5 Days 5 Lunches: Smoked Beef Brisket

This week for lunch, I have prepared a smoked beef brisket. Brisket is a staple of traditional BBQ in Texas. I understand that in Texas, everything is bigger. Interesting concept. I applied that mantra to my lunch this week. Why simply do a standard boiled brisket with veggies? I decided to put in the extra leg work and do a full on smoked beef brisket.

This is part of my ongoing series that I do once a week to help you get through the work week with a healthy meal. I like to suggest a recipe that you can cook on a Sunday and pack it for your lunch all week. This is a great way to save money and to eat well.

Growing up, my only experience with brisket was boiled brisket which is delicious in its own right. My experience with BBQ was pretty much limited to your standard grocery store BBQ sauce poured on some roasted chicken. No fun.

Brisket is a nice lunch meat, because it stays soft throughout the whole week. And it’s great on sandwiches or by itself. You can top it with sauce or eat it plain. I recommend even a light sauce if you plan on keeping it moist all week.

From the diagram below, you’ll see that the brisket cut of meat comes from the chest of the cow. It’s rich in connective tissue and always requires long periods of cooking to breakdown all those connective tissues into something delicious. If you don’t cook it low and slow, you’ll end up with a chewy piece of meat that isn’t appetizing to anyone.

Recipe

5lb Beef Brisket

Rub Ingredients

2 Tbsp. Garlic Mustard

2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar

1 Tbsp. Salt

2 Tsp. Chilli Powder

1 Tbsp. Cumin

1 Tsp. Black Pepper

1 Tbsp. Garlic Powder

1 Tbsp. Onion Powder

First, mix all of your ingredients (other than the brisket and mustard) together in a small mixing bowl. Then set your brisket onto a large piece of plastic wrap, and apply the mustard liberally to the brisket. This will help build a nice flavor on your brisket as it cooks. It will also help the rest of your rub adhere to your beef.

Next, apply the dry components to your brisket meat. Then wrap your meat in the plastic wrap and set in the fridge overnight.

Good Morning! I started this portion at 9AM in the morning so I had all day to cook the meat. Set up your grill with a hot and cold zone. Soak some hickory wood chips in water to use later.

Also set some water in a aluminum pan or a cast iron pan. You’ll put this under the brisket, next to the coals. The purpose of this is to catch the drippings from the brisket, and to help create some steam in the grill.

Allow your grill to get hot, approximately 220F if you have a thermometer.

Close your lid, and allow the brisket to cook for 5 hours. To help increase the level of smoke in your grill, close the top vents (leave the side vents open). Also add your wet wood chips to the hot side of the grill, this will help increase the smoke, too.

Check on the brisket around every hour. Check the water in the pan below, if it is about to dry out pour some more water directly into the pan. Be sure not to spill any outside of the pan. This will cause ash to fly everywhere (including onto your meat). I used a brush to brush some of the juices back onto the brisket.

Your brisket should start to turn a nice dark color. You can pull it after the 5 hour mark (most of the time). Check the internal temp, and if it has reached 160F you can pull it off the grill.

Enjoy!

[nutrition-label id=734]