Texas-Style Smoked Brisket

By Sprig Originals ✓ · with credit

Adapted from overthefirecooking.com

A whole packer brisket rubbed with nothing but salt and pepper, smoked low over post oak until it's dark and yielding, then wrapped in butcher paper with beef tallow to carry it through to tender. This is the full central Texas commitment — a day of fire for the best beef you'll ever slice.

Ingredients

• 1 whole packer brisket (12–15 lb)
• 2.5 tbsp kosher salt
• 2.5 tbsp coarse black pepper
• 2 tbsp garlic powder (optional)
• 1 cup beef tallow, warmed until pourable

• post oak wood chunks or chips
• pink butcher paper

Instructions

1. Work with the brisket straight from the fridge — cold fat trims far more cleanly. Set it fat cap down and shave away any silver skin and hard pockets of fat from the flat, including the thick pocket where the flat meets the point. Square off all four sides, then slice one corner of the point flat to mark the direction of the grain for later. Flip it over and pare the fat cap down to an even 1/4 inch, removing most of the fat flap at the top.
2. Mix the kosher salt, black pepper and garlic powder if you're using it, then coat the whole brisket generously on every surface, including the sides. Set it uncovered on a rack in the fridge overnight to dry brine — the surface should look tacky and dark by morning.
3. Bring your smoker up to 250–265°F and add post oak chunks or chips for that classic Texas smoke. Give it 30 minutes at temperature so the smoke runs clean and blue before the meat goes on.
4. Put the brisket on the grate, fat cap up or down as you prefer, and smoke undisturbed until the thickest, fattiest part of the point reads 165–170°F on an instant-read thermometer — roughly 7 to 8 hours. The bark should be dark and firm enough that it doesn't smudge when you touch it.
5. Overlap two 6-foot lengths of butcher paper on a work surface and drizzle tallow down the middle. Lay the brisket about 2 feet from one end, drizzle more tallow over the top, then fold the short end over the meat and tuck it underneath. Fold both sides in tight and roll the brisket forward until it's fully wrapped, tucking any excess paper beneath it.
6. Return the wrapped brisket to the smoker at 250–265°F with the loose seam facing down so it can't unravel. Cook until the internal temperature hits 202–203°F and your probe slides in with no resistance — another 7 to 8 hours. Pull it off and let it rest, still wrapped, at room temperature for at least 2 hours.
7. Unwrap and save the paper for serving. Start slicing at the corner you marked earlier, cutting across the grain in slices about as thick as a pencil. A little past halfway the point will take over — rotate that section 90 degrees so you're going against its grain, then keep slicing, or cube it up for burnt ends.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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