BBQ Brisket - BBQ Beef Brisket Texas Style

If you love bbq brisket and you have a few hours, this is the BBQ beef brisket recipe you've been looking for.

A whole beef brisket is slathered with a dry rub then basted with seasoned bbq sauce.

It goes into a very low oven and comes out 6 to 8 hours later a tender, juicy and richly flavored piece of BBQ beef brisket.

It can then be sliced for dinner or sandwiches or pulled apart with forks and served on toasted buns with a well-seasoned BBQ sauce.

This is not a difficult BBQ brisket to make. It just takes a while.

I highly recommend that you take the extra step to find the black strap molasses called for in the recipe for the sauce to give it that true Texas taste.

Double up on the dry rub mixture and keep it in the pantry. It will last indefinitely. You can double the recipe for the barbecue sauce as well. It lasts a week in the refrigerator and freezes well for several months.

Once you try them you'll probably want to have some of both on hand to dress up everything else from meat loaf to hamburgers. It's not just for BBQ Brisket

Texas BBQ Brisket

5 pounds beef brisket - the whole piece, untrimmed.
5 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon granulated garlic
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin

2 cups barbeque sauce - your favorite brand or your own
2 tablespoons black strap molasses
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
1 tablespoon dry rub, from above
1/2 cup water

Make the rub: Combine the paprika, kosher salt, black pepper, brown sugar, chili powder, granulated garlic, onion powder and the ground cumin. Set aside 1 tablespoon of this rub for use in making the barbecue sauce.

Put the brisket in a pan or baking dish large enough to hold it. Sprinkle the dry rub all over both sides then gently rub it in with your hands - wear latex gloves if you have a reaction to chili powder.

Make sure all surface areas are coated with the spices, then cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 250F.

Make the basting barbecue sauce: Heat the olive oil in a medium sauce pan and sauté the jalapenos a few moments, then add the barbecue sauce and whisk in the black strap molasses, cider vinegar and the reserved tablespoon of dry rub.

Simmer the sauce for about three minutes, then divide it in half - pour one half into a small container, cover it and refrigerate. This is the barbecue sauce you will serve with the brisket. Add the 1/2 cup water to the other half of the sauce - this is the basting, or "mopping" sauce.

Remove the brisket from the refrigerator and baste both sides with some of the basting sauce. Turn the brisket so that the fat side is up - as it slowly melts, it will keep the meat moist.

Cover the pan with aluminum foil and roast the brisket for 4 to 6 hours, until it is fork tender. Baste it every 30 minutes or so with the basting sauce. As the fat melts and combines with the meat juices, baste the beef brisket with these juices as well as the basting sauce.

When the brisket has finished roasting, remove it to a cutting board and let it sit for about 15 minutes, covered with the foil.

Pour the pan juices into a small container and skim the fat from the top. Cut the brisket into long thin slices, cutting against the grain. Put the slices on a warmed platter, pour over the pan juices and serve warm.

Serves 10 to 12

Food For Thought - Omit the jalapenos and olive oil if you are not a fan of hot chilies

Good To Know - This barbecued brisket freezes well, as does the sauce. Consider slicing only half the brisket for your dinner, and then freeze the other half unsliced, along with half the pan juices and barbecue sauce. Thaw it out in the refrigerator over night, and then gently reheat it in a low oven with the remaining pan juices.

On Your Own - This whole brisket makes great picnic fare, especially if you have a crowd to feed.

Pre-slice the BBQ brisket and whisk together the pan juices and barbecue sauce to serve alongside. The sliced brisket should stay warm wrapped in aluminum foil, and would go great with hamburger buns for a juicy BBQ Brisket sandwich.