Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beef

Brisket is a tough meat to master for many competition and backyard cooks. You may or may not have noticed that brisket can have different grades from the USDA.  Below are the grades you may run into and a quick course in the differences.

Select Grade: This is the second lowest grade of brisket I have seen available. There are lower grades such as standard, cutter, etc.  These cuts contain the least amount of fat and will be firmer. Do not use these in competitions if you can avoid it. These are usually seen in grocery stores.

Choice Grade: This is the most common grade you will see and the most used grade in competition. Sam’s, Costco, and many butchers will carry these.  They will have more marbling than select and standard.  It is very important use the basic factors such as size, thickness, marbling and feel to find the correct choice brisket. They all may be labeled Choice, but some are clearly better.

Prime:  This is actually a choice brisket that has received the highest mark of the choice cuts. Typically they will have a little more marbling and will have a softer feel to them.  If you keep your eyes peeled, they are often mixed in with the Choice grades  at Sam’s and Costco. Look fat side of the packaging and you will see a USDA Prime stamp. You can talk to the butcher and the above resources and they can order prime for you.

Wagyu- Referred to as the American Kobe beef.  The USDA does not grade Wagyu.  It’s actually a different breed of cow originating from Japan and uses a different grading system. The Kobe breed of cattle used in these cuts produce a well-marbled brisket. The biggest deterrent is price. They can be up to 5x the price of the above briskets, and often you have to pay a hefty shipping cost as they need to ship refrigerated. We cooked a few of these and they produce a slightly different taste and seem to cook faster. If you can cook them correctly, they are just fine. However, reports of low scores using Wagyu are common, due to unfamiliarity of the judges and the difficulty to cook.

CAB Certified Briskets:  Beef branded as Certified Angus Beef® has a higher amount of marbling and an exceptionally tender, juicy flavor. Only some USDA Prime beef and top grades of USDA Choice beef are sold under this brand name.

Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beef

• 1 – Large Brisket (about 12 – 14 lbs)

Basic Directions

• Heat Smoker using favorite rig and fuel source
• Trim brisket
• Rub brisket with Lipton’s Beefy Onion Soup Mix and fresh ground black pepper
• Smoke @ 230 degrees F 8 hrs
• Remove brisket from smoker, placing on 2 large foil sheets
• Wrap brisket with 2 cups mop sauce, recipe follows
• Smoke @ 230 degrees F for an additional 4 – 6 hours
• Remove brisket and place in a cooler

Detailed Directions 

Remove most of the fat from a whole brisket, leaving only 1/4 inch to help preserve the juiciness during the cooking process.  Gently remove the membrane from the meat side of the brisket as it allows you to (this can be tough).  Hand rub brisket with all the contents of 4 packets (2 boxes) of Lipton’s Beefy Onion Soup Mix and then generously cover with fresh ground pepper. Start the smoking process!

Smoke the brisket for 8 hours, or until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees.

After 8 hours, brisket should be almost black.  This blend of smoke and rub forms a crunchy exterior called ‘bark.’  To ensure brisket turns out tasty and tender, wrap each brisket in a double layer of aluminum foil and pour 2 cups of Mop Sauce over brisket. Seal foil tightly and return to smoker @ 225 degrees F for 4 – 6 hours or until internal temperature reaches 190 degrees.

Remove brisket from smoker and place in a cooler or oven for at least 30 minutes and up to 4 hours.

Remove brisket from foil and let rest 15 minutes.

Slice, against the grain,  just before serving to preserve juiciness. Save the ‘burnt ends’ for yourself, they’re the best part!

What to drink: Lots of Beer

Mop Sauce:

• 1 cup of Apple Juice
• 1 cup of Coke

Ingredients:

- (1) 12 lb Brisket
- 1 12 oz can of Coca-Cola
- 1 cup of Apple Juice
- Your favorite  Brisket rub seasoning (lots available, to see the ones we win with go here http://www.bbqrevolution.com/ )

Get your Rig of Choice fired up: For this cook, I will utilize the Weber Smokey Mountain (bullet smoker).

The WSM is a fine choice. Grab some hickory chunks and let's get started!!

Step 1. Unwrap and trim brisket.

You can tap the fat areas and if it feels solid, it needs to be trimmed. you will notice 2 major areas of the brisket where you need to trim every time. The are located in the point. One is on top and the other is in the thickest side of the point. These are large fat “wedges” that need to be removed. Some folks trim off the fat cap, I am not a big fan of that. The cap will provide the brisket with moisture and taste as the fat renders and is absorbed into the meat. I also trim of meat on the sides that appears brown.

Inject sites are 1 inch apart. Note: Puddling can be seen in this pic

Step 3. Apply a thin coat of mustard over the brisket. This will act as a binding agent to hold the rub on the brisket throughout the cook.

Step 4. Apply a generous amount of rub on the brisket. It is of this Pitmasters opinion you cannot over-season a brisket. That said, don’t get in a contest to see how much seasoning you can get on your brisket. Use you common sense.

Logan’s note: Some of you pros will appreciate this one: It is not necessary to season the fat cap of the brisket yet… since you will cook the brisket Fat side up, you can season the fat cap after putting the brisket on your rig.

Step 5: Place the brisket on the smoker fat side up and season the fat cap if you have not yet. You will notice you can really get a good amount of seasoning on with this method. As the fat cap renders, this seasoning will absorb into the brisket with the rendered fat.

Pitmaster tip: Wait to season the fat cap until it's on smoker, if you can. You will hold more seasoning.

Step 6. Cook the brisket until internal temp reaches 160 degrees.

Step 7. Re-season and wrap the brisket in heavy duty foil. Many briskets, and pork butts for that matter, seem to hit a wall at this temperature and cook slowly, jeopardizing your turn in time. This will also seal all the juices inside the foil, making for a nice, juicy brisket nearly every time.

Re-season the Brisket

use heavy duty foil

Step 8. Cook brisket to 195 degrees.

Step 9. Keep in foil and let brisket sit for 1/2 hour to 3 hours. A brisket will stay tender for that long, maybe longer. Ideally, for a competition, try to keep this time as close to an hour as possible. The brisket absorbs a portion of the juices in foil. Take it out right away and you will have a dry brisket.

Step 10. Slice against the grain and enjoy!!!!!

Pics of the final product are all posted here!

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