Whole Beef Brisket

By far the most difficult cut of meat to smoke. 

Meat: Costco  |  Rub: LoCoBBQ Bark  |  Equipment: Large BigGreenEgg

Fuel: Fogo Premium  |  Wood: Hickory

Prep Time: 30min  |  Rest Time: Overnight  |  Cook Time: 1-1.5 hrs/lb

Ingredients

Keep it simple.  You may think this is boring, but you want to be able to identify the beef taste.  It should not be overpowered by heavy/thick layers of rub.

Rub:

1/2 Cup Coarse Black Pepper

1/3 Cup Coarse Kosher Salt

1/4 Cup Paprika

1/4 Cup Onion Powder

1/4 Cup Garlic Powder

1/8 Cup Instant Ground Coffee

Basting:

1 Cup Medium Strength Brewed Coffee

Selection

We have found that in the case of a whole brisket, a USDA Prime cut from a grocery or big box store can yield the same end result.

We hear the same things that you do about how much better an organic dry aged brisket is but once the first slice hits the plate it won’t matter where you sourced the brisket.

To give you an idea, we priced a locally sourced organic dry aged brisket at nearly $70 for a 7.5lb brisket. We priced a USDA Prime brisket from Costco at $48 for a 11.6lb.

Smoker Setup

We reviewed a handful of different lump charcoal products here but for long cooks, we typically use Fogo.

We also add un-soaked chunks of Hickory or Mesquite. It really depends on what we have on hand, but prefer Hickory.

We use up the small bits of lump that light quicker and put larger chunks on the outside edge. Alternating the wood chunks around the outside edge.

Smoke

We have used faster methods for Brisket, but settled on a traditional low and slow method which results in a more tender slices from the flat.

Finish 

If you are using a whole brisket (flat and point) you may decide to make Burnt Ends.  In that case, you will wrapping the flat to rest and then using the point to make ends.