Texas Barbeque
Instructions
1) Trim. Rinse the meat and dry it with paper towels. If you have a packer, trim off most of the fat cap but leave at least 1/4". If you are trimming a packer, until you get the hang of it you might cut off some of the meat while trimming. No harm, no foul. Some cooks will attempt to remove some of the fat layer between the flat and the point by slicing them apart from both sides, but not slicing all the way through so they remain attached. If you are competing, trim the flat to about 9" wide in order to fit the width of the standard 9" x 9" turn-in box after shrinkage. On the meaty side, make sure there is no silverskin, a tough thin membrane, left. If you have a HOF, you probably will not need to trim much at all. Just make sure there is no silverskin on the meaty side.
2) Pump. This is an optional step. I normally do not pump a whole packer, but I almost always pump a HOF. If you have a hypodermic for injecting meat, now's the time to use it. Pump in about 1/8 cup of beef broth per pound of raw meat by inserting the needle parallel to the grain in several locations and back it out as you press the plunger. Do it in the sink and be careful so you don't get squirted in the eye. Use broth only. All we want here is moisture. We don't want the fluid to mask the flavor of the meat.
3) Rub. Before you apply the Big Bad Beef Rub, notice the direction of the grain of the flat and remember this so you can carve it perpendicular to the grain. Coat the meat lightly with oil and sprinkle the rub liberally on all exposed meat and rub it in. Not much sense in wasting rub on the fat since most of it will melt off or be cut off by your guests. We coat the meat with oil first because many of the flavors in the rub are oil soluble. Some folks use a slather of mustard first, but it is water based and will not dissolve the flavors as well as oil. If you can, let the meat sit for 1 to 2 hours to allow the rub to penetrate a bit and form a moist paste that will become your crust. I strongly recommend you use a digital remote thermometer such as the Maverick, especially if you are not an expert with brisket, and insert the probe with the tip centered in the thickest part of the meat.
4) Preheat. OK, before we begin, it is important to note that brisket is an inexact science, and the timing can vary significantly depending on the size of your brisket, it's moisture and fat content, and the nature of your cooker, not to mention the accuracy of your thermometer. But the method I describe has a long period of resting in an insulated beer cooler (warmer in this case), and that time is flexible so you can use that buffer time to keep dinner on schedule. If you are using a grill, set it up for indirect cooking. Click here to see how to set up a gas grill. Here's how to set up a charcoal grill, and here's how to set up a bullet smoker like the Weber Smokey Mountain. Get the temp stabilized at about 225F. It is crucial to keep the temp low or else the proteins can seize up and squeeze out all the juices. And this can happen fast on brisket, so monitor your temp carefully. Brisket is a lot less forgiving than pork shoulder.
5) Cook. Put the meat on the cooker, fat side up. On a Weber Smokey Mountain, put the meat on the lower grate, right above the water, and make sure you monitor the temp at that level. It is different there than near the top of the dome. If the temp starts to run up, start mopping the meat with water, apple juice, or beer to keep it cool until you get the oven temp back down to 225F. Add wood right after the meat and when the smoke stops for the first two hours. Keep an eye on the water in the pan. Don't let it evaporate. After three hours, turn the meat over if the color is different from top to bottom. Otherwise leave it alone. I do not recommend mopping, basting, or spritzing. It just lowers the temp of the meat, and lets heat out of the cooker and oxygen into the coals if you are using charcoal. Read my article on mopping, basting, and spritzing. The meat temp will move steadily upward to a spot called "the stall" or "the conversion zone", somewhere between 140-150F. Once in the zone, it will seem to take forever to rise. This is the magic time when the connective tissues made of collagens begin to dissolve and create fabulous flavor and texture. When you hit the stall, don't panic and crank the heat up. Once the internal temp is past 170F it will probably rise more rapidly. This may seem way overcooked, especially since steak is well-done at about 150F, but we need to cook brisket to a much higher temperature to make it tender. Click here for more about the thermodynamics of cooking meat. We're shooting for 180F. Rule of thumb: 90 minutes per pound for a packer, 60 minutes for a HOF. If it gets done sooner, you can hold it in a faux cambro or in the oven at 190F.
The Texas Crutch
When the meat hits 180F, wrap it tightly with foil or in a foil pan as above. Cook until it hits 190F, and turn off the heat. Let it rest for 1-3 hours on the warm grill (but not a hot grill) or in a beer cooler or in the indoor oven.
In these photos, Barry Sorkin of Chicago's Smoque BBQ (best brisket outside of TX) demonstrates how to slice brisket. Start by slicing the flat across the grain until you encounter the point muscle on top of the flat.
The remaining hunk has two muscles with the grain going in different directions. Slice it in half.
Slice the center section.
Slice the remaining butt end of the point in the same direction as you cut the flat.
Leftovers can be chopped, doused in sauce, and served on a bun like they do at many restaurants in Texas.
6) Crutch. When the meat hits 180F take it off and wrap it in a double layer of heavy-duty foil. Pour a cup of beef broth or beer over the top of the meat before you seal the foil. Then seal it tight and drink the leftover beer. Put the wrapped meat back on the smoker for an hour. This step, the Texas Crutch, generates a bit of steam which tenderizes the meat. So when is it ready? The experts say you really can't tell by temperature. Each brisket is different. The pros can tell when it is ready by feel. Some talk about a gelatinous bounce it has when they poke it because the connective tissues have melted. They call it the "wabba wabba" point. Others stick a fork in the side of the flat and twist. If it turns easily, it is ready. "Fast Eddy" Maurin says he waits until his thermometer probe "falls into" the meat on a whole packer and it is "as soft as buttah." Until you get a feel for this, I recommend you pull it off at about 190F and no higher than 205F. It should only take about an hour in foil to hit 190F.
7) Rest. When the temp hits 190F, get your plastic beer cooler, line it with a towel, blanket, or crumpled newspaper and put the meat, still in foil, into the cooler on top of the lining. Leave the thermometer probe in. If the foil is leaking, put the meat in a large pan first. The lining is important to prevent the plastic from warping or cracking. Close the lid and let the hot meat sit in the cooler for 1-3 hours until you are ready to eat. Do not let the temp of the meat fall below 145F while it is in the cooler or else you could get a tummy ache. If you have a tight cooler it should hold the meat well above 160F for hours.
8) Slice. Brisket dries out quickly once it is cut. Make sure everyone is ready to eat before you start carving. When your guests are ready, heat up your Texas Barbecue Mop-Sauce and bring it to the table. Turn the meat fat side up so the juices will run onto the meat as you slice.
Slicing is a bit of a challenge because there are two muscles and the grain flows in different directions. There are two good ways to slice:
(a) This is my favorite method, shown in the pictures at right. Start slicing the flat, cutting across the grain so the meat will fall apart in your mouth about 1/4" thick, about the thickness of a pencil. As you approach the area where the point muscle lies on top of the flat, stop and cut the remaining hunk in half. Slice the center section crosswise, in the opposite direction that you sliced the flat. The slice the remaining butt section in the same direction you sliced the flat.
(b) Some competitors prefer this method of slicing. Run a knife between the flat and the point and separate the two muscles. Trim off excess fat. Slice them separately across the grain about 1/4" thick. The meat should hold together, not fall apart or crumble. It should pull apart with a gentle tug. If the first slice falls apart, cut thicker slices.
9) Serving. If the meat is perfectly cooked it should be moist and juicy. You can serve it on a plate or as a sandwich and, if you wish, drizzle some Texas Barbecue Mop-Sauce on top of the meat. Serve everyone a little of both muscles.
10) Burnt ends. Burnt ends (above) are amazingly flavorful bite-size crispy cubes. Originally they were simply edges and ends that were overcooked, sort of fried in their own natural fat, and trimmed off and munched by the kitchen staff. If there were any leftover, they were given away for free. Then, in 1970, in his marvelous book American Fried, Calvin Trillin wrote the following about Arthur Bryant's restaurant in Kansas City "The main course at Bryant's, as far as I'm concerned, is something that is given away for free -- the burned edges of the brisket. The counterman just pushes them over to the side as he slices the beef, and anyone who wants them helps himself. I dream of those burned edges. Sometimes, when I'm in some awful overpriced restaurant in some strange town -- all of my restaurant-finding techniques having failed, so that I'm left to choke down something that costs seven dollars and tastes like a medium-rare sponge -- a blank look comes over my face: I have just realized that at that very moment someone in Kansas City is being given those burned edges free."
Well, not any more. They taste so great that folks started asking for burned end sandwiches and Bryant's had to start making them on purpose. Here's how: Before you wrap the meat in foil for the crutch, cut off the thin part of the flat and throw it back in the smoker without the foil. You will then wrap the point end and the flat beneath it in heavy duty foil as described above. Keep the thermometer probe in this section. Cook the unwrapped flat until it gets really dark but not burned. Remove it and cut it into 1/2" strips with the grain and then cut the strips across the grain every half inch to make delightful, spicy, flavorful, crispy, crunchy cubes. They will probably be a bit dry so mix them with a bit of sauce, wrap in foil, and hold in your cooler with the rest of the meat until you are ready to serve. I have even been known to toss them into a non-stick frying pan with a little bacon fat to crisp them and then I add the sauce. Serve burnt ends like a side dish. They will go fast.
11) Pulled or chopped brisket. I'm not a big fan of this method since there is more surface area and the meat dries out quicker. But if you are drenching it with sauce, go for it. To make pulled or chopped brisket, after you remove the meat from the foil, cut off the thin end and slice it into strips. Then pull it apart into chunks and shards or chop it with a knife or cleaver. Splash on some sauce and serve on a bun.
