We have moved to wet brining the brisket for 3 days before beginning the smoking. This helps the brisket heat faster, keeps it incredibly moist and infuses the salt right through the beef, but make sure there is no salt in the rub. And using the oven to break the stall after time in the smoker to give the smoke flavour works so well.

The BBQ sauce is really good, there is plenty to have on the side and there will be plenty left over, bottle it and keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks.

SMOKED BRISKET

This video on cooking a brisket is necessary viewing. There are 3 in the series. Cooking brisket with Franklin – 1 of 3. It takes at least 7 hours so have it all ready to go the night before and plan to be up early. My modification uses a sous vide oven (I have a V-Zug) which means that the smoker is only for giving the beef the smoke flavour.

• This is started 2 days before it is needed.

DAY 1 – Wet Brine

Ingredients

• At least a 3 to 4 kg piece of brisket.
• 2 litres cold water
• 130g fine salt
• 65g white sugar

Method

1. PREPARE THE MEAT – Prepare the brisket by removing the big lumps of fat between the muscle (watch the video), neaten up the fat on the top to about 1cm thick and remove some of the blue gristle on the bottom.
2. Dissolve the salt and sugar in a cup of hot water, stirring until fully dissolved.
3. Add the cold water and stir to combine. Make sure the brine is fully cold before using.
4. Place the brisket in a large zip-lock bag or vac seal bag, pour in the brine and remove as much air as possible before sealing. The brine should be in full contact with the meat.
5. Refrigerate for 3 days minimum. 4 days is fine. Turn regularly for those days.
6. Remove the brisket from the brine and scrape off excess moisture with the back of a knife and pat dry with paper towel. Do not rinse.
7. ADD THE RUB – Coat all over with American mustard as a binder, then apply the rub. The meat goes straight from the fridge gets covered in the rub (Karen’s Killer Beef Rub) then cold into the smoker.
8. INTO THE SMOKER –
   1. • Soak the chosen wood chips in water until ready to start smoking
      • Remove the shelves, water dish and smoke tray from the smoker and turn it on to pre-heat.
      • Oil the shelves and place the drained, pre-soaked wood chips in the smoke box and fill the water dish with hot water
      • Lay the meat out on the oiled rack. My meat is sometimes too large for the rack so I hold the rack over the meat with the square corner of the meat aligning with the corner of the rack and cut off the piece that doesn’t fit. This piece can then be rotated and placed on the rack. Put the meat on its rack, the water dish and the smoke box back in the oven.
      • Set the smoker to 120°C. Put the meat thermometer probe into the thick part of the meat and set the alarm for 65°C and shut the door. Expect it to take about 4 hours to reach temperature.
9. At 3 hours, open the smoker and spritz the meat heavily with water. Close  the door and continue cooking. Spritz again if the surface appears to be drying out before the stall (that moment when you realise that the internal temperature of the brisket is no longer going up – it has stalled). A wet-brined brisket may not stall noticeably — the brine changes the protein structure enough that the evaporative cooling effect is reduced. Expect to reach 65–70°C within 4–5 hours.
10. When the meat hits 65–70°C and has a good dark bark, it is ready to wrap. If the bark needs more time leave it a little longer — the temperature will hold while the bark develops. Give the meat a final heavy spritz, then wrap tightly in two layers of wet butcher paper or baking paper. Wet the paper thoroughly before wrapping — this creates a slightly steamy environment inside the wrap that helps push through the stall and keeps the surface moist.
11. INTO THE OVEN – my way is to put the wrapped meat straight into the Combi steam or ordinary oven. Set the oven at 150°C humid, and put a probe into the meat set to 97°C.  The meat will reach temperature and hold there without overcooking. At 97–98°C the collagen has fully converted to gelatine and the meat will be completely tender. The bounce-back test confirms it — press the meat and it should spring back slowly.
12. RESTING AND SERVING – There are two options from here depending on when you want to serve: 
13. Same day: Remove from the oven at 97–98°C. Leave wrapped on the bench until the internal temperature drops to around 60°C — this will take an hour or more and is an important part of the cook. The meat is still working as it rests. Unwrap, slice against the grain about 4mm thick and serve.
14. Next day: Remove from the oven at 97–98°C. Leave wrapped on the bench until the internal temperature drops to around 60°C, then transfer to the fridge overnight still wrapped. The following morning, place in the oven with the probe in and bring back up to 60°C before unwrapping and slicing. Do not hold at 60°C for longer than necessary — an extended hold overnight at 60°C will over-soften the bark and cause the meat to shred rather than slice.

15. CARVING AND SERVING

    Watch the third Franklin video linked above for carving technique. Slice against the grain about 4mm thick. The meat should hold its shape and slice cleanly — if it is shredding it has either been held too long or the collagen broke down further than intended. Still delicious, just serve it pulled rather than sliced.

    Serve with coleslaw, pickled cucumbers, tabbouleh and bread rolls. The BBQ sauce recipe is on the sauces page — it makes a generous batch, bottle the remainder and refrigerate for up to two weeks.

Notes – preparation

Starting cold in the smoker is deliberate — cold meat condenses smoke and absorbs significantly more in the first hour or two before the surface temperature rises.

The brine handles all the salt the meat needs. Do not add any additional salt or seasoned salt under or over the rub — the meat is already seasoned all the way through. Karen’s Killer Beef Rub contains no salt and is the right choice here for exactly this reason.

American mustard as a binder is a classic Texas BBQ technique. It doesn’t survive the cook as a flavour but gives the rub something to grip and helps bark formation.

Apply the rub lightly — a wet-brined brisket doesn’t need a heavy crust to carry flavour. The seasoning is already in the meat.

Fruit woods — plum, apricot, cherry — give a mild, sweet smoke that works particularly well with a Middle Eastern spice rub. Hickory adds a more assertive American BBQ character. Use wood of your choice, or a combination. Most of the smoke is absorbed in the first hour or two — there is no need to keep adding wood after that.

Notes

Wet brining is now the preferred method and makes a significant difference — more even seasoning through the full thickness of the meat, better moisture retention and a noticeably faster cook with little to no stall. See the wet brine recipe above.

Do not add any additional salt to wet-brined meat at any stage. The brine handles all seasoning. Extra salt under or over the rub will make the finished meat unpleasantly salty.

Apply the rub lightly on wet-brined meat. A heavy crust that works well on an unbrined brisket will be overpowering here.

Wood choice makes a real difference to the character of the finished meat. Fruit woods (plum, apricot, cherry) give a delicate sweet smoke. Hickory is more assertive and classic American BBQ. Olive wood is herbal and interesting. Use what you have — subtlety is better than over-smoking.

The overnight hold in the oven at 60°C works well but has a time limit — beyond about 8 hours the bark softens significantly and the meat begins to shred. Rest on the bench to 60°C then refrigerate, and reheat the following day.

• 3rd video of series mentioned above. Slice about 4mm (1/4 inch thick) and serve, again just with coleslaw and pickled beetroot on bread rolls.

BBQ Sauce

• 4 tsp of minced garlic or chopped garlic or garlic powder
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 3 cups tomato sauce
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 4 tsp onion powder
• 4 tsp mustard powder
• 4 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tbs Worcestershire sauce

Put all the ingredients in a bowl, stir together and, spread it over the brisket. Push the brisket into the bowl.

Follow the instructions above.

If not using it on the brisket put the sauce mix into a saucepan and heat, stirring until thickened. Put into a sterilised bottle.