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Houston Texans=Brisket

houston texans logo top left, green bay packer logo bottom right

As I’ve stated in a previous post, when it comes to making tailgate food, I really enjoy making food from the opponent’s hometown/state. It isn’t really an ode to them or anything, it is just fun for me to expand my cooking prowess. It really forces me to go outside of my comfort zone…which is so fun! I figured what a perfect way to do this with the Houston Texans in town for some scrimmages and a preseason game against the Packers! On top of that, I am getting one of those main BBQ meats done…BRISKET!

sliced brisket on wood board, drizzled with bbq sauce

Brisket: A Tail On How It Is Done

The Cut

Let’s start off with where the brisket is! The Brisket is on the front end of the cow, located below the neck and above the legs. It’s kind of their chest. The funny thing about this cut is the fact that it is not a very good cut of meat. It is fairly tough and has A LOT of connective tissue. Hence the need to cook it the way you do.

silhouette of cow showing different cuts of meat

The Prep

Once the decision to cook a brisket is decided, you have to know what to ask for and how to trim it! Jump in the 4 wheeled beater of yours and run yourself down to a local butcher shop and ask for some brisket. Now, do you want an entire brisket or just the flat? If you have the time (12 hours minimum), grab the entire brisket. If you’re like me and don’t have all the time in the world, have them cut the flat for you, but make sure they leave some fat on it!

diagram of whole brisket

Once you’re back on your way home with your new found love, trim up the fat cap to about 1/8-to-1/4″. After the trim, season, season, season! I personally used:
1/8 c. Black Pepper
1/8 c. Salt
1 tbsp. Garlic Powder
1 tbsp. Onion Powder

1 tbsp. Sugar
Make sure you season every part! Get into the nooks and cranny’s, season the sides, and when you think you’re done, season a tiny bit more. Wrap your seasoned Brisket with foil, place into a pan, and refrigerate over night.

seasoned brisket before cooked

Check Out These Other Smoked Meats! Click the link above!

The Cook

According to Franklin BBQ, (probably the best place to get Brisket in the entire world!), at 250F your meat will take about 1 hour to an hour and 15 minutes per pound. This bad boy was right around 6 pounds and they were pretty much spot on!

smoked brisket

The Dreaded Stall

As shown in a previous picture, there is a fat cap that runs through the middle of the flat. It is perfect for flavor but not so perfect for cooking. Once that fat really begins to render, the stall happens. This is when you sit and watch your beautiful meat continue to rise towards the goal internal temperature (203F!!), then out of no where (usually between 150-170F) it stops dead in it’s tracks. You have a few choices when this happens:
1) If you have the patience, time is the best idea. It will eventually start going back up.
2) Turn smoker from 250F to 300F.
3) Wrap in either foil or butchers paper, place back on smoker. Pull at 203F.

Once your meat reaches 203F, pull, and if not wrapped, wrap in foil and rest for 1 hour minimum. I REPEAT, ONE HOUR MINIMUM!

Check Out This Beer Pizza Dough with BBQ Brisket On Top!

To sum it up, the Packers are playing the Texans and Brisket is from Texas. I enjoy cooking things from my team’s opponents hometown/state. Brisket takes a long to time to cook. It tastes good. Nailed that post!

**BEER PAIRING**

Night Rye’d

Company Brewing

Click Picture For Full Review!

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