Beer Brisket

With football season right around the corner, I thought it was time to break out the ol' brisket recipe.  This is perfect to make the night before and bring to a tailgate or the neighbor's house to watch the game.  It's easy to prepare and fork tender.  It's like butta, I tell ya!

Rub one up today.  Here's what you'll need:

A brisket.  I get mine from Sam's (from what I hear, they're like Costco.  But I've never been to a Costco, so this is not first-hand knowledge).  But the important part is they have 2 choices: this big granddaddy thing that is mostly white (read: fat) on the outside; or a smaller version with a white side and a red side (read: the butcher already trimmed most of the fat *YAY*)

For the rub:
1/3 cup onion powder
1/3 cup garlic powder
1 Tbsp ground mustard
1 Tbsp chili powder
2 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp dill weed
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp celery seed

For the liquid:
1 beer (12oz)*
1 cup beef broth
worcestershire sauce
*You can use whatever beer you have on hand, but a darker beer will lend more flavor to the meat.  Also, it might be interesting to try a fruity beer?

I usually cook this in a foil roasting pan from the grocery store.  You can cook it in here, then put it in the fridge, then take it to the tailgate and just throw it away.  Sure beats washing 16 different pans/containers.

Start by preparing your oven.  Check to make sure the rack is in the center and preheat to 300 degrees.

Get your pan out and remove any tags.  Don't forget that little dab of sticky that makes the paper label stick.  Open the brisket over the sink.  Rinse and pat dry.  Lay in the foil pan fat side DOWN.  Sorry, there are no pictures of the rinsing and drying because it is a pretty sizeable piece of meat to handle with one hand while taking pictures.

Combine all ingredients for the rub in a medium bowl.

Stir until well combined.  You could also put it in a container with a lid and just shake it up.  Whichever one you like is fine.

Rub the meaty (not fatty) side with the spice mix.  Put a good, thick, even coat on it.

Then splash on a little worcestershire.

Now...rub the fatty side of the meat with your spice mix, and splash on some more worcestershire.

Pour the beer and beef broth into the pan.  Be sure to pout it on the corner of the pan, not over the meat --- you don't want to wash off your rub.  *As you can see I used Mich Ultra here, it was all I had on hand.  The flavor was definitely weaker.

Cover the pan with foil and put it in the preheated oven (300 degrees) for 4 hours.  Now this is the tough part - don't touch it.  Don't open the oven or peek.  Just put it in there, set the timer, and go fold laundry.  What?  You don't have 4 hours worth of laundry? 

After the 4 hours, take it out of the oven and let it cool (still covered!) for 30 to 45 minutes.  Now this is the best/worst part.  It's a little icky to do, but it's so worth it. . .

Set the brisket, fat side up, on a large cutting board.  Using the blade of a kinfe, scrape away the fat.  It should be soft because it's still warm, so it will basically wipe right off.  

I'm very serious about this scraping business.

Set the scraped brisket back in the pan and refrigerate overnight.  *Sorry this is getting lengthy - I promise it's worth it.*

In the morning, take it out and cut it across the grain.  Why couldn't you just cut it yesterday, when it was already out?  Because it's so wonderfully tender, it would have just shredded.  If you have to have it right away (I mean after the 4 hours), serve it shredded, it's pretty yum that way, too.

Serve it up with potato rolls!  Sorry again....I had waited 4 long hours to cook it, then overnight to cut it, and it looks like I forgot to take a picture before I ate it.  Just picture a light, fluffy potato roll slathered with spicy brown mustard and stuffed with juicy, tender slices of brisket. 

Get the printable recipe.

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