Texas Salt-and-Pepper Smoked Packer Brisket

What you need

• 1 whole packer beef brisket, about 6 kg (13 lb), point and flat in one piece
• 40 g (1/4 cup) coarse kosher salt
• 40 g (1/4 cup) coarse black pepper, freshly cracked

Method

Restated from the original video

1. 1

   Pat the brisket dry. Trim the hard fat on the cap side down to a layer about 6 mm (1/4 in) thick, and cut away silver skin and any thin, dry edges on the flat.

2. 2

   Mix the salt and pepper and shake an even coat over every surface of the brisket.

3. 3

   Leave the seasoned brisket at room temperature for 1 hour while the smoker heats.

4. 4

   Light the smoker with oak or hickory and hold it steady between 120 °C (250 °F) and 135 °C (275 °F). Set a pan of water inside to keep the air moist.

5. 5

   Lay the brisket on the grate with the thick point end facing the heat source and close the lid.

6. 6

   Smoke without opening the lid for the first 3 hours. Add wood as needed to keep a thin, clean smoke and a steady temperature.

7. 7

   From then on, check every 45-60 min and mist the surface with water if it looks dry.

8. 8

   When the bark is dark and set and the thickest part of the flat reads about 74 °C (165 °F), usually after 5-6 hours, take the brisket off.

9. 9

   Wrap it tightly in two layers of unwaxed butcher paper and return it to the smoker.

10. 10

    Keep cooking until a probe slides into the flat with almost no resistance and it reads about 95 °C (203 °F), another 4-6 hours.

11. 11

    Rest the brisket, still wrapped, in a dry cooler or a switched-off oven for 1-2 hours.

12. 12

    Slice only once the inside has dropped to about 65 °C (150 °F).

13. 13

    Unwrap the meat, separate the point from the flat along the fat seam, and slice each part across the grain into pencil-thick slices. Serve at once.

Imported from houseofnasheats.com. Recipe Grab pulled out what you need to cook it; the video stays where its author put it.