Belly's Brisket
Belly Maynard

I buy 8 to 12 pound cryovac Briskets the morning before I am cooking I
cut a small hole in the sack and pour into it about a cup to cup half of
Willingham Marinade & a 1/4 cup of Balsamic Vinegar & about two cups of
Dr Pepper. Cover the hole with Duct Tape.

Refrigerate for 24 hours turning and rubbing it about each four hours. 

Next morning open sack and remove Brisket and pat dry, let set in air
for about a half hour and then rub it good with Willingham Dry Rub. 

Let set till fire in ol barrel is ready, till I can hold my hand over
the grill for a minute to minute half put brisket on fat side up and
after about four hours turn it over and add some more coals if needs
check about each hour and try to keep heat about the same. 

After four hours turn fat side back up and if you wish you may then make
a mop sauce of beer, Dr pepper and red pepper and mop each 30 or 45
minutes for next two or three hours. 

Remove brisket and let cool and firm up so it will slice nice. 

I like it dry, but some folks want it wet, so we use a Texas Tomato base
sauce or Willingham BBQ Sauce or any one of 1/2 hundred more sauces out
there, oh yes a time or two I have used some of that there Yankee sauces
too, Father forgive me.

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Beef Brisket by Rev Belly
I think that beef brisket belongs to Texas like peanuts to Georgia and
pulled pork to North Carolina. But did you know, 'till about forty years ago
brisket was a worthless cut of meat that most folks would just discard or
grind into hamburger meat? Down in the hill country of Texas, ol' brother
Wolf was buying all the brisket he could get to make his chili with. Then
about 1950 two German brothers who had a meat market began cooking BBQ in
their market to use up left over meat. One got the idea to smoke a brisket
as he was smoking sausage one weekend. He left it all weekend in his
smokehouse and on Monday as they were serving their que, pork, sausage &
chicken, he cut a slice & put on each lunch.. Everyone began telling him how
good and tender it was. With that they began to cook beef brisket for BBQ.
So Texas owes the two German meat market brothers from the hills of Texas
for our Beef Brisket BBQ. Now-a-days, like lots of things, the briskets of
today are so much improved over time. The brisket of old time was over half
fat, but with the better cows of these days we get lots better beef brisket.
Still, the only way to make them good & tender is good, slow cooking over
hardwood smoke. Here's the way this ol' Texan tries to cook good beef
brisket.

Cooking Beef Brisket

1) Fat and marbling: Choose a brisket which has most of the fat down in the
meat and not all fat on the outside. You do need a layer of fat on the
outside too. Fat inside the meat will help keep it moist, so you still need
some fat both on inside & outside, But remember selecting a good brisket is
half the technique of good Que.

2) Size: A real good size is a brisket from 6 to 10 pounds, big or small
will be more of a personal choice. Just remember that slow cooking for 1 1/2
to 2 hours per pound is a pretty fair time table for cooking a brisket at
225 dez (degrees F.)

3) Seasoning: There are as many ideas on the best way to season a brisket as
there are brisket cooks. No two will do the same and very few will do it the
same way two times in a row: You can Marinate, dry rub or both; or sprinkle
it with spices; or do all three. I, myself do a little of it all.

3A) Marinate: May be a store bought marinade or maybe your own. I use a mix
of Beer, Dr. Waco (similar to Dr. Pepper) and Willingham's marinade & let
marinate overnight. Dry it off next morning & let it set for about half
hour.

3B) Dry Rub: I use a mix of Garlic power, black pepper, salt, cumin, red
pepper & a little brown sugar. There are lots of good dry rub out there on
the market. Try them.

4) Fire: It don't make a big difference what or how you are cooking as long
as you have a good low long-time steady heat; may it be wood, electric or
gas. I, my-self, have for the last twenty-five years used a wood fire in
everything from a barrel, to a washpot, to a high dollar pit. I still say
you can cook as good of que in anything as long as you watch your fire. What
you want is a good stead low fire with a temperature of 200 to 225 dez.

5) Cooking: Well, I have found that I do better with my brisket if I cook it
about an hour per pound on a good low fire of hardwood and then wrap it in
foil and put it in a dry ice chest for up to eight hours. If I slow cook my
brisket for 18 to 20 hours, they are always too dry for me. But remember,
any ol' boy can be like the blind dog an find a better way to do it. Good
smoke will have a sweet flavor & that's what you want; not a bitter flavor.
You will get a (smoke) ring of 1/32 to 1/2 inch most time. The smoke ring is
the result of a chemical reaction between smoke & Air (nitrogen). This don't
make a big different in the taste of your brisket but do make a better
looking brisket, different seasoning will make a difference in the size of
your ring.

6) Presentation: Last, but not to be overlooked, is the presentation of your
brisket. I don't care if it is just for your wife & kids or your
mother-in-law or your boss or if you are in a million dollar cook-off, A
brisket that is half bad, will be come extra good if it is sliced and
presented right. Always slice your brisket across the grain of the meat
(start on a corner of the flat part). This is very important as it makes it
a more palatable & tender slice of meat. Remember, a good BBQ brisket don't
need a sauce poured over it, serve it on the side.

Adios: Now that's way we do it up the Paluxy River in the hills of Texas.
Think I'll cook some BBQ: Beef that is. Billy W (Belly) Maynard

