Slow Hot Smoked Brisket
"Achieving tenderness from this particular beef cut will test your cooking skills but the end result will most definitely be worth it. Brisket is a prime, uncompromising beef cut and the meat is perfect for classic low and slow BBQ. It’s from one of the harder working parts of the cow at the front of the chest over the sternum, ribs and connecting cartilage." Hot Smoked Team
Slow Hot Smoked Brisket
"Achieving tenderness from this particular beef cut will test your cooking skills but the end result will most definitely be worth it. Brisket is a prime, uncompromising beef cut and the meat is perfect for classic low and slow BBQ. It’s from one of the harder working parts of the cow at the front of the chest over the sternum, ribs and connecting cartilage." Hot Smoked Team
- Serves: 16
- Prepare: 20 Minutes
- Cook: 9 Hours
- Difficulty: medium
WHO ARE THE ORGANIC BUTCHERY?
Starting life as an organic farm in the heart of the West Country, The Organic Butchery is proudly founded on a long history of organic principles. We source the best quality organic grass-fed and wild meats, sustainable fish and organic free-range poultry from trusted local suppliers and like-minded brands to guarantee the highest standards of animal welfare and environmental stewardship. Our mission is to approach butchery with a whole-carcass perspective, to make the most of every animal that crosses our blocks, which means we offer you cuts that you will never see on the supermarket shelves.
WHAT IS ORGANIC BEEF?
Living active, free-range lives, our organic grass-fed beef is a nutrient-dense food. We farm our cattle in harmony with nature, grazing livestock in turn helps to regenerate the health of our soil. At The Organic Butchery, we select only the highest-quality cuts to deliver pure, distinctive flavour every time.
Ingredients
- 3-4kg brisket joint (with point end on and fat cap intact)
- spicy rub (make from equal parts of sugar, salt and a mix of spices)
- olive oil
- 800ml beef marinade
- bbq sauce
- foil and clean tea towels
- marinade injector
- Wood chips - go for full, robust smoke flavour (try oak, hickory or whisky barrel chips or chunks)
Method
- With a sharp knife working across the grain of the meat, remove the sinewy silver skin and muscle and any areas of thick fat, though not all. Leave a large enough fat layer to add flavour as it renders during cooking
- With the meat just below room temperature, place on a baking tray and brush with oil before coating liberally with a BBQ rub with a blend of sugar, salt and spices. Massage into the surface including the ends and sides
- Prepare your smoker or BBQ. Any covered bbq, ceramic grill or dedicated food smoker will be perfect for the job. Charcoal is the best heat source, but you can use a gas bbq with the smoking woods in your kit to create authentic wood smoke flavour. You need to cook your brisket in an offset grilling position where the meat is not cooked directly above the heat source, but charcoals are lit at one side of your cooking area and the meat placed at the other side
- Once your grill temperature has stabilised at around 100-110°C place 2 or 3 wood chunks onto white hot coals. If you prefer to use wood chips or you are using a gas BBQ, wrap the chips in foil, leaving an open area at the top for the smoke to escape and place on or over your heat source. Now put your ‘rubbed brisket’ on your grill rack and allow to cook for a minimum of 3 hours, though ideally longer for 6 to 7 hours
- Add more wood chunks as you go along. The smoke is absorbed most readily during the first few hours of cooking, but take care not to over smoke. The brisket will develop a wonderful dark crust or ‘bark’ during this stage of cooking
- Remove the brisket from your grill, and, ideally using a marinade injector, fill with your marinade mix and pump the liquid into the brisket at regular points. Then wrap the brisket in several layers of foil, creating a ‘boat’ shape deep enough and strong enough to hold the meat and liquid and with a flap to close it
- Cooking from this point is about the level of tenderness and this can be judged according to internal temperature using a meat probe. The goal is for a ‘wobbly’, ‘buttery’ slab of meat. If the probe slides in easily and the temperature is around 90-95°C you are on target for tenderness
- Take your brisket out of the grill and remove a slab from the thicker pointed end of the joint. Cut this into cubes roughly 5cm across, place in a baking tray, sprinkle with more of your spice rub and smother with a sticky BBQ sauce. Mix well and place the tray in your grill to rest over the embers of your heat source
- Once you are happy that the meat is lovely and tender, pour any excess marinade from your QBag or foil boat into a pan. You can use this to make a sauce by reducing and thickening. Add a little BBQ sauce to help thicken. Reseal the foil bag, wrap in several tea towels and place in a cool bag to stabilise the resting temperature, Leave for at least a further hour
- Remove the brisket from its wraps, allow the spicy ‘bark’ to dry and settle for a few minutes, then slice thickly. Each slice will have a pink halo of smoke flavour. Serve with the BBQ sauce and your favourite sides – try potato wedges sprinkled in spices, beetroot slaw, grilled asparagus and enjoy
WHO ARE THE ORGANIC BUTCHERY?
Starting life as an organic farm in the heart of the West Country, The Organic Butchery is proudly founded on a long history of organic principles. We source the best quality organic grass-fed and wild meats, sustainable fish and organic free-range poultry from trusted local suppliers and like-minded brands to guarantee the highest standards of animal welfare and environmental stewardship. Our mission is to approach butchery with a whole-carcass perspective, to make the most of every animal that crosses our blocks, which means we offer you cuts that you will never see on the supermarket shelves.
WHAT IS ORGANIC BEEF?
Living active, free-range lives, our organic grass-fed beef is a nutrient-dense food. We farm our cattle in harmony with nature, grazing livestock in turn helps to regenerate the health of our soil. At The Organic Butchery, we select only the highest-quality cuts to deliver pure, distinctive flavour every time.
Frequently asked questions
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By definition, organic beef in the UK is fed on a diet predominantly made up of grass. However this won't necessarily make it 100% grass fed, this is not an organic standard. We supplement our organic beef’s diets when grass alone isn’t up to doing the job. As part of our regular crop rotation, we plant some cereals, such as barley, alongside nutritious legumes like peas. These can be grown together in the same field and harvested as a ‘whole crop’. That means the stalk and seed are cut and stored together, so there’s no by-product and no waste. It also means the cattle get a balanced meal with plenty of roughage.
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Organic beef has to be certified by an approved organic body to a number of set organic standards. These include the space that an organic beef animal has to graze, the way that its food is grown, without the use of pesticides and or unapproved fertilisers. The standards for organic beef also cover use of medicines (no routine drugs, growth promoters or additives added) and other points that improve the welfare and conditions throughout the life of the animal and on through slaughter and butchery. Coombe Farm Organic is certified organic by the Soil Association.
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Organic beef is made of a number of butchered cuts that come from a cow reared in an organic certified system. There are several organic bodies in the UK who can offer this accreditation such as the Soil Association & Organic Farmers and Growers. The standards set by these bodies will affect the husbandry, birth, life, slaughter and processing of an organic beef animal. Every standard must be met and is audited at least annually to ensure this is the case. Coombe Farm Organic is certified organic by the Soil Association.