Texas-Style Smoked Brisket

Salt-and-pepper smoked brisket the Texas way: a whole packer brisket cooked low and slow, wrapped in butcher paper and rested for juicy, tender slices.

A whole brisket, salt, pepper and smoke. It is a long cook, so start early: plan on about 1–1.5 hours per kilo at 120 °C, plus a long rest. The brisket is done when it is tender, not at a set time.

Ingredients

• 1 whole packer brisket, 5–7 kg
• 3 tbsp coarse kosher salt (or about 1% of the trimmed weight)
• 3 tbsp coarse black pepper (16 mesh if you can find it)
• Optional: 1 tbsp garlic powder
• Wood: oak or hickory chunks
• Pink butcher paper (or foil)
• Spray bottle with water or apple cider vinegar

Method

1. Trim the hard fat on the fat side down to about 6 mm, and remove the hard knob of fat between the point and the flat. Round off thin edges so they don’t burn.

2. Mix salt, pepper and garlic, and season all sides evenly. Leave uncovered in the fridge overnight if you have time.

3. Heat the smoker to 120–125 °C with oak or hickory. Put the brisket in, fat side towards the main heat source.

4. Smoke without opening the lid for the first 3 hours.

   Start 3 h timer

5. After that, spritz the surface every hour if it looks dry.

6. When the bark is dark and firm and the centre is around 65–75 °C (the stall), wrap tightly in butcher paper.

7. Return to the smoker and cook until a probe slides into the thickest part of the flat like soft butter, usually 93–96 °C.

8. Rest the wrapped brisket in a dry cooler or a 65 °C oven.

   Start 2 h timer

9. Separate the point from the flat. Slice the flat across the grain about as thick as a pencil; cube or slice the point.

Tips

• The stall can last hours. Don’t turn the heat up to rush it; wrapping is what gets you through.
• Keep the drippings from the paper and pour them over the sliced meat.

Times are a guide: cook to temperature and feel. The USDA safe minimum for whole cuts of beef is 63 °C (145 °F) with a 3-minute rest, and 71 °C (160 °F) for minced beef. Sources