Best 6 Texas Style Smoked Brisket Recipes

TEXAS-STYLE SMOKED BRISKET

Steps:

• Set the brisket on a large sheet of plastic wrap.
• In a medium bowl combine the dark brown sugar, chili power, paprika, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, cayenne, dry mustard, and cumin thoroughly.
• Rub the mixture onto the brisket and wrap tightly in the plastic wrap.
• Place on a baking sheet and let marinate refrigerated at least 6 hours or overnight.
• Remove the meat from the refrigerator and let come to room temperature.
• Soak mesquite wood chips in a large bowl of water for 1 to 2 hours.
• Remove, drain and set aside.
• Prepare a smoker with charcoal and the wood chips according to the manufacturer's instructions to 180 to 200 degrees F.
• Place the water pan in the smoker and add water to the fill line, about 2/3 full.
• Place the unwrapped brisket on the lower rack off the direct heat, close the lid, and cook, regularly stoking the fire and adding additional chips, until an instant-read thermometer registers an internal temperature of 140 to 145 degrees F, about 4 to 5 hours.
• Remove the meat from the grill and let rest for 20 minutes before carving the meat against the grain.
• (Alternately, prepare a stove-top smoker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Place the unwrapped brisket on the rack over low heat. Close the lid and smoke for 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F. Remove the meat from the smoker and wrap in) BBQ Sauce: In a large pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat.
• Add the onions and cook, stirring, for 4 minutes.
• Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
• Add the ketchup, brown sugar, cane syrup, vinegar, mustard, Worcestershire, hot sauce, Essence, and red pepper flakes and bring to a boil.
• Lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened and the flavors marry, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and let cool slightly before serving.
• Essence: Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container.

TEXAS STYLE SMOKED BRISKET WITH MOPPIN' SAUCE

Steps:

• 1. Combine all ingredients for the rub and rub all over your brisket wrap in foil and let sit overnight.
• 2. Combine all ingredients of the moppin sauce together and mix well.
• 3. Bring your smoker up to 220. I used hickory chips, but you can use mesquite, white birch, or apple wood.
• 4. Place brisket in smoker fat side up. Smoke 1 hour per pound using the moppin' sauce every half hour. Or until internal temperature reads 190 to 200 degrees.
• 5. I used a vertical water smoker if you don't use one with water wrap it in foil after 4 or 5 hours so that it stays moist.
• 6. Serve with baked potato and veggies and enjoy!

TEXAS-STYLE SMOKED BRISKET

Steps:

• 1 Order the brisket You'll have to special-order your brisket ahead of time (the brisket already sold at the meat counter is typically not whole). You should be able to do this at almost any butcher shop or at a grocery store meat counter. Ask for a brisket that is as evenly thick as possible, with the surrounding fat trimmed to 1/4" thick (this protects the meat from drying out while cooking).
• 2 Season the meat An hour before preparing the grill, place brisket on a rimmed baking sheet. Mix salt and pepper in a small bowl and season the meat all over (it should look like sand stuck to wet skin but without being cakey). Let meat sit at room temperature for 1 hour.
• 3 Prepare your grill Meanwhile, soak 6 cups wood chips in a bowl of water for at least 30 minutes or overnight. Leave in water throughout the cooking process. Keep remaining 2 cups chips dry. Light only 1 grill burner to medium (if using a 3-burner grill, light burner on either end). Make sure drip tray is empty, as a lot of fat will render. Place smoker box over the lit burner, add 1/2 cup soaked wood chips to box, and close grill. Adjust heat as needed to keep temperature at 225-250°F. We recommend using a stand-alone thermometer, even if your grill has one, to ensure an accurate reading. Stick it through the gap between the lid and base of the grill (or set it on the grill's upper shelf, though this is not ideal, as it requires opening the lid more frequently). The wood chips should begin to smolder and release a steady stream of smoke. How long this takes depends on how wet your chips are and the heat of your grill. To get more smoke without increasing grill heat, add a few dry chips to the soaked ones.
• 4 Maintain the heat Place brisket, fatty side up, on grill grate as far away from lit burner as possible. Cover grill and smoke meat, resisting the urge to open grill often, as this will cause the temperature to fluctuate. Adjust heat as needed to keep temperature steady at 225-250°F. Check wood chips every 45 minutes or so, and add soaked chips by 1/2-cupfuls as needed to keep smoke level constant.
• 5 Know when it's done Keep smoking the brisket, rotating every 3 hours and flipping as needed if top or bottom is coloring faster than the other, until meat is very tender but not falling apart and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of meat registers 195-205°F, 10-12 hours total.*
• *Need a cheat? If you just don't want to spend your whole day at the grill, here's a fail-safe, Aaron Franklin- endorsed alternate method that will deliver similarly glorious results: Smoke brisket on grill until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of meat registers 150-170°F, 5-6 hours. Wrap brisket in foil, place on a baking sheet, and cook in a 250°F oven until meat reaches the same 195-205°F internal temperature, 4-6 hours longer. What's important is getting that smoky flavor into the meat, and 5-6 hours on the grill should do it. After that point, you're simply getting the meat cooked through.
• DO AHEAD: Brisket is best shortly off the grill, but you can still get good results smoking it up to 3 days ahead. Let cool for an hour before wrapping in foil and chilling. To serve, reheat meat, still wrapped, in a 325°F oven until warmed through.
• 6 Dig in Transfer brisket to a carving board and let rest at least 30 minutes. Slice brisket against the grain 1/4" thick.
• Serve it with: Coleslaw, potato salad, and pinto beans.

TEXAS HILL COUNTRY-STYLE SMOKED BRISKET

Steps:

• Using a sharp knife, trim the brisket: Set the brisket flat side down, so the leaner side is underneath and the rounded, fatty point side is on top. Wherever you find a thick sheath of fat on the top surface, trim it to within 1/4 inch of the meat. Now look at the side of the brisket: There's a large pocket of fat between the point and the flat. Using the point of the knife, cut some of it out, but avoid cutting directly into the meat. Turn the brisket so the flat faces up. There's a lump of fat on one side: Again, trim it to within 1/4 inch of the meat. Be careful not to overtrim. It's better to err on the side of too much fat than too little. While you're at it, trim off any thin, sharp corners of the flat part of the meat, so the brisket is slightly rounded.
• Season the brisket: Place the brisket on a rimmed sheet pan and generously season the top, bottom and sides with salt, pepper and, if you like your brisket spicy, red-pepper flakes.
• Create a platform for cooking the brisket by cutting a flat piece of cardboard the size and shape of the brisket. (There's no need to make it any larger; the brisket will shrink considerably during cooking.) Wrap the cardboard template in 2 layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Using an ice pick, a metal skewer or other sharp implement, poke holes in the foil-covered cardboard at 1-inch intervals. The idea is to create a perforated platform for the brisket. Set the brisket flat on the foil-covered cardboard, lean side down. (This prevents the lean bottom of the brisket flat from drying out and burning, while the holes still let in the smoke.)
• Light your grill, smoker or cooker (such as a Big Green Egg) and heat it to 250 degrees. If using a kettle grill, start with less charcoal than you would for grilling a steak: A third to a half chimney starter will do it. If using a smoker, place a large heat-proof bowl of water in the smoke chamber. (This is optional, but it creates a humid environment that will keep your brisket moist and help the smoke adhere to the meat.) Add wood as specified by the manufacturer to generate smoke. If using a kamado-style cooker, set up a top-down burn: Load the fire box with lump charcoal, interspersing it with wood chunks or chips. Light 3 or 4 coals on top in the center; gradually, they'll burn down, igniting the coals and wood beneath them.)
• Transfer the brisket on the foil-lined cardboard to the smoker. If using an offset smoker, position the thicker end toward the firebox. Cook the brisket until the outside is dark and the internal temperature registers about 165 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. This normally takes 6 to 8 hours. Refuel your cooker as needed, adding wood to obtain a steady stream of smoke. If the outside of the brisket darkens too much, loosely lay a sheet of foil on top. (Don't bunch it, or the meat will steam rather than smoke, resulting in a pot roast-like consistency.)
• Wrap the brisket: Lay 2 overlapping sheets of pink (unlined) butcher paper or parchment paper on your work surface. Each piece should be about 3 feet long. You want to create a square about 3 feet on each side. Wearing heatproof rubber or silicone gloves (or carefully using tongs), transfer the brisket to the center of this paper square. Fold the bottom section over the brisket. Fold in the sides and roll the brisket over so it's completely swaddled in paper. (It's a little like making a burrito.) Note the orientation: You want the fatty point of the brisket to remain on top. Carefully set the wrapped brisket back on the foil-lined cardboard and return it to the cooker.
• Continue cooking the brisket to an internal temperature of 200 to 205 degrees (it will be deeply browned and very tender), another 2 to 4 hours, bringing your total cooking time to 8 to 12 hours, depending on your cooker and the size of your brisket. (Start monitoring the internal temperature at the 8-hour mark.) Additional tests for doneness include the jiggle test: Grab the brisket with a gloved hand and shake it; the meat will jiggle like Jell-O. You could also try the bend test: Lift both ends and it will bend easily in the middle, or place a gloved hand under the center of the brisket and the ends will droop.
• You can eat the brisket now. But there's one more optional step that will take your brisket from excellent to sublime: Let it rest. Place the wrapped brisket in an insulated cooler to rest for 1 to 2 hours, allowing the meat to relax and the juices to redistribute.
• To serve the brisket, unwrap it over a sheet pan to catch any juices trapped in the paper. Transfer the brisket to a cutting board (ideally, one with a well), lean flat section down. Cut the brisket in half crosswise, separating the flat section from the point section. The corner of the flat furthest from the sliced side may be tough and dry. Make a diagonal cut to remove it. Dice it and serve as burnt ends to thank onlookers for their patience. Look for the grain of the meat. Using a serrated knife or sharp carving knife, slice this section as thickly or as thinly as desired. (Texas tradition calls for slices that are the thickness of a pencil.) If your brisket has somehow come out tough, slice it paper-thin, which will make it seem more tender.
• Now slice the point section: Again, trim off and discard any obvious large lumps of fat. Slice the meat across the grain into 1/4-inch-thick slices (or as desired). Arrange the slices on a platter or plates and spoon the reserved meat drippings over them. It's nice to serve the meat by itself so you can appreciate the complex interplay of salt, spice, smoke, meat and fat. Texas tradition calls for sliced factory-style white bread. If you opt for barbecue sauce, serve it on the side.

SMOKED BRISKET SOUTH TEXAS STYLE

Steps:

• Prep your pit with your favorite wood.
• I prefer pecan for the mellow flavor.
• Optimum cooking temperature will be between 200 to 250 degrees.
• Trim excess fat from brisket and place in smoker.
• Let it slow smoke for 2 hours or until you have a good smoke ring around it.
• Remove from smoker and rub it down with a stick of butter and then rub in the brown sugar.
• Wrap in tin foil and place back in the smoker cooking at 1 hour per pound while maintaining slow smoked temperature.
• If the temperature is too hard to control then you can cook as above for the first two hours or until you get a good smoke ring, add butter and brown suger, wrap in tin foil and cook in oven at 225 degrees for the remaining cooking time.

TEXAS-STYLE SMOKED BRISKET RECIPE - (4.1/5)

Steps:

• Season the meat an hour before preparing the grill, place brisket on a rimmed baking sheet. Mix salt and pepper in a small bowl and season the meat all over (it should look like sand stuck to wet skin but without being cakey). Let meat sit at room temperature for 1 hour. Prepare your grill. Meanwhile, soak 6 cups wood chips in a bowl of water for at least 30 minutes or overnight. Leave in water throughout the cooking process. Keep remaining 2 cups chips dry. Light only 1 grill burner to medium (if using a 3-burner grill, light burner on either end). Make sure drip tray is empty, as a lot of fat will render. Place smoker box over the lit burner, add 1/2 cup soaked wood chips to box, and close grill. Adjust heat as needed to keep temperature at 225 to 250°F. We recommend using a stand-alone thermometer, even if your grill has one, to ensure an accurate reading. Stick it through the gap between the lid and base of the grill (or set it on the grill's upper shelf, though this is not ideal, as it requires opening the lid more frequently). The wood chips should begin to smolder and release a steady stream of smoke. How long this takes depends on how wet your chips are and the heat of your grill. To get more smoke without increasing grill heat, add a few dry chips to the soaked ones. Maintain the heat. Place brisket, fatty side up, on grill grate as far away from lit burner as possible. Cover grill and smoke meat, resisting the urge to open grill often, as this will cause the temperature to fluctuate. Adjust heat as needed to keep temperature steady at 225 to 250°F. Check wood chips every 45 minutes or so, and add soaked chips by 1/2-cupfuls as needed to keep smoke level constant. If you just don't want to spend your whole day at the grill, here's a fail-safe, Aaron Franklin- endorsed alternate method that will deliver similarly glorious results: Smoke brisket on grill until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of meat registers 150 to 170°F, 5 to 6 hours. Wrap brisket in foil, place on a baking sheet, and cook in a 250°F oven until meat reaches the same 195 to 205°F internal temperature, 4 to 6 hours longer. What's important is getting that smoky flavor into the meat, and 5 to 6 hours on the grill should do it. After that point, you're simply getting the meat cooked through. DO AHEAD: Brisket is best shortly off the grill, but you can still get good results smoking it up to 3 days ahead. Let cool for an hour before wrapping in foil and chilling. To serve, reheat meat, still wrapped, in a 325°F oven until warmed through.