Briskets Plus: Recipes and Tips for Briskets

Delicious Brisket Recipes and Cooking Tips!

Of all of the cuts of meat carried in the butcher shop, I believe the brisket is the best. For family gatherings or cookouts, it satisfies a lot of people. It is great for smoking or roasting. There are thousands of delicious way to barbeque a brisket. Shredded, chopped, or cubed, brisket is great for soups, sandwiches, and salads. In short, a good brisket can satisfy nearly all desires for meat and is especially good for barbeque or simple smoking or brine curing.

What is a Brisket?

A brisket is a cut of meat taken from the lower pectoral muscles of the cattle. Think of the chest muscles you work when bench pressing or doing push-ups. Those are pectorals; on four legged animals, they support about 60% of the animals' weight - hence the meatiness.

Brisket has much connective tissue, so some work should go into tenderizing the meat during the cooking process. A good tenderizing, spicing, and cooking sequence can produce a beautifully finished meat which melts in your mouth.

Beef Brisket vs Pork and Bison

Most people who think of brisket are thinking of "beef brisket," as it is the most common and popular type. Know that if you like pork, there are pork briskets available from the better meat shops. Like beef, and certainly like a large ham, it should be prepared in a way which tenderizes as well as cooks the meat.

Bison is a meat which is better than beef in terms of the quality of the protein and it also has a great flavor. Bison are really strong, big muscled animals. They produce some very lean meat, with the briskets being slightly smaller but shrinking less than beef briskets in a smoker. The best brisket I have ever eaten was bison, smoked all day and spiced with a spicy dry rub barbeque.

How to Cook a Brisket

A brisket is a thick and meaty cut. Frozen brisket should be completely thawed before working with a brisket. The only work I would suggest for a cold brisket is to carefully trim off the thick fat layer usually found on the so-called "flat" of a brisket.

If marinating, plan to let it rest in the mixture overnight. When cooking in a smoker or crockpot, it is almost an all-day process. Rub on a binder first, if using dry spices; for wet spices, cover the brisket liberally, and gently rub the spices into the meat.

Cooks who smoke a brisket typically operate the smoker at 200 °F to 220 °F (93 °C to 104 °C), with a cooking time dependent on the size of the brisket. In fact, the best cooks aim for the center of the brisket reaching a sufficiently high internal temperature. Use a meat thermometer and pay close attention to that internal temperature when you smoke or roast a brisket - aim for 190 °F +/- 10 °F (88 °C +/- 5 °C).

A popular smoking technique is to start the brisket unwrapped for a couple of hours, then put it into a tin foil wrap. Drizzle a bit of diluted cider vinegar or liquid spices on it before tightly sealing the wrap. Let it cook for another couple of hours - until the internal temperature comes up.

Roasting a brisket is slightly different. Cooks often marinate and spice the brisket, letting it sit overnight in the refriferator. After a solid 10 to 12 hours resting in spices, remive it from refrigeration and allow it to warm to room temperature. Wrap it in foil before putting it into an oven. Roasting is not done at high temperature: use about 280 °F (148°C). Cook until the internal temperature reaches about 190 °F (88 °C). For planning, expect a cooking time of 55 minutes per pound or half kilogram. Save the juices coming from the brisket for other uses, such as making gravy.

After cooking, let the meat rest for a couple of hours. Resting lets the meat cool and integrate the juices. Unwrap, cut into slices across the grain, and serve.

See the recipes linked below for variations on these general methods of cooking a brisket.

Brisket Recipes

Note: If you want to cook a smaller and less expensive cut of meat, try chuck roast, beef belly, or tri tip instead. They are smaller but just as tasty.

Brisket Marinades

Brisket Dry Rub Barbeque

There are so many delicious dry rub recipes for briskets and chuck roasts! You can use one of the commercial spice mixes from your local supermarket or barbeque shop. Another option is to try some of the dry rub recipes posted to the internet, then make a few changes until it is perfect for your own tastes.

Use a Binder With Your Spice Rub

Be aware that you should rub on a good "binder" before putting your spice mix onto the meat. It completes the spice flavors and helps them stick to the brisket while it smokes or roasts. Here are some examples of binders which work well:

• yellow mustard
• olive oil
• mayonnaise

The way to use them is to apply the binder first, then generously rub on the spices. They may be as simple as kosher salt and coarsely ground black pepper or as complex as a specialty barbeque rub containing a dozen spices.

Make Your Favorite Dry Rub Mix!

• Coffee and Spice Dry Rub
• Spicy Korean Dry Rub
• Simple BBQ Dry Rub Recipe
• Delicious Home Made Pork Rub
• Sweet and Spicy Barbeque Rub
• All Purpose BBQ Rub

This page will be updated often. Come back from time to time to find fresh fecipes and links for smoking and roasting delicious briskets and chuck roasts.

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