SERVES 18 TO 24
Cooking a whole brisket, which weighs about 10 pounds, may seem like overkill. However, the process is easy, and the leftovers keep well in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. (Leave leftover brisket unsliced, and reheat the foil-wrapped meat in a 300-degree oven until warm.) Still, if you don’t want to bother with a big piece of meat or if your grill has fewer than 400 square inches of cooking space, see the variation for Barbecued Half Beef Brisket (recipe follows). No matter how large or small a piece you cook, it’s a good idea to save the juices the meat gives off while in the oven to enrich the barbecue sauce. If you’d like to use wood chunks instead of wood chips when using a charcoal grill, substitute 2 medium wood chunks, soaked in water for 1 hour, for the wood chip packet. You can either use store-bought barbecue sauce or our Quick Barbecue Sauce in this recipe.
¼ |
cup paprika |
2 |
tablespoons chili powder |
2 |
tablespoons ground cumin |
2 |
tablespoons salt |
2 |
tablespoons dark brown sugar |
1 |
tablespoon granulated sugar |
1 |
tablespoon ground oregano |
1 |
tablespoon ground black pepper |
1 |
tablespoon ground white pepper |
2 |
teaspoons cayenne pepper |
1 |
(9- to 11-pound) whole beef brisket, fat trimmed to ¼ inch |
2 |
cups wood chips |
3 |
cups barbecue sauce, warmed |
1. Combine paprika, chili powder, cumin, salt, brown sugar, granulated sugar, oregano, black pepper, white pepper, and cayenne in bowl. Rub brisket thoroughly with spice mixture. Wrap brisket in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 2 days.
2. Just before grilling, soak wood chips in water for 15 minutes, then drain. Using large piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil, wrap soaked chips in foil packet and cut several vent holes in top.
3A. FOR A CHARCOAL GRILL: Open bottom vent halfway. Light large chimney starter half filled with charcoal briquettes (3 quarts). When top coals are partially covered with ash, pour into steeply banked pile against side of grill. Place wood chip packet on coals. Set cooking grate in place, cover, and open lid vent halfway. Heat grill until hot and wood chips are smoking, about 5 minutes.
3B. FOR A GAS GRILL: Remove cooking grate and place wood chip packet directly on primary burner. Set grate in place, turn all burners to high, cover, and heat grill until hot and wood chips are smoking, about 15 minutes. Turn primary burner to medium and turn off other burner(s). (Adjust primary burner as needed to maintain grill temperature around 275 degrees.)
4. Clean and oil cooking grate. Place brisket, fat side up, on cooler side of grill. Cover (position lid vent over meat if using charcoal) and cook for 2 hours without removing lid.
5. During final 20 minutes of grilling time, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Assemble 4 by 3-foot rectangle of heavy-duty aluminum foil by piecing two, 4-foot-long pieces of foil together and folding over edges two or three times to seal.
6. Remove brisket from grill, place lengthwise in center of foil, then fold and crimp edges of foil together to completely seal brisket. Place brisket on rimmed baking sheet and cook in oven until meat is fork-tender, 3 to 3½ hours.
7. Remove brisket from oven, loosen foil at one end to release steam, and let rest for 30 minutes. Unwrap brisket and transfer to carving board, pouring any meat juices into fat separator. Separate meat into two sections and slice each thinly on bias against grain. Stir 1 cup of defatted juices into barbecue sauce, and serve with brisket.