We’re throwing a Saturday night Southern-style feast at our place. We’ve got a few great surprises in store for our guest including 8-9 hour smoked beef brisket , Southern baked beans, Brett’s famous biscuits, corn on the cob, potato salad and to top it off, Heather’s pecan pie. There’s so much to do and prepare, I had to start the blog entry well before we even stoked the fire!
For the brisket itself I wandered down the road to my buddies at “The Butcher” – As always, Peter and Jack were there with big smiles eagerly awaiting our stories and of course our next blog installment. For their part I can’t recommend these guys highly enough. Meat is expensive in Singapore but quality meat is well worth it! These guys are fantastic at what they do and most importantly, they treat their customers better than any other butcher I’ve ever gone to. So guys… Ta, this brisket is going to be awesome!
The brisket itself is a five pounder with the fat cap on!
Now let’s move onto the 19 spice rub (Colonel Sanders, eat your heart out!) Always, always, always make your own as the store-bought stuff is expensive and not nearly as much fun as making your own. Here are the steps in creating your brisket rub:
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
2 teaspoon basil
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon thyme
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon dill
1 teaspoon marjoram
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon rosemary
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon anise seed
1 teaspoon cumin seed
1 teaspoon coriander seed
1 teaspoon fennel seed
1 teaspoon mustard seed
1 tablespoon Kosher salt (additional)
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
I mixed up all this lovely stuff on Thursday afternoon and let it sit in my trusty rub dispenser. It wasn’t until Friday that I poured the rub mix into my spice grinder and pummeled the mix into a fine powder. This helped the rub adhere to the brisket really nicely and the smell was unlike any other rub I’ve put together. I’m really looking forward to the result! Check out these shots…
Once I coated the brisket entirely in this crazy rub I wrapped the brisket tightly in cling film and popped it in the fridge. 24 hours should let all that rub penetrate nice and deep into the tissue.
Onto the main event! Remove your brisket from the fridge (after more than 24 hours) and let it get up to room temperature. In Singapore, that doesn’t take long at all! Once done, unwrap that beauty and give it a good look as in the next one hour, it will transform into a piece of art!
Make sure your grill is up and running. I filled the Egg all the way up to the top to avoid any chance of running out of fuel. I also added a mixture of hickory and mesquite chips that had been soaking for about 2 hours. Wooosh and we were lit and ready to go. I let the fire settle down for about 40 minutes before we put the grid on. At this point, you want direct heat, that is, right over the flame/heat at 275 degrees F. Once everything was stabilized it was time to put the brisket down for her first half hour. Before I did that though, I scored the fat cap in a nice criss-crossed design, this will help render the fat and it looks nice in the end.
First half hour and then flip the brisket for another 30 minutes. Honestly, it looks good enough to tuck into just now but we must restrain! After the hour is up, remove the brisket, dawn your heafty gloves and remove the grid. Add your plate setter to create an indirect heat source then return the grid on top. Adjust your baffles and bring the temperature down to a balmy 225 degrees F. Return the brisket and set your timer for 6 hours! Grab a beer and write a blog entry!
So about 4 1/2 hours into the slow cook my temperature started to creep up. I caught it at 300 degrees F and climbing. Nothing had changed so I’m guessing that more of the lump charcoal had ignited or started to burn hotter. Either way, I bled off some of the excess heat and now back down to 225 F for the remaining time left. I’ve also got the cooler ready to host a wrapped and toweled brisket once it comes off the grill.
So fast forward a few hours and fill your house with guests. The usual suspects like Barbara and Brett were here and our new pals De & Adam! Thanks for coming over guys and being our guinea pigs! I pulled the covered brisket out of the cooler and onto the chopping board. All eyes fixed on the target, it looked like a charred piece of wood more than a succulent brisket. However, the knife cut effortlessly through the outer “bark” only to reveal tender, stringy, moist and juicy beef inside. The rub was a huge success and though I personally think there are a few areas to improve upon, for a first time brisket, this was a 100% success! To quote our southern brother from Oklahoma…”you nailed this one out of the park!”
Thanks for the beans, biscuits, potato salad, corn and all that wine. Of course I can’t thank Heather enough for the BEST pecan pie ever. One day she’ll share that recipe.
Happy times!
PS – Morning after addition – I just cut up what was left of the brisket end and OMG, it’s incredible. Kind of a mixture between brisket, jerky and a smoked pastrami – just plain beef love… We’re on to something here! Check out the shot of this yummy wee beastie!
Overall Heather Rating: 7/10