Oven Baked Beef Brisket (Serves 4-6 people)
My favorite way to make and eat brisket is to smoke it. But since many folks don’t have a smoker or the time even if they do, I have found this recipe to be a good substitute—pretty easy and very flavorful. The trick is to cook the brisket low and slow.
Ingredients
- 4 pounds of Svante’s beef brisket
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons of smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons of ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon mustard powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 tablespoon butter or rendered tallow
- 1 cup of finely chopped onion
- 3 cloves of minced garlic
- ½ cup of brown sugar or honey
- ½ cup of ketchup
- 1 tablespoon of A1 or Worcestershire sauce
- 1 chipotle pepper in adobe sauce, minced
- ½ cup of apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup of bourbon
Directions
Prep the brisket: The day before you want to eat your brisket, prep the brisket by seasoning it first with plenty of salt and pepper. In a small bowl, mix the next 7 ingredients. Rub the brisket with this spice mix, massaging it into the meat. Wrap the brisket in aluminum foil and put it in the refrigerator for a minimum of 3 hours and preferably 24 hours. For a 3-4 lb brisket I do this at lunch time the prior day and take the brisket out mid- morning the next day, giving me the rest of the day to cook it to serve in the evening.
Cooking the brisket: Take the brisket out of the refrigerator and preheat your oven to 250 degrees. Cook the brisket about 6-7 hours depending on the thickness of the brisket. Check the brisket to make sure it is tender. If not, cook it a little longer until it is tender. When it is done, take the brisket out of the oven since you will need some of the juices for the sauce (see next step). While you make the sauce, let the brisket (keep it wrapped in foil) sit in the oven which should be turned off. This will keep the brisket warm.
Making the BBQ sauce: Pour off the good juices from the brisket and reserve in a cup or bowl. If there’s a lot of fat on the top, skim it off. In a medium sized pot cook the onions and minced garlic in the butter or tallow until they are soft. Add the brown sugar, ketchup, A1 or Worcestershire sauce, chipotle pepper, vinegar and bourbon. Stir the sauce while it simmers for 2-3 minutes to get all the ingredient to dissolve. Add some of the brisket juices to the sauce to reach the consistency you like and let it simmer for another 15 minutes. Sometimes the sauce has “stuff” in it that doesn’t dissolve. If you want it to be smooth, which is the way I like it, put in the blender.
Preparing the serve your brisket: Take the brisket out of the oven. Turn the broiler on. Open up the foil over the brisket and generously (really) brush the brisket with the BBQ sauce and broil long enough to have the fat crisp up and the top turn light brown. Let the brisket sit for another 5-10 minutes. Slice the meat against the grain and serve with lots of extra BBQ sauce.