Here’s what you’ll need:
- Untrimmed beef brisket
- Your favorite rub
- Your favorite sauce
The best part about this, you’ll get delicious brisket out of the deal. Here is the technique I used.
About 12 hours before you plan to smoke, trim the brisket. Remove all but about 1/4″ of the fat. As you trim, be sure to cut out the hard layer of fat that connects the point to the flat. Leave them connected.
Apply the rub. I like to use plain yellow mustard on the meat to help the rub stick. This month, I’m cooking on a Traeger, so I used the Traeger BEEF rub, which is excellent. You can sub any rub you like, or go simple with a 2 to 1 pepper to salt ratio. Many purists will say salt and pepper is all you need. (As a side note, I highly recommend buying a cheap coffee grinder and grinding your own pepper. I find you get more flavor using freshly ground peppercorns.) Once thoroughly coated, wrap in plastic wrap and return to the fridge for up to 12 hours.
Low and slow. Set up your smoker for 225° and let it preheat for about 15 minutes. Add the beef and smoke for around 6-8 hours, until the meat has a nice bark and the internal temp is around 165°. Then wrap the meat. Some use foil. I do, too quite often. This time I used pink butcher paper to try and preserve more of the bark. Back in the smoker for a few more hours to get the temp up over 200°. I shoot for a finish temp of 205°, typically, or until the meat thermometer slides in with little to no resistance.
Here’s where I had to work kinda fast. Before I removed the meat from the smoker, I got two foil pans ready. I took the meat off the smoker, removed the point from the flat and placed each in a separate pan. The flat, I just covered in foil, and placed in a cooler packed with towels to sit for the next few hours. The longer the better. Slice it up when you are ready to serve it.
Now we finally get to the Burnt Ends! Take the point from the other pan and roughly chop it into 1-2″ pieces, and put the pieces back in the pan. Add just enough of your favorite BBQ sauce to give them a stir and a nice coating, then put them back in the smoker for another hour to soak up a bit more smoke and all that great sauce. Trager makes a great Texas Sweet and Spicy sauce that works great with brisket.
Once the hour is up and they are ready to fall apart. Serve them to people you love and people you want to impress. They are awesome!
Check out the selection of Traeger’s and accessories with my friends at
Kimps Ace Hardware
is our sponsor, and they have a great selection of Big Green Egg and Traeger products and accessories. 2548 Glendale Ave, Green Bay. DISCLOSURE: Kimps Ace Hardware has paid to sponsor this blog post and have provided a Traeger smoker for the use of this blog.
