If you have a smoker, Smoked Brisket is one of the easiest meats to smoke. It requires very little hands-on time, and is perfect for serving a crowd. The most important thing to remember about smoking a brisket is that the brisket must be large, so that it can be smoked long enough without drying out. Brisket is now quite trendy, and unfortunately, the price of this very tough meat has gone up and it is almost as expensive as tender steak. There are even fairly new restaurant chains that specialize in tender, juicy brisket. Flat briskets generally dry out faster, so it’s a good idea to choose one that is labeled “pointcut” because it has more fat and is thicker than the “flatcut” version. My Cordon Bleu trained chef son worked at a fabulous local barbecue restaurant and said that the briskets they used were 40+ pounds so that they could stay moist during long smoking. Of course you won’t want one that large, since it probably wouldn’t fit in a home smoker and it would be difficult to use it up, even at a big gathering.

You can, of course choose to use your favorite rub; mine (recipe below) is one I developed several years ago and it is a favorite for ribs, brisket, pork loin, and even chicken. There are dozens of commercial rubs on the market if you don’t want to make your own. The secret to getting your brisket extra smoky is to change the wood chips several times during the smoking process and using a maximum amount of wood chips. Also, make sure there is water in the water container in the smoker.

Traditional accompaniments include cornbread, barbecue beans, and coleslaw. For brisket sandwiches, homemade Homemade Barbecue Buns are easily made in the automatic bread machine, or you can use seeded hamburger buns.

24 Servings – more or less depending on the serving size

10 pounds (or more) beef brisket, preferably pointcut
1/2 cup Spicy Dry Rub or your favorite dry rub

1. Dry the beef brisket with paper towels; sprinkle with the dry rub and rub it in with your fingers on both sides of the brisket.
2. Smoke on very low heat 6-8 hours or until very tender, but not dry.
3. Remove from the smoker, wrap in aluminum foil, and let sit 15 minutes (or more) before slicing. Slice across the grain to serve.

Amount Per Serving
Calories 508 Calories from Fat 376
Percent Total Calories From: Fat 74% Protein 25% Carb. 1%

Nutrient Amount per Serving
Total Fat 42 g
Saturated Fat 16 g
Cholesterol 125 mg
Sodium 267 mg
Total Carbohydrate 2 g
Dietary Fiber 0 g
Sugars 0 g
Protein 31 g

Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 0% Calcium 0% Iron 17%

Spicy Dry Rub: Mix the following:
1 1/4 cups white sugar
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup paprika
3 tablespoons cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons onion powder

Store in an airtight container at room temperature.