Smoking Meat (17 page)
Tips for Smoking Beef
Grades of beef
The grading of beef has to do with the amount of intramuscular fat marbling in the meat. As you may know, this fat is very important when smoking meat at a low temperature for a long time. Fat marbling is directly related to flavor and tenderness, and while this may not be as important when smoking brisket, it is extremely important with cuts like prime rib.
In the United States, the top grade is
prime
, which is simply the best—and, of course, the most expensive. The next grade down is
choice
, followed by
select
. Select grade is likely what you are buying at your local grocery store, and it is okay for most purposes. I recommend buying the best you can afford.
Choosing a good brisket
Brisket is naturally tough, requiring many hours of cooking at low heat to become tender. It makes sense to me that the tenderer the brisket when you start, the better it will be when it is finished. For this reason, I recommend taking a few precautions when choosing the brisket you will take home with you.
First and foremost, if you are fortunate enough to find briskets wrapped in plastic alone, you can lay them, one at a time, across the side of your hand to see which has the most bend. The most flexible brisket is going to be the tenderest. Some briskets are sold on Styrofoam trays, which prevent the bend test from being performed.
It is also important to choose a brisket that has not been trimmed and still has a considerable fat cap on the top. The fat cap will render during the cooking session, naturally basting the top of the brisket. Look for a brisket marked as a “packer,” which means that it is the complete untrimmed cut.
Ground beef vs. ground chuck
In the smoked meatloaf recipes in this section, you will see that some call for ground beef while others call for ground chuck. You may be wondering what the difference is, and if it really matters which one you buy. Basically, it’s all about where the meat comes from on the cow and the amount of fat content there is.
Ground beef comes from less desirable parts of the animal, and can even be from trimmings (it must not contain more than 30% fat.) Ground chuck comes from the chuck roast, and is a more popular cut of beef. Typically, it is leaner than ground beef. That said, do not go by the cut to determine how lean the meat is. Rather, go by the written fat content on the package, which is usually labeled as 90/10, 85/15, 80/20, or 73/27. The first number in the ratio is the meat content, and the second number is the fat.
For me, fat equals flavor. It also helps hold the beef together while it cooks. I recommend 80/20 ground beef or ground chuck for meatloaf.
Garlic & Onion Brisket
If you are a garlic and onion freak like me, you will certainly appreciate this tasty rendition of smoked brisket. I used this method to make brisket for years before I decided to try new recipes, but the old way is still my favorite for smoking a brisket that is melt-in-your-mouth good.
RECOMMENDED WOOD
Mesquite
ESTIMATED COOK TIME
10½ to 13½ hours (1½ hours per pound)
SERVES
8
7 to 9 lb packer (untrimmed) brisket
1 recipe Garlic & Onion Paste
1 cup
Jeff’s Mop Water
¼ cup barbecue sauce (optional)
PREPARATION
Rinse the brisket and pat dry with a paper towel. Place the brisket fat side up in a large pan or bowl, and cover it completely with the Garlic and Onion Paste. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 10 to 12 hours or overnight.
About one hour before smoking, take the brisket out of the refrigerator and allow it to come up to room temperature.
SMOKING
Prepare your smoker for a long cooking session at 225°
F
to 240°
F
. If you are using a gas, an electric, or a charcoal smoker, be sure to have enough wood chips or chunks to produce smoke for about six hours.
Once the smoker is ready, remove the brisket from the pan or bowl and place it directly on the smoker grate, fat side up. After four hours of smoke cooking, begin mopping the brisket every one and a half hours with the mop water. At every mopping, flip the brisket to the opposite side (fat cap up, fat cap down, etc.). Also at the four-hour mark, insert a digital probe meat thermometer into the side of the brisket so that the thermometer remains intact regardless of whether the meat is fat side up or down. Anytime after about 10 hours, feel free to brush on your favorite barbecue sauce to add some amazing flavor to the crust.
Smoke cook the brisket for about one and a half hours per pound, or until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 195°
F
. Once the brisket is finished cooking, remove it from the smoker grate and allow it to rest for 30 minutes to allow the juices to redistribute throughout the meat. Slice the brisket across the grain into ¼- to ½-inch-thick pieces and serve with warm barbecue sauce on the side.
Garlic & Onion Paste
This paste is made especially for my famous Garlic & Onion Brisket (previous page). I like to brush or spoon the paste all over the top and sides of the brisket about 10 to 12 hours before smoking it (or the night before). This allows time to impart a lot of garlic and onion flavors to the meat. I then place the brisket directly on the smoker without rinsing off the paste for a flavor that is out-of-this-world good.
MAKES
about 1 cup
1 large onion, roughly chopped
8 cloves garlic
¼ cup coarsely ground black pepper
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
Combine the ingredients in a food processor or blender and purée to a fine paste.
Smoked Brisket Fajitas
Ever get tired of eating plain smoked brisket? Okay, I don’t either, but here is a good way to use leftover brisket in an entirely different way. We really enjoy this recipe as a family, and I find myself smoking a whole brisket specifically for the fajitas. Smoked chicken or pulled Pork are also wonderful fajita fillings.
ESTIMATED COOK TIME
20 minutes
SERVES
5
5 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 red bell peppers, julienned
1 small red onion, julienned
1 large jalapeño pepper, seeded and thinly sliced lengthwise
4 cups chopped or pulled smoked brisket (See
Garlic & Onion
or
Pan-Smoked
)
Ten 8-inch flour tortillas
2 cups shredded lettuce
2 cups
Perfect Pico de Gallo
1 cup sour cream
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Heat 3 Tbsp of the oil in a pan set over medium-high heat. Sauté the bell peppers, onion, and jalapeño until soft and the onions are translucent. Add the chopped or pulled brisket and continue to sauté for two more minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 Tbsp of oil in a frying pan set over medium-high heat. Fry the tortillas one at a time until golden brown on both sides, turning once (about 15 seconds per side). Drain on paper towels.
Place the brisket mixture, tortillas, shredded lettuce, pico de gallo, sour cream, and shredded cheddar cheese in separate bowls and allow everyone to build their own fajitas.
Pan-Smoked Brisket
While brisket is normally smoked directly on the grate, pan smoking is a method I have been using for a long time to produce a tenderer and juicier brisket, since the meat sits in its own juices while it smokes. I like to flip the brisket a few times during the first half of the smoking session to make sure the smoke flavors both sides of the meat. I must tell you that with this method, due to the steaming effect, the outside of the brisket stays quite tender during the entire process, and very little of the brown crust we call bark forms on the outside of the meat. This is not a problem for me, but it may be a deal-breaker for some.
RECOMMENDED WOOD
Mesquite
ESTIMATED COOK TIME
10½ to 13½ hours (1½ hours per pound)
SERVES
8
7 to 9 lb packer (untrimmed) brisket