Taste of Dallas Brisket Tips

Pitmaster, Matt Pittman, from Meat Church BBQ stopped by to show us what we can expect today and tomorrow at Taste of Dallas. He also shared his best tips for making the perfect brisket.

Ingredients

1 12 lb whole packer brisket (Choice grade or higher)
1 cup coarse ground pepper
1 cup sea salt
1/4 cup granulated garlic
1/4 cup onion powder
1/4 cup paprika

For simplicity, use our award winning Holy Cow rub or following the diirections or  mix all the above brisket rub ingredients in a large mixing bowl. This mix will make more than you need for 1 brisket. Store the remainder in an airtight container.

Trim the excess fat and silver skin off the top of the brisket. Also, remove any "hard" pieced of fat as they will not render off during the cooking process. Trim the fat off the bottom of the brisket only leaving ¼ in fat. Apply rub to all sides of the meat liberally ... I mean liberally! Cover the brisket and place in the refrigerator to marinate overnight.

Set the smoker at 250°F.

Place the brisket in the EGG fat-side down ... this is my preference, but highly debated in the barbecue world. Fat-up is fine if that is your preference, but fat down is what competitors do as it give you a much better presentation. When the meat reaches an internal temperature of 160°F/71°C, double wrap the brisket in non-waxed butcher paper or aluminum foil ... this is what we call the Texas crutch. The bark will have formed nicely by this point.

Continue to smoke the brisket until the meat is "probe tender" which means when you probe it there is no resistance. Think of a toothpick in a cake. Each piece of meat is different but this will likely be between an internal temperature of 200 to 202°F/. Remove the brisket from the smoker, wrap in a towel and place in a cooler for at least one hour. This will allow the juices to re-distribute in the meat. Unwrap the brisket and slice against the grain.