"Oven Barbecued" Beef Brisket

This is a revision and re-post of my oven-barbecued brisket recipe that I originally published in 2009, because many perfections have been made over the last decade or so.  I've discovered after all this time that simplification of preparation and use of ingredients has yielded better results.

You may think that "oven barbecue" is an oxymoron, and you would be correct. Barbecue means slow cooking over relatively low heat during a long period of time with intermittent use of smoke, mostly hickory but cherry and apple woods are not uncommon.  Barbecue cooked indoors in an oven without smoke isn't technically barbecue.

I grew up on Texas barbecue, which primarily consists of brisket, sausage and in the last few decades, pork spare ribs.

I have lived in Memphis, where pork spare ribs are the rule.  I have lived in North Carolina where pork shoulder, or "pulled pork" is the standard barbecue bill of fare.  I've also lived in California where they cook a cut of beef from the bottom of the sirloin, referred to as the tri-tip, over an open fire and call that barbecue.  It isn't. Technically, that's grilling.

I've also spent a good deal of time on business in St. Louis and Kansas City. 

To any barbecue aficionado, these locations represent compass points within the barbecue universe. Each region has its merits, but I have to go back to my roots, which is Texas-style barbecue brisket.

All barbecue babble aside, there just isn't anything finer than a barbecue beef brisket. The problem is that it is a tedious and time consuming task. Tending a fire, regulating the heat and creating the smoke for what could generally be a ten to twelve hour stretch or longer is a lot more time and effort than I'm willing to spend for a meal or two or three. I've done it, and it's fun. But I look for more automation in my advancing years. So, I've spent the better part of two decades trying to perfect an "oven barbecued" beef brisket recipe.  This is it.

If you're a barbecue snob, I know, this is heresy. You'd say, "There is no way that an oven-cooked brisket can approximate the wonder of a smoke-infused, wood-fired, 'true' barbecued brisket." 

Yes, and twenty-five years ago, I would have said the same thing. But wisdom comes with age.

I challenge anyone to tell me that this brisket doesn't rival those that come out of a hickory wood smoker. No, you will not get the bona fide "smoke ring" that comes from hours of tending to a fire, but it's the flavor and tenderness of the meat, and even the "bark" - or crust - that closely approximates the taste of true barbecue brisket. And frankly, sometimes the ill-trained and poorly schooled can ruin a good brisket, even in some otherwise respectable barbecue joints. 

I use the "packer's cut" of a brisket, which is the whole beef brisket consisting of the two attached muscles referred to as the first cut, or the "flat," and the second cut, called the "point" or the "deckle."  The flat is leaner, rectangular in shape and more or less of consistent thickness; the point is fattier, thicker and comes to a rounded point at one end, hence its name.

Grocery store butchers frequently separate the two muscles, trim out much of the fat and sell them separately.  The flat is what I call "Jewish Brisket" as it is the preferred cut for Jewish holiday fare or for corned beef.  The point, on the other hand, is preferred for smoking and serving as pulled brisket for sandwiches.  Neither of those are my preference.  I want the whole brisket that comes from the breast of the animal, untrimmed and slow roasted.  One side of the brisket will have a thick (about 1/8") covering of fat, called the "blanket," that isn't to be trimmed.  This is what gives the final product its tenderness and flavor.  If you have any aversion to eating the fat, trim it away at your dinner plate or as you're slicing and serving it.  But otherwise, leave the blanket intact so it can do its job while the meat is roasting. Personally, I think the fat is succulent and delicious, even if my cardiologist would cringe at the thought.

After more than two decades and trying a variety of spice rubs and sauces, I've come down to two ready-made products that give me everything.  One is called Woody's Cook-in' Sauce that starts the process.  Slather this all over the brisket at least two hours prior to cooking and you're giving the meat all that it needs to absorb the flavor and begin to create the delicious crust, the bark, of the brisket.

The second product from the Stubb's line of barbecue products is called Moppin' Sauce.  This goes on the meat in three applications over the final three hours of cooking.  It becomes deliciously caramelized and strengthens the flavor and depth of the bark.

These two products, along with a simple braising liquid using beer, vinegar and liquid smoke, and a couple of Texas-1015 sweet onions, are all you need - besides time - to produce the best non-barbecued barbecued beef brisket you can get without tending to a hickory fire all day long.

I'm also providing a recipe for a homemade, low-sugar barbecue sauce.  Like any good Texas barbecue, the sauce is served on the side after serving.  If you prefer not to make this sauce, then any barbecue sauce of your liking will do, however, I think Stubb's makes the best barbecue sauce on the market.

 

Ingredients
For the Brisket
untrimmed "packers cut" beef brisket to fit in a large 4” deep roasting pan (10 - 12 lbs)
Woody's Cook-in' Sauce
1/4 cup liquid smoke (like, Colgin or Stubb's)
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 12-oz beers (any kind will do)
Stubb's Moppin’ Sauce
2 sweet onions, sliced in rings (like Vidalia or Texas 1015)
non-stick cooking spray (like, Pam)

Ingredients
For the Sauce
2 14.5 oz cans petite diced tomatoes (like, Hunt's)
1 small yellow or red onion, finely diced
1 7.5-oz can Coke Zero or Diet Coke
1 5.5-oz can tomato paste (like, Hunt's)
1 5.5-oz can V-8 Juice "Spicy Hot"
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup prepared yellow mustard (like, French's)
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
1/4 cup sugar-free or no sugar added orange marmalade (like, Polaner All-Fruit)
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp minced garlic
1-½ tbsp chili power
1 tbsp Ancho chili powder
3 table packets Splenda
1/2 tbsp liquid smoke

Make the sauce ahead of time:
I think it tastes better after it has rested at least overnight in the refrigerator, so I suggest you make the sauce a day or two in advance. Because of the high acidity of this homemade sauce, it will keep for a while, but like anything else not loaded with a bunch of chemical preservatives, be careful how long you hang onto it. You might want to put a date on it, and I don't think it should be around for more than a couple of weeks. It does freeze well, however, so that's the way to make a large batch and keep it handy. Just mix all the ingredients in a deep sauce pan, bring to a boil and allow to simmer for thirty minutes. Stir often to prevent sticking or burning. Allow to cool thoroughly and then pour the sauce in batches into a blender. Blend for one minute or longer on high speed so the sauce is thick and smooth, with no lumps. Do not attempt to blend this mixture while it is still hot.

Now, the main event:
Plan on an hour per pound in high altitudes or 50 minutes per pound if you're closer to sea level, so budget your time accordingly. Preheat your oven setting to 350F degrees. If you live in high altitudes above 5,000 feet, pre-heat the oven to 375F degrees.

Take your brisket out of the refrigerator two hours before you're ready to cook it.  Remove it from its Cryovac packaging, dry it off with paper towels, then slather on liberal amounts of Woody's Cook-in' Sauce over all surfaces of the meat: top, bottom and sides.

Spray your roasting pan with Pam; layer your onion rings in the bottom of pan. Place the brisket on top of onions, fat (or blanket) side up.

Mix the liquid smoke, vinegar and beer. Pour this liquid mixture in the roasting pan around the brisket. Lay heavy duty aluminum foil on top of the roasting pan and create a tight fit.

With three hours left to cook the brisket, remove the pan from the oven and take off the foil, being careful to avoid steaming your fingers. Lower the oven heat by 25 degrees. Baste the exposed surface of the meat with Stubb's Moppin' Sauce.  Baste again with two hours left to go, and then with one hour left to go.  You will notice that the sauce will have caramelized to a dark mahogany color with a crust - or bark - formed over the blanket.

When the brisket is done, remove it from the pan to a cutting board and cover with foil. Let the brisket rest for 15 - 20 minutes before carving. Discard the braising liquid and all remnants from the roasting pan.

Cut thick slices across the grain and serve along side your chosen BBQ Sauce. Start from side of the brisket with the the highest spot and you'll be slicing across both the point and the flat of the meat.

Brisket freezes well, but my suggestion is to put meal-sized portions of brisket in the freezer while the meat is still warm. Wrap it tightly in aluminum foil and then into a freezer zip-lock bag being sure to squeeze out as much air as possible.

When you are ready for some brisket down the road, thaw the meat in its existing wrappings. When thawed, remove the aluminum foil, cut the brisket down to serving-size slices in a baking or casserole dish with sliced fresh tomatoes and sliced yellow or sweet onions in-between each slice of meat. You can drizzle a little Moppin' Sauce or even some barbecue sauce over the top.  Cover and put in a 350 degree oven for an hour or until the meat is warmed through. The sliced tomatoes and onions will wilt and their water content will keep the brisket from getting dried out as it comes back to temperature. They also are a delicious accompaniment.