It is always a great night when you get to go to sleep after throwing a 12 1/2 pound brisket into the smoker.  I definitely will be having some great dreams tonight.  Unfortunately, it is going to end up being a nightmare.  How can smoking a brisket turn into a nightmare?  Simple, you don't get to eat any of it yourself.  That is right, 12 1/2 pound brisket in the smoker, and I won't even be able eat an ounce of it.  After talking up how good I smoke brisket to some co-workers (all 3 of them I did to date), one of my co-workers hit me up to smoke one for him.  He also tried my pastrami I made last weekend and enjoyed it a lot.  Even though I have to give this brisket up, it won't be all that bad.  Part of enjoying great BBQ is sharing it with others, plus I like hearing the compliments. 

For this brisket, I used the only recipe that I have ever used.  It is a wonderful recipe that I came across on the Cookshack Forums.  If you never have been out there, it is a great place to get advice on great BBQ, even if you don't have a Cookshack smoker.  People there are very friendly and share some really great recipes and techniques.  If it wasn't for these folks, I probably would be clueless when it comes to BBQ.  

This recipe was a grand prize winner in 2000-2001 by Aaron Brooks.  No clue who he his, but he definitely knows his brisket.  The recipe starts with a marinade that you start the night before you plan to BBQ.  Then before you put the brisket in the smoker, you drain the marinade and rub it down with a dry rub.  Smoke it at 225 until you reach your desired temperature (I usually go to 190 - 195) and take it out.  Now the original recipe calls for putting a finishing sauce on the brisket, wrapping it up in aluminum foil, and putting back in the smoker with the temperature at about 150 for an hour.  However, I do this slightly different.  I take the brisket out, place the finishing sauce on the brisket and double wrap it in aluminum foil, wrap a towel around it, and place in a dry cooler for an hour before I slice it up.  Using this method, you can keep the brisket warm for about 4 to 6 hours, so it is great when you are having company, you can plan on finishing in plenty of time before people show up, and if is taking longer then planned, you have some spare time to get it done.  This also works well with other large cuts of meat, like Pork Shoulder for pulled pork (which I will be hopefully blogging about soon).   The following is the recipe I used from the Cookshack Forums:

Marinade (I usually double up on this):

  1. 1/2 C Orange Juice
  2. 1/2 Cup Coke (I use Dr. Pepper, and since I double up, I just dump in a 20 oz bottle of it).
  3. 1 1/2 T Freshly Ground Black Pepper
  4. 1 1/2 T Celery Salt
  5. 1 1/2 T Cinnamon
  6. 1 1/2 T Sea Salt
  7. 1 1/2 T Garlic Pepper
  8. 1 1/2 T Oregano

Rub:

  1. 1 1/2 T Freshly Ground Black Pepper
  2. 1 1/2 T Celery Salt
  3. 1 T Chili Powder
  4. 1 1/2 T Sea Salt
  5. 1 1/2 T Garlic Pepper
  6. 1 1/2 T Oregano

Finishing Sauce (double up on this one too):

  1. 1/4  C Brown Sugar
  2. 1/8  C honey
  3. 1/8 C Orange Juice
  4. 1/8 C Ketchup

For all three different recipes, to prepare you just need to mix the ingredients in a bowl and you are ready to go.  Not much work here, especially when using a Cookshack smoker.  Hopefully the brisket turns out, especially since it is for a co-worker.  Maybe he will bring me some of his leftovers (hint) into work on Monday. <!--[if !vml]-->Laughing<!--[endif]-->

J