Uncle Lees Texas Brisket Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Make a dry rub by combining chili powder, salt, garlic and onion powders, black pepper, sugar, dry mustard, and bay leaf. Season the raw brisket on both sides with the rub. Place in a roasting pan and roast, uncovered, for 1 hour.
• Add beef stock and enough water to yield about 1/2 inch of liquid in the roasting pan. Lower oven to 300 degrees F, cover pan tightly and continue cooking for 3 hours, or until fork-tender.
• Trim the fat and slice meat thinly across the grain. Top with juice from the pan.

Steps:

• Trim fat on brisket to 1/2-inch thickness. Rub brisket with pepper and salt; place in a large disposable foil pan, fat side up. Refrigerate, covered, several hours or overnight. Meanwhile, soak wood chips in water., To prepare grill for slow indirect cooking, adjust grill vents so top vent is half open and bottom vent is open only a quarter of the way. Make 2 arrangements of 45 unlit coals on opposite sides of the grill, leaving the center of the grill open. Light 20 additional coals until ash-covered; distribute over unlit coals. Sprinkle 2 cups soaked wood chips over lit coals., Replace grill rack. Close grill and allow temperature in grill to reach 275°, about 15 minutes., Place foil pan with brisket in center of grill rack; cover grill and cook 3 hours (do not open grill). Check temperature of grill periodically to maintain a temperature of 275° throughout cooking. Heat level may be adjusted by opening vents to raise temperature and closing vents partway to decrease temperature., Add another 10 unlit coals and 1 cup wood chips to each side of the grill. Cook brisket, covered, 3-4 hours longer or until fork-tender (a thermometer inserted in brisket should read about 190°); add coals and wood chips as needed to maintain a grill temperature of 275°., Remove brisket from grill. Cover tightly with foil; let stand 30-60 minutes. Cut brisket across the grain into slices.

Steps:

• In a large bowl or shallow dish, combine the Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, bay leaves, garlic, celery salt, pepper and, if desired, liquid smoke. Cut brisket in half; add to bowl and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight., Transfer beef to a 5- or 6-qt. slow cooker; add broth and bay leaves. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until tender., For sauce, in a small saucepan, saute onion in oil until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Stir in the remaining ingredients; heat through., Remove brisket from the slow cooker; discard bay leaves. Place 1 cup cooking juices in a measuring cup; skim fat. Add to the barbecue sauce. Discard remaining juices., Return brisket to the slow cooker; top with sauce mixture. Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes to allow flavors to blend. Thinly slice beef across the grain; serve with sauce. Freeze option: Place individual portions of sliced brisket in freezer containers; top with barbecue sauce. Cool and freeze. To use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight. Heat through in a covered saucepan, gently stirring and adding a little water if necessary.

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.

Steps:

• Preheat grill to 325 degrees, building fire on opposite sides of grill if using charcoal, or on one side or opposite sides if using gas. Season brisket with rub.
• If using charcoal, every hour for first 5 hours add fresh coals and toss 1/2 cup wood chips on each mound of coals. If using gas, place wood chips in smoker box, and preheat until you see smoke (depending on model of gas grill, use all 5 cups at once or 1 cup every hour for first 5 hours).
• Place brisket, fat side up, in foil roasting pan just large enough to hold it. Place pan in center of grill, away from heat.
• Barbecue brisket until nicely browned, cooked through and very tender, for 5 to 7 hours. If brisket starts to brown too much, tent it loosely with foil.
• Transfer cooked brisket to cutting board, cover with foil, and let rest for 10 minutes, reserving pan juices. With sharp knife, trim and discard any large lumps of fat. Slice brisket thinly across grain. Serve with slices of white bread, spooning pan juices over top.