Tender, Juicy Full of Rich Beef Flavor

We have tried for a few years to do a beef brisket that we liked. They always came out tough and dry. Well, we can’t say that anymore!

Last week I worked at T&H Meats doing Traeger Demos. Roberto thanked me by giving me anything I wanted in the meat counter. Wow, that was an impossible choice for me. There is so much really delicious prime stuff there, I was stuck.

So, I told him how unhappy I was with my adventures with brisket and that I wanted to try again. A few minutes later he came back with a brisket almost as big as Patti. Oh My…

He showed me how to trim it. Then told me to sear it fat side down, then smoke it for 16 hours. That’s it and all this time I have been way over thinking it…

This hunk of cow was AWESOME and I think we made 5 or 6 meals out of it. It was tender, creamy, juicy and full of rich beef flavor. We were thrilled; I already want to do another one. The only down side was driving our neighbors crazy with wonderful smells for all that time. Patti suggested we organize a block party and cater it with brisket.

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 16 Hours

Grill: Pellet

Pellets: Oak

Ingredients:

1 Beef brisket

Spice rub of choice

We made a rub of coarse black pepper, crushed dried garlic and chipotle chili powder.

Worked my rub into the meat and let it rest for an hour.

Cooking Directions: Traeger

Open the lid and set the dial to “Smoke”, after about five minutes shut the lid. Give it about 10 minutes to heat up. Patti has lined the drip pan with foil for me, it makes for easier clean up.

Turn grill all the way up, when the grill comes to temp. (400+) and sear the brisket fat side down. About 10 minutes or so.

Then, set the grill to smoke, turn the meat fat side up and leave it alone for 16 hours. Jacob said “no peeking”.

Keep in mind that your cook time will vary by the size of your brisket. This one was over 15 pounds and I was told it would have been around $80. This is way out of my league so it was a real treat for us. But, we did get lot of excellent leftovers from it.

All this time I have just been over thinking BRISKET.

Note: I get a lot of questions about the kind of pellets you can use with a recipe. Keep in mind that a recipe is just an outline. Some you need follow closely like when you are making bread, but most you can do anything you can dream, our favorite way to cook. Feel free to mix and match the pellets until you find a combination you really like.

Sear it fat side down

Then turn it fat side up to smoke it

Preparing Charcoal Smoker

Get the smoker ready, you will want your temperature of around 160-180 degrees. Remember, you are going low and slow here. This will take all day (16 hours); make sure you have plenty of cold beer.

About our Recipes

We do our recipes on our patio where we have a lineup of grills, including Royall, Traeger, Charmglow, Char-Broil, Brinkman and Weber. I call it our “Wall of Grill”. Our grilling styles will fit pellet heads, gas, natural wood and even charcoal purists. Almost any of our recipes can be done on any kind of good BBQ.

The important thing to keep in mind is TIME & TEMPERATURE. You can even do some of them in the oven or crock pot, but, then you lose all the flavors you get from cooking outdoors. But sometimes it does rain.

Remember that a recipe is simply an outline; it is not written in stone. Don’t be afraid to make changes to suit your taste.

Take it and run with it….

Live Your Passion,

Ken & Patti

Hey, if you are interested in learning more about Traeger Grills or for fine meats and sausages for your grill, go see Jacob. He is a Sausage Meister and we are not kidding. If you get a chance, go and see him. It will be a fun day trip. (Take an ice chest; we always fill up a big one.) Or check him out @ www.tandhsausage.com or call him 760 471- 9192.

Let’s Eat!