Oh I love a good brisket!!

I cook mine in a slow oven all day. Literally, all day.

Fat side on top, and the pan wrapped tightly in foil. I dry rub it with seasonings on all sides -- whatever I have on hand, including Montreal Steak Seasoning. And that's it.

275F 1 hour for every pound of the brisket.

The smell as it's cooking is heavenly!

Just a word of caution. When we bought 1/2 beef the 1st time, I was quite surprised to discover the brisket had been folded in half when packaged. That thing was HUGE. I didn't have a pan big enough to put it in and had to cut it in half.

I have failed miserably with brisket on my BGE. I should try the oven method.

Do you have a smoker? We slow smoked a small one a couple of years ago and it was so delicious.

3katz, we have a friend who is a master at briskets on the BGE. He’s going to coach DSIL. Cross your fingers that his ability is coachable!

Oh no, pudge, I hope these aren’t huge and folded! DD found a package of meat in the freezer from The Fresh Market. It was about the size and shape of a rump roast or a very large package of ground beef. When she thawed it, it was a whole tenderloin that had been coiled up by the butcher. What a nice surprise!

Petal, DSIL is planning to smoke it on the BGE. DD wants us to cook both at the same time…sort of a cook-off. I don’t think she realizes how much brisket that is!

We smoked a brisket on our Traeger a couple of weekends ago when we had a housefull. I’d do point for smoking, flat for braise.

If you end up with too much cooked brisket, after it cools, slice it this and freeze it. Then you can pull out small portions for meals in the future. Brisket paninis, yummmy

Oh BBstx I am an Ina Garten fangirl and that brisket with onions and leeks sounds just about perfect to me!

I can vouch for Ina’s recipe…darn good!

I agree with Pudgeder on the low and slow. The goals with brisket are to deal with the connective tissue and fat, and still keep it from falling apart. If there's a full fat cap, you don't need it if you're brasing, covered (the ”pot roasty” though the flavor is different. You can cut the fat cap down to 1/4“, and cross hatch it a couple inches apart. For the connective tissue, the slow cooking helps, as does a certain amount of sugar and acid, which can come from fruit, sauces, etc. Your choice.

With the low and slow method, starting or finishing for an hour at 350F will help render the fat cand caramelize the top, making it much nicer to eat, and to look at. If you have a goodly chunk, especially a braise, you can cook it for hours, day one, and chill over night in the roaster (if you fon't have a cover, or it's too tall, cover with foil). When you take it out of the fridge, you can lift off unwanted chuncks of chilled fat, remove the meat from the pan and slice, while it's chilled and easy, and just kind of press the ends together and lift it back into the pan. Drip the pan juices/braising liquid between each slice, and add more liquid if needed. Return to the oven and finish cooking.

A whole brisket is about 10 lbs. of three different parts of the beef coming together from different directions. There's usually a big ball of fat in the middle of the thick end. Some people crave this in the center of their slices, while others (inc. me) are repulsed by it. You can trim a lot of it out, or leave it, but have a plan to deal with all that fat, if it's still there. The butcher might have cut it in three, with the third piece as scraps, ground, or something. My guess is you have a flap/point, which is easiest to cook because it's a more even thickness, a couple of inches, plus if the full fat cap is on it, and if the square end is similarly flat, the third piece and fat ball are probably removed, because that end all together, is like 6-7”.. Of course, these measures depend on the size and breed of the beef, whereas, the whole briskets I've cooked came to the butcher vacusealed from the packing plant.

I've tried a number of recipes which people swear by, including a complicated braise that starts with a lot of whole vegetables, which are made into broth/gravy in the middle of the cook, and then used to float dumplings around the meat (I think I have the recipe if you want it). I much prefer braising unless it's Texas (Houston) dry (sauceless) barbecue by a master artist, but when feeding the dozens I don't have any desire to be fiddling over dumplings! A whole brisket, or multiple points, at 200-250F, can be 10 hrs. day one, and 8 hrs. day two, in the oven. Just the point is more like 5-6 hrs. total. I don't like any of the brown sugar recipes. The molassas flavor from the sugar is good, but they're way too sweet, no matter which version. Good texture, but hard to eat all that sugar.

So, the recipe everybody loves—loves—comes from the packaged products era, from when the rabbinic councils’ aporoval was on far fewer goods, and using packets with it was a goid choice when one had to use unopened products, inc, spices. It's dead easy, and if you have a whole brisket, just use more. You can also make the same thing from scratch (I have), but who has the time? For the point, up to anout 6 lbs., trim and crosshatch the fat cap and set fat side up in your roaster (a baking dish will work, but the higher sides are better). Spread about 3/4 bottle of Heinz chili sauce thickly over it (use more or less as needed). Sprinkle thickly with leek or onion soup mix. Pour in, without washing off the chili sauce and soup mix topping, a can of caffeine free Coke (the caffeine is bitter, not in a good way, but regular cola is fine, or lemon lime in a pinch, but cola has better color and flavor, and I think it's more acidic). Both the sauce and the cola give you the needed acid and sugar, without overpowering. If the liquid doesn't come up at least halfway, add more coke. If it's up to 3/4 the height of the meat, stop pouring. Save the extra sauce, coke and mix to add later as needed, or after slicing, Again, low oven with an hour at 350 at some point (end to make the meat hotter, beginning to get the fat rendering).

I don’t have my recipe/methods written down, but this is very close …

The dry rub:

https://urbancowgirllife.com/award-winning-texas-brisket-rub-secret-recipe-with-video/#mv-creation-112-jtr

Cooking times:

https://urbancowgirllife.com/how-long-to-cook-a-brisket-at-250/

Her site has lots of great advice if you want a Texas brisket rather than something like a roast.

We used to sometimes take ours to a local bbq place and for a fee, they’d smoke it for us. It was out of this world! Sadly, they changed owners and don’t do that anymore.

ETA: These all sound very tasty! I hope Lars chimes in, too.

Let us know how it goes, bb!

I think my mother used a recipe similar to Maddielee's back in the dark ages when brisket was the cheapest cut you could buy. It was always tasty.

I always smoke my brisket in my electric smoker after injecting with a mixture of coke, whiskey, EVOO, worcestershire sauce, minced garlic, and salt and then letting sit in the frig overnight.

After smoking for 2 hours, I start to spritz it hourly with a mix of Apple cider vinegar, apple juice, EVOO, paprika, S&P and a little water.

Smoke for about 5 hours, wrap in foil, and monitor temp until it reaches 203F. Take off smoker and let rest at least 2 hours before slicing. You can refrigerate it after resting and it is easier to slice thin the next day.

@plllog, the chili sauce doesn’t give it a tomatoey flavor?

DD just sent pictures, including weight, of the 2 chunks of meat. Although they are still frozen, she said it doesn’t appear that either is thin and folded over.

@maddielee, I'll be using ingredients similar to what you use in cooking my brisket. Only difference is a little celery salt.

Over the years, I've smoked hundreds of briskets, most of them in competition. Several things I've learned that may be contrary to what others have posted, but I have the trophies and cash to back up my methods.

First, a whole, packer cut brisket weighs between 18 and 26 pounds. A brisket has two sections: the flat and the point, also called the deckle. If you try to cook them together as a single piece of meat, you will either dry out the flat or undercook the point. Separate them into two pieces and cook them each with a thermometer to measure their progress.

Cook brisket to 206 degrees. It will pause at 165 for a couple of hours. Don't be concerned, this is normal...and frustrating. For the best flavor, cook the two pieces in a throwaway pan so that they're soaking all those juices back in as they cook. I run my smoker at 275 for brisket and use a mix of Royal Oak and hickory chunks.

A brisket is done, when it's done. Cook it early enough so that your guests are not waiting to eat. You can hold a finished brisket, wrapped in foil, in a hot box for hours.

And last but not least...the dry rub:

Boca Boys Brisket Rub - also good for beef ribs

• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano

Re the chili sauce, yes, it's tomato-y. If you said no tomato, I missed it. The top of the fat caramelizes with it and while different in exact flavor, could remind you of well cooked ketchup topping on meatloaf. The juices, however, have some tomato umami but don't tast ketchupy or cola-y, but sweet, salty, oniony and beefy. I make it because everybody loves it. They like the other ones, but not nearly as much.

Re sizes, I know I've been charged for 10 lbs. for a whole brisket, and it's been haded to me in the packer's wrapping, but if it actually weighed twice that I wouldn't say impossible. Hauling it upstairs isn't fun. ;)

I can vouch for the first Ina Garten recipe. The one with the tomato juice and celery is yummy and I have made it numerous times.

Or there's Mexican flavor influences brisket:

Spices: Paprika, powdered chilis, granulated onion, pepper, cumin, Mexican oregano, salt

2 cups enchilada sauce or just whirred up roasted chilis.

Point of brisket

Sliced: couple of average sized onions, couple of starchy tubers (potatoes, sweet potatoes, rutabagas or whatever), couple of long summer squash or equivalent, couple cups of mushrooms (not 'Mexican-y" but good), couple of peaches or pears or other flesh fruit

Chopped: couple of small bell peppers or equivalent

Peeled: head of small clove garlic

Distribute the slices, chopped and peeled in the pan, trim and score the brisket, place on the slices, add spices and sauce as you prefer, sprinkle some of the smaller bits on top. Cook low and slow.

I have one similar to pillog's.

It uses glanorous Campbell's Tomato soup ( some use Tomato Bisque ), a can full of red wine, and a packet of liptons' onion soup mix. Cover the brisket and liquid with foil, and cook for a minimum of 4 hours at 325 but yes, longer is even better . It's delish and it is so tender. This is for a 3 to 4 lb brisket.

I’m so overwhelmed by all the good advice and terrific suggestions. DSIL is going to be in charge of the point. I think I’ve got the flat. I suspect the flavor DSIL will go for will be more like Ricky’s. I want something totally different, so I’ll probably go for the roast-y flavors. And knowing me, I’ll choose a bit from this post, a tad from that post, and a skoosh from the other post. It’ll be fantastic and I’ll never be able to recreate it! 😂

You could always tell your phone what you're doing if you want to have a clue...

I have never made brisket, nor did my Mom. we always had sirloin and filet mignon. But i much prefer a roast flavor to the flavor of steak. Love all these ideas. I am going to try one of these recipes! Long ago I made BBQ chicken with root beer, so I can totally see the Cola idea.

Mother and Daddy often would buy a cow. Daddy and Granddaddy raised hogs and chickens. But I never ever recall having a brisket or even hearing of brisket until I was grown and out of the house. Obviously, I’m not a native Texan.

So I tried to find if there were other names for brisket, and there aren't. But according to one website, a lot of people use brisket to make pot roast, and call the brisket "pot roast". My mother, when she bought beef by the side, didn't make brisket, per se (I got the cola from the neighbors when I was an adult with a wonky oven). But she used chuck for pot roast. I'm not sure what she did with the brisket, but it was probably cut down into small pieces for various recipes. It's a great thing for a lot company because of the toss it in the oven and forget it aspect. My grandmother and aunties did make (bad) brisket in my childhood, however, and there's the pastrami end and the corned beef end, if you're talking deli culture. (Mel Brooks called knishes (much reviled my my non-deli-loving mother) the Jewish Neutron Bomb. Kill all the people and leave the buildings standing.)

What I also learned in looking for other names is that there's a difference between Ricky's "whole packer cut" and my "whole brisket in the packer's wrapper". Two different things. I didn't find a chart of how they were cut differently, but that's what I read on that page.

Wonder if M&D had the brisket ground?

I did not know what a pot roast was until I was in my 20s. Mother never made it. She made ”roast” a couple of times a month, always on Sunday. She would put it in the oven as we were leaving for church. No liquid. Just a chuck roast thrown into one of the blue speckled roasting pans along with some onions, carrots, and potatoes, then slapped in the oven for several hours. It was very hit or miss. Sometimes it was okay and other times it was so tough that you couldn’t eat it.

Mother wasn’t a good cook and she never taught me a thing about cooking. I guess the upside is I didn’t have to unlearn anything.