4th of July Brisket
I originally bought my Egg so I could cook a brisket and
go off and do other things while the darn thing cooked for the
many hours need. I have a medium Egg however and was always concerned
that a brisket might not fit so I put off cooking one until now.
As it is a summer holiday the local HEB had them on sale for
.49 cent per pound and had quite a few to choose from. I was
able to find a fairly small (9 pounder) one so I decided to give
it a shot.
I began by coating in yellow mustard to use as a base for
holding my rub. I then applied rub in generous portions followed
by another vigorous shake or two of coarse black pepper. I don't
think you can overdo rub on a brisket. I like a thick pepper
crust on mine. I then set the Egg up for indirect as shown. You
definitely need a drip pan as brisket will shed a lot of fat
in the cook and I never trim the fat off of mine. I prefer the
self basting method. I placed the meat in a V-rack and had to
bend it in a bit to get it to fit. The Egg had been loaded well
with lump and oak chips and lit. I placed the meat on soon after
lighting it as I like to maximize the smoke flavor.
Here is the brisket 6 hours into the cook. The Egg was cruising
at a steady 250°. Notice that the meat has began to shrink
and is no longer touching the V-rack handle.
At ten hours I decided that it was ready. We were hungry
and it looked ready to go. The general rule is 1 1/2 hour per
pound but as this was a fairly small cut by brisket standards
I felt it had had enough time so I pulled it. Note the continued
shrinkage and the large volume of grease in the drip pan.
It had a very nice look to it with a good black crust. Our
mouths began to water as we let the meat rest for about ten minutes.
If you cut into it too soon a lot of juice will run out and the
meat will be drier than it should.
I sliced into it and was pleased with the results. It did
not have much of a smoke ring but it had a good smoke taste.
The meat was quite juicy and it was most tender. The crust was
good and crunchy with a heavy pepper accent. I eat a lot of brisket
down here in Texas and this one was up to my standards and beyond.
I ate it without any sauce which is something I rarely do as
I do love a good spicy Texas tomato based sauce. However the
meat was so juicy it just begged to be savored on it's own merits.
After a fine repast of brisket and beans what meal would
be complete with out some homemade banana pudding? I will be
doing another one of these classic BBQ cuts very soon as my freezer
holds another and I never tire of the taste of fine BBQ brisket.
07/04/02
