Barbecue
Smoked Beef Brisket Flat
When smoking a beef brisket I usually use a “full packer Brisket”. This has two distinct cuts, the point and the flat. They are separated by a thick layer of fat. The point is the thick cut on top, with the flat being on the bottom. The picture above is the flat. You can separate these two cuts by cutting through the fat layer being careful to leave about 1/4 inch of fat on the top of the flat. I use the point to make my burnt ends and the flat for slicing. Today I am smoking just the flat since I am preparing BBQ for just me and my wife. There will be plenty of leftovers since a flat is around 5-7 lbs. raw and will lose about 30 % of weight when finished. That will leave about 3 1/2 – 5 lbs. finished meat. The first step is to prepare a marinade and inject to meat. I use equal amounts beef broth, cider vinegar, and olive oil. I emulsify them in a blender until smooth. For this brisket I used 2/3 cups each. Inject the meat along the grain every inch or so. Be careful because this is a coarse grained cut and the marinade will squirt out in all kinds of places and ruin your shirt! Place the meat in a large ziplock bag and add the rest of the marinade. Place in the fridge for at least 24 hours.
When you are ready to smoke the brisket, remove from the marinade and pat dry. Apply your favorite rub (or you can use my “Basic Rub Recipe” found on this blog) on the top, bottom, and sides of the meat. Place in a smoker @ 225 degrees and smoke for 6 hours.
At the end of 6 hours it will look like this.
I remove the brisket from the smoker and wrap in unwaxed butcher paper and tie with kitchen twine. You can use heavy duty foil if you want but I find that using butcher paper the meat retains the moisture whereas the foil causes a lot of the juices to come out of the meat leaving a considerable amount in the bottom of the foil. There is none in the paper. The smoking process is done but the cooking process is not. You can place the wrapped brisket back in the smoker or place in an oven @ 225 degrees for another 3 hours. I recommend the oven to save on smoker fuel.
This is what makes it all worthwhile. It is smokey and melts in your mouth. NO KNIVES NEEDED!
Pastrami Beef Short Ribs
This is a awesome recipe. I plan to use it the next time I cure a brisket into pastrami.
For the meat and brine:
4 to 5 pounds meaty bone-in beef short ribs
2 quarts cold water
1/3 cup kosher salt
2 teaspoons pink salt (important for curing and color)
1/4 cup brown sugar
4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
4 tablespoons pickling spices, roughly crushed
In a large mixing bowl, combine the water, kosher salt, pink salt, and brown sugar and stir until the salt and sugar crystals have dissolved. Place ribs in large Ziplock bag. Allow to marinate 48 hours turning bag to mix brine twice a day.
Take ribs out of the brine and rinse off any spice left on them. Pat dry with paper towels. Now make the pastrami rub.
3 tablespoons coriander seeds
3 tablespoons cracked black peppercorns
2 teaspoons yellow mustard seed
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tsp. garlic granules
Put coriander, black pepper, mustard seed, and red pepper flakes into a spice grinder and coarse grind them. Stir in the garlic and mix well.
Press spice into the meaty sides of the ribs, tops and sides. Don’t bother with the bone side. Place into a ziplock bag, remove as much air as possible and then place a weight on the ribs for 4 hours.
Place ribs on a grill with smoke or a 375 degree smoker for 45 minutes. Remove and place ribs on a baking sheet bone side down.
Pour ginger ale into the bottom of the baking sheet and up to the middle part of the bones on the ribs. Cover tightly with heavy duty foil and put into an 325 degree oven for 2 hours.
Remove ribs from the baking sheet and place on a serving platter. Serve with cole slaw and garlic bread.
Smoked Beef Brisket
1 Whole packer brisket, 12-15 lbs. All purpose rub. Beef broth. Rub brisket liberally with rub. Place in smoker @ 225 for 6 hours, spraying with beef broth every hour after the 3rd hour. After smoking for 6 hours, double wrap whole brisket in heavy duty tin foil (any meat that is being smoked will absorb smoke for up to 6 hours but after that it will just start accumulating on the bark and make it black and bitter). Put back in smoker or oven @ 225 for another 3 hours. Take wrapped brisket out of the smoker and place in a cooler for at least an hour to rest and up to 3 hours.
Beef Brisket Burnt Ends
Remove the point from your fully smoked packer brisket. This will almost come apart with out using a knife. Wrap in foil and allow to cool to room temperature. Cut the point into 1 inch cubes. Place in a aluminum foil pan. Toss with your favorite rub. Add 1 cup of brisket drippings collected from foil, (may add beef broth to make a full cup if needed). Place back into smoker @ 225 and continue to cook, stirring every 30 minutes, until ends are starting to darken and are melt in your mouth tender. These are the most sought after treats at any BBQ!
Smoked Pork Loin
One 8 lb. pork loin, cut in half. 1 gallon water. 1 cup kosher salt. 1/2 cup sugar. 2 tsp. Instacure #1. (www.sausagemaker.com) Your favorite rub. Dissolve salt, sugar, & Instacure in water. Inject each loin with 10% of it’s weight with brine. Example: a 4 lb. loin = 64 oz X .10 = 6.4 ozs brine. Space injections about 2 inches apart. Place loins in a plastic bag and pour remaining brine over and seal bag. Place in refrigerator 24 hours. Remove loins from brine, rinse and pat dry with paper towels. Let sit at room temperature 30 minutes. Liberally apply rub. Place in smoker @ 250 for 6 hours.
Smoked Baby Back Ribs
Dry rub of your choice. Remove membrane on underside of ribs. Season liberally with rub. Place in a smoker heated to 250 degrees and smoke for 5-6 hours, misting with a blend of apple juice and water every 30 minutes after the first hour. Wrap in foil and allow to rest 30 minutes. Serve with sauce, if desired, on the side.
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