Beef Brisket

     South Texas Barbecue Brisket


Down Here in South Texas Beef Brisket is one of the most common pieces of meat that is smoked.  You can be driving in any resedential neighborhood and smell Barbecue.  Almost immediately you can recognize that it is a Brisket. The Beef Brisket just has a great smell to it once it is being smoked.

There are so many different ways to barbecue a Beef Brisket.  There are an infinate number of ways to season/marinade a Beef Brisket.  Just search Beef Brisket Recipes on a search engine and see how many hits you get.  Saerch for the different ways to barbecue a Beef brisket and the hits are endless. 

I have never Barbecued a Beef brisket before util a few weeks ago.  I was always intimidated by that bif hunk of meat.  My specialty are pork ribs.  I decided not too long ago that it was time for me to smoke my first Beef Brisket.  I got a lot of advice from a lot of barbecuers on how to smoke it ans season it.  I followed some of their suggestions.

I went to the store and bought about an 8 pound Beef Brisket.  I also went to the seasoning and spice isle of the store and stocked up on different seasonings and spices.  Also, do not forget to buy heavy duty aluminum foil and  large heavy duty aluminum deep dish pan.

When I got home I cut the Beef Brisket out of the vacuum sealed plastic and placed it in the aluminum pan.  Everyone says that you are to smoke the Beef Brisket one hour for every pound.  Once the Brisket was in the pan I opened up all the seasonings and spices I had just bought (Remember: The fresher the spices and seaonings better!).  


I next added one spice and seasoning at a time to the brisket. Make sure you sprinkle a generous portion of spices and seasonings on your Brisket.  If one of the seasonings you are using contains a lot of salt, hold off on the amount you are putting.  If you put too much the Brisket will come out 
too salty.  Once all of your seaonings and spices are on the
brisket go ahead and rub it in with your hands.  Pour some Olive Oil on the briske t while you are rubbing the seasonings and spices in.  The Olive Oil helps the brisket absorb the "Rub".  Once this is done repeat the same process on the other side of the Brisket.    

Once you have finished messaging the Brisket Rub into the Brisket you are done for now.  If you did not know it, you just made your own "Rub".  Some people add sliced onions and bell peppers to their Brisket.  It is up to you!  I choose not too. 

Now get a few sheets of the heavy duty aluminum foil and cover the brisket and put it in the refridgerator.  Leave the brisket over night.  Make sure the brisket does not stay over 24 hours.  When marinating with a liquid or dry rub do not leave for longer than this time. 

Once the Beef Brisket has been left over night it is ready to smoke.  I use dry mesquite wood to smoke my Beef Brisket.  You can use whatever wood you would like.  Just make sure it is safe for barbecueing with.  Remember, if you are smoking with mesquite, it has to be dries.  Never barbecue with live mesquite.  It can mess up your smoker for a long, long time.  

I always use a Chimney Starter to start my fire.  Never use charcoal starter fluid.  Once the fire is going good in your chimney starter you can dump it safely in your pit.  Then you can add more wood as needed.  You can also use natural Lump Charcoal to start the fire and then add your desired wood. 

Once the fire was going I added my Beef Brisket to the Smoker Box.  No foil used at this time.  I put the Beef Brisket directly on the grill grate.  Many barbecuers will tell you to put the Beef Brisket fat side up.  It is up to you.  This was my first time, so I put the Beef Brisket fat side up. 

I left the Beef Brisket smoking for approximately 4 hours at about 150 degrees to 200 degrees (f).  I checked on the Beef Brisket every 30 minutes to an hour to make sure the meat was not drying out.  If it is, you canmix a small amount of your rub, olive oil, and beer.  You can baste the brisket with this to keep it from drying out.  

Once the four hours was up I carefully took my Beef Brisket out of the  Smoker Box and covered the Beef Brisket with heavy duty aluminum foil.  I made sure I had several layers of aluminum foil covering the Beef Brisket for support.  I made a secure foil wrapping around the beef Brisket.  Once I did this, I made sure no juices would be able to leak out.  I then added a full 12 ounce bottle of Light Beer.  Any beer you choose will be fine.  I find that Light Beer works well.  I next enclosed the the Beef Brisket with the heavy duty aluminum foil.

Now it was time to transfer the Beef Brisket back to the Smoker Box.  Make sure you have the temperature where you need it to be.  Add more wood if needed.  I let the Beef Brisket continue to cook for another 6-8 hours.  It is up to you.  If you do not have that much time, 2-4 hours would be fine. 

Barbecuing the Beef Brisket requires a lot of time and work, but is worth it in the end.  Once the Beef Brisket has been in the Smoker Box for your desired time, you can take it out.  I usually let the Beef Brisket set for 30 minutes to an hour before I cut into it.  Slice and enjoy!