Award-Winning Paleo Powder Brisket

by Laura Kunz June 10, 2016

Brisket can be an intimidating beast, but don’t let it be – you too can tackle this meat of all meats and impress your family and friends! We’re sharing all the secrets to Dustin’s BBQ-competition-award-winning brisket right here…

INGREDIENTS:

Brisket (8-10lbs)
Paleo Powder Original
Course black pepper
Apple juice
Tender quick/sea salt/kosher salt (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Picking Your Brisket

Brisket is a large chunk of meat off of the front of a cow. An unproven, but trust-me-it-makes-a-difference tidbit about briskets a "left handed" cut is the best cut. With the fat side down you are looking for the point or narrow part of the brisket to curve to the right. I look for a "left handed" brisket that is 8-10lbs.

Seasoning Your Brisket

Seasoning your brisket should always be done the night or day before you plan on cooking it and will take you about hour to do.
I start off by letting the brisket sit out on the counter to warm up a little bit before I season, this allows the pores to open up and absorb the seasoning a little better.
Optional: If you are looking for a smoke ring on your brisket a little trick is to put sea salt, kosher salt, tender quick (pickling salt) on your brisket first before you season, by sprinkling the salt on both sides first and letting it sit for about 5-10 minutes this will open the pores even more and will allow for both smoke and seasoning to penetrate. After salting, wipe down brisket with a paper towel and proceed to the next step.
With the fat side down, liberally sprinkle with Paleo Powder Original and course black pepper. Pat the seasoning into the brisket, do not rub. I only season the meat side (not the fat side) the night before and leave it facing up with my seasoning.
Once your brisket is seasoned up, if you want to be sure to prevent the meat from drying during cooking and get more moisture and flavor, inject apple juice. I like to mix a cup of apple juice and a tablespoon of Paleo Powder Original seasoning and use a basting needle to inject. You want to inject where the fat and the meat connect. Do not go through the meat you want to inject in the middle of the brisket.
Now you are done with the prepping. Time to cook.

Cooking Your Brisket

I cook my briskets on a smoker, you can cook in an oven, but you cannot beat the taste of good smoked brisket. I use charcoal as my fuel source and add pecan (you can use whichever wood you prefer) only for the first 45 minutes of the cooking process (after the first 45 minutes smoke will not penetrate the meat and is only more of a mess).
Heat your pit up to between 250 and 300 degrees.
Once you get your pit up to cooking temperature, place your brisket on the pit furthest away from the fire. This is when I add the pecan wood. Cook the brisket for 3 hours or until the brisket’s internal temperature is 160 degrees.
Take the brisket off the pit and wrap it in foil. Before I close the foil up around the brisket, I add a little apple juice to give it some moisture. Put the foil-wrapped brisket back on the pit.
When to take the brisket off this round is a bit more subjective – a little feel and temperature. I like to use a meat thermometer and finish cooking my brisket around 200 degrees. This may seem high, but trust me it is perfect. You want the thermometer to go into the meat like pushing it into warm butter.
Finally, when your brisket is done take it out of the smoker and leave it on the counter in the foil and cover it with a towel. This will allow the meat to cool down as well as absorb some of the juices that are locked in the foil.
After 30-45 minutes of resting, cut into your brisket, serve and EAT!