Well, I fixed my first brisket this past weekend.
Thanks to all bbq list folks for the helpful
suggestions and recipes that made this endeavor a
success. Most recommendations to me, posts and
e-mail, were centered on the importance of slicing the
brisket against the grain. Bear suggested baked beans
for a side dish and I fixed that. I had some input
from the southwestern part of the US on side dishes,
but, unfortunately, many of the ingredients necessary
for these recipes are not available here in WV.
Here is the way I did it: 7:00 AM Friday morning.
Unwrapped the brisket (8 lbs.) and washed it down.
Rubbed in the "All South Rub," not too heavy, and as
per suggestions of Dwight's recent post, put his heavy
coating of brown sugar to it. On to the H20, gas
fired bullet smoker at 8:00 AM. Adjusted the flame as
low as possible + a bit. One big, fist sized chunk of
(1 hour soaked ) hickory. Water pan full. Put on the
brisket, fat side up.
At about 12:00 noon I checked it out and found that
the water level was ok. and added, and maybe I'll not
do this again, added another big chunk of hickory.
Checked the water level again at 3:00. It was ok. At
5:00 PM (10 hours later) I took it off and put in a
roaster pan with about a half cup of water. It was a
nice brown color. Capped off the roaster pan with
aluminium foil and put it in the refrigerator. That's
it for day one. LAZY - Q, huh?
Saturday. 8:00 AM . In the oven at 185 degrees until
6:00 PM then took it out to cool for slicing. Yes, my
mouth is watering from the aromas in the kitchen. By
the way, in the mid-afternoon, I fixed a barbeque
sauce, to serve on the side with the brisket. See
Carey Starzinger's bbq sauce # 23.
Now, at 6:30 sharp, the totally unexpected, drop-in
guests from out-of-town hit the door, drank all of our
beer and stayed until 11:30. At this time, 6:30 PM,
just to be sociable, I quit drinking beer, so they
could have it and I switch to scotch. At about 8:30,
when I was finally able to face the handwriting on the
wall, and still fairly sober, I did manage to
refrigerate the complete dinner and kept on smiling at
the guests. Oh yes, I did invite them to have dinner
with us, but was declined.So we hit the sack hungry
and a little grumpy.
Sunday. 4:00 PM. Take the brisket, the beans, the
dipping sauce out of the refrigerator and let them
warm up on the counter for about a hour. Pre-heat the
oven to 175 and put in the brisket at 5:30. I finally
serve it at 7:00 and it is perfect! Finding the grain
is no problem.
You can cut this baby with a fork. If I made a mistake
any mistakes at all, I might cut back on that last
chunk of hickory. It was just a bit more smoky than
necessary, so the wife suggested. I agree. I like a
light smoke taste.
Anyway, if you have a water smoker, don't believe that
you can't fix a respectable brisket. Go for it.
