Last summer I got on a barbecue kick. Now to quantify the ‘kick’ – I became obsessed and read through 2 books (Myron Mixon and Big Bob Gibson’s), ran through 20+ racks of ribs, 4+ pork shoulders, and about 5 briskets, all in an effort to learn how to smoke some good meat, Texas-style. I even kept a log book to record all efforts, experiment, and decide what worked best. I nailed ribs, pork shoulders are easy, but the brisket remained rather elusive. So back to the drawing table for the brisket.
I buy my brisket meat from Costco, it’s the only place in Lubbock that provides prime grade beef.
I followed advice from Aaron Franklin, owner of Franklin’s Barbecue in Austin, Texas, arguably the proprietor of the finest brisket in the universe. Check out this video and other Aaron Franklin gems:
So I followed his advice, using ‘Dalmation Rub’ of only salt and pepper, and placed a water pan under the brisket. I chose age hickory and mesquite to smoke with, I set the grill up for 250 and smoked the brisket throughout the night.
This brisket went all night and finished up at an internal temp of 201 in the morning, measured the temp in the flat. No ‘Texas Crutch’ used. I tried using foil and injecting brisket last year, all to no avail, this brisket was cooked all the way through without any gimmicks, I wrapped the brisket with ‘pink butcher paper‘ at the end like Franklin does, to rest and cool.
The brisket was damn delightful. Juicy and delightful.
I need to repeat this effort, but as far as I’m concerned it seems the best way to cook brisket is the most basic.
-JB-
The Brinker Table 