the meat to be of choice grade or above; prime and Wagyu are even better, so go for those when you can, advises Goldwyn.
• Use very dry oak or hickory woods in the smoker because they taste best and burn clean, according to Aaron Franklin, named one of the best new pit masters in Texas by Food and Wine, owner of the cult Austin restaurant, Franklin Barbecue. He uses 20-inch logs of Post Oak that’s been cured for 9-12 months at his restaurant, because it creates very little soot when it burns and imparts a mild smoky flavor to the meat.
• Plan ahead. Good brisket takes lots and lots of cooking time—8 to 12 hours. If dinner is scheduled for 6 p.m., plan to arise with the birds and start smoking your brisket at 5:30 a.m. and while the briquettes fire up, lightly sprinkle all surfaces of the meat with pepper and salt, applying twice as much pepper as salt, says Davis.
• While the meat is coming to room temperature, put some kindling and paper sprinkled with vegetable oil in the firebox. Once they’re burning steadily, add logs, and hoist the brisket onto the grill, with the thicker end toward the fire and the fat cap facing up. To ensure a tender brisket and to prevent it from drying out, position the meat as far away from the fire inside the smoker, with the fatty end facing the flames, says Davis.
• Fill a foil loaf pan with water and put it as close as possible to the firebox, advises Franklin, then find a comfortable chair and read War and Peace! Cook it low and slow, at around 225 degrees for many hours. Unlike most cuts, brisket is not done when it hits a certain temperature, according to NY Times dining reporter Julia Moskin. Although the meat will be cooked through at 180 degrees, it will also be fibrous, and webbed with chewy, sticky collagen, she says. “A brisket needs to spend a certain amount of time — just how long depends on the individual cut — at that temperature, as the fat renders into drippiness and the collagen turns to gelatin. Meat that feels tough after 10 hours may be perfect at 12. Be patient.” Franklin considers his is done when the meat thermometer registers 195 to 203 degrees. Goldwyn agrees, saying “something magic does seem to happen at this number.” Old timers say they can tell when it is ready by literally ‘sticking a fork in it’—if the fork turns easily, it’s done.
• If you need to save some time, Goldwyn shares the “Texas Crutch,” a technique for speeding the cooking and moisturizing the meat. Smoke the meat for a few hours, and when the meat hits about 150°F, wrap it tightly in heavy-duty foil with a little beef broth, apple juice, white wine, or light beer, and let it braise in the foil in the cooker.
• Not done quite yet…after cooking, all experts suggest letting the brisket rest for 20 to 30 minutes to seal in the juices. Then slice it—fat side up, against the grain, according to Daniel Vaughn, barbecue critic for Texas Monthly. No sauce is needed for traditional Texas style beef, he says. “In Texas we celebrate great brisket by not messing with it. If it's done right, then you slice it pencil thick and slap it on a piece of butcher paper. It's naked, quivering and vulnerable, so it has to stand on its own.”
• On the side, serve up some fire-roasted Hatch peppers, pinto beans or barbecue beans, slaw or fresh garden veggies. For an authentic central Texas accent, serve raw sliced yellow onions, dill pickle chips and saltine crackers, says Davis. Or go non-traditional, like New York’s Mighty Quinn’s, which has grown to a chain of four restaurants in the last three years with its superb, Texas-style smoked brisket. There, lighter fare prevails, with sides including roasted corn and edamame salad, buttermilk broccoli salad, and house-pickled celery, onions, cucumbers and chilies.
• To drink, pour a frosty beer, an iced tea, or a champagne-style sparkling wine.
Chef’s Line® has perfected the pit-smoking process and done most of the work for you. What you get is authentically prepared BBQ Beef Brisket
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