Some food, some drink.

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Abstract: Any meat-eater worth their salt loves a good barbeque; and while eating is easy, the cooking part can be intimidating. I have personally done very little in the way of real barbeque, but with a brisket in the freezer and a friend offering to bring his grill to work, I decided it was time to bone up on my slow and low technique. I'm pretty sure the person who first established the eight-hour work day was a barbeque enthusiast; 'cuz I can't think of a better way to multi-task.

Purpose: I love my gas grill, but propane just ain't the thing when you wanna cook smoky, slow, and low. I am one of a minority in Hays, USA that does not own a Traeger Grill, and when folks that know I mess in the kitchen discover that I don't own said pellet cooker, I'm usually met with looks of confusion. Don't misunderstand; if someone handed me one tomorrow, I'd sure take it; but as some sort of barbeque will likely be my next major culinary purchase, I wanna do plenty of shopping around. I work the GIS thing with a guy who owns one of these Traegers, and he offered to bring it with him on one of my work days so I could kick the tires on it. Of course I graciously took him up on his offer, so all that remained was to pick the protein. I've got a quarter of a steer destined for my freezer very soon, so it only made sense to use up the largest hunk of meat in my freezer, which was a six-pound brisket. I've done braised BBQ-style brisket a number of times in my slow cooker, and I've even tried my hand at corned beef, but I have never done a proper barbeque beef brisket.

For all intents and purposes, we're essentially dealing with a "beta" recipe here, and with the fate of a rather large hunk of critter as my responsibility, I knew I'd need to do some research. After reviewing some methods, techniques and temperatures, I decided that my best approach would be to concoct a rub, and follow it up during the cooking process with the occasional mop. The mop was unknown territory, but after examining about a half dozen different recipes, it became apparant that most mops are a mix of fat, vinegar, water and seasoning; so essentially,  we're talking about vinaigrettes for carnivores. On the other hand, I've made spice rubs plenty of times (even for vegetables), so I knew finding the right balance of flavor to compliment the smoke wouldn't be a problem.

Observation:

• Starting with your rub, you'll want to use whole spices and grind 'em yourself where it makes sense to do so. In this case, I used my [never ground any] coffee grinder to powder the ancho chile, and a mortar & pestle to pulverize allspice, celery seed, oregano, and black pepper (if I had whole coriander, it would have been pestlized as well).
• Rubbing the night before gives time for the meat to draw in the seasoning.  During that time that it rests open in the fridge, the surface will dry out, and that lack of moisture will later work to hasten browning.
  
• I've done rubs with and without sugar, and I think anytime you want to promote browning, adding such an easy-burning hydrocarbon is a great way to kick that process off. Note however that we're not using much at all; and we're sure as hell not adding any additional sugar to the mop.
• I tell my butcher to leave quite a bit of fat on my cuts, 'cuz you never know how you're gonna cook it. I left at least a half inch of fat on the thicker parts of this roast, but if you have an aversion to beef fat, I think you'd be ok trimming down off more, but I think I'd leave at least a quarter inch. Just don't trim all the fat off (unless you like brisket jerky).
  
• The water pan underneath the meat is there for two reasons: Firstly as the drippings have a tendency to burn and crate a smoke that's less than tasty, this will prevent that from happening. Second, the evaporating liquid puts some humidity into the cooking vessel, thus not giving your beef the opportunity to give up its own moisture.
  
• A brisket is literally the "breast of beef" (it's the pectoralis profundis if you wanna get technical). While most folks may know that cutting a long-fibered muscle like this against the grain ensures tenderness, what you may not be aware of is that the different groups of muscle contained therein often travel at different angles depending on their attachment to the bone. When it's time to slice it up, look for those natural divisions in the roast and break it down accordingly. After locating those separate muscle groups, use a sharp knife to slice thin and perpendicular to the muscle striae.
  
• I know there are some who prefer to pull a brisket instead of slicing, but I really think it's because they either don't have a knife sharp enough to slice it properly, or they didn't let the beef rest long enough. I let my brisket rest covered for 45 minutes before slicing, giving the juices inside plenty of time to evenly redistribute. Also, as the brisket cools a little, gelatins created from the breakdown of collagen begin to congeal, so slicing will only get easier. If you don't believe me, try letting your brisket fridge overnight and then see how easy and uniform slicing becomes. McGee has a good sections on "Meat Juiciness" and "Meat Texture" (around page 150 in my edition) and the latter topic is replete with a table that explains what happens to meat as it heats if you want all the details.
  

Results: Regarding my trials with the Traeger, I learned the one (and quite significant) difference between barbeque and a slow cooking method such as a braise is that there is opportunity to cook the moisture right out of the meat. Everything done to prepare the brisket was in order to ensure that our beef stayed basted and juicy. Properly trimming and scoring the fat cap(s) ensures that every nook and cranny of the beef gets drizzled with a flavorful protective layer of lipid, and the subsequent grill mop not only adds seasoning, but keeping a thin layer of seasoned water on the meat is valuable as a heat sink that guards against variations in temperature.  Additionally, that stick of butter in the mop is a  great bit of insurance for covering any areas the inherent fats in the meat might have missed.

I'm actually a bit relieved (and a bit full of myself) that this brisket turned out so well on a first attempt.  Oh sure, having the right cooking device always helps, but I'd like to think that the extra thought put into hand-selecting my seasonings, (as opposed to buying pre-packaged rub and mop) made the entire experience even more rewarding. I know there are a lot of BBQ purists out there that will vehemently deny the use of any sort of sauce on their 'que; and if you're one of those people, I think this method might be one for you to try. The outer ring of bark and smoke is seasoned perfectly and is heavily perfumed with the smoke it was bathed in. Likewise, a little attention to anatomy while breaking down this meat masterpiece meant that every bite was juicy, buttery, and tender.

Gallery:

Here's your chance to figure out the seasonings that go into my brisket rub (or, you could just read the recipe).

Here's your chance to figure out the seasonings that go into my brisket rub (or, you could just read the recipe).

Beyond trimming off the excess, scoring the fat down to the muscle at regular intervals with a sharp knife makes for…

Beyond trimming off the excess, scoring the fat down to the muscle at regular intervals with a sharp knife makes for better basting.

Don't think of this as beer, butter, and seasoning; hell, don't even think of this as brisket mop. This is salad dressing for meat-eaters (hold the salad).

Don't think of this as beer, butter, and seasoning; hell, don't even think of this as brisket mop. This is salad dressing for meat-eaters (hold the salad).

Rub down the night before and let the seasonings adjust and redistribute. This where the slow part of "slow and low" begins.

Rub down the night before and let the seasonings adjust and redistribute. This where the slow part of "slow and low" begins.

If you like gadgets, the way the Traeger cooks is pretty neat. Think of these pellets as little…

If you like gadgets, the way the Traeger cooks is pretty neat. Think of these pellets as little packets of smoky goodness.

It is time to preheat this here Traeger pellet-fed barbeque grill (I was told that what you see here was perfectly normal).

It is time to preheat this here Traeger pellet-fed barbeque grill (I was told that what you see here was perfectly normal).

I needed a "before" picture for my own review. There's about to be a lot of change taking place.

I needed a "before" picture for my own review. There's about to be a lot of change taking place.

Eight-ish hours later, we've got half of the fat rendered, and that prized "brisket bark" has developed over the surface. Oh, man. I'm hungry.

Eight-ish hours later, we've got half of the fat rendered, and that prized "brisket bark" has developed over the surface. Oh, man. I'm hungry.

If you live in the sticks, then I don't have to tell you that when you've got a pickup and a trailer, there's no end as to what's considered "portable".

If you live in the sticks, then I don't have to tell you that when you've got a pickup and a trailer, there's no end as to what's considered "portable".

Brisket's home and rested for 45 minutes. Separating muscle groups means better cross-grain cuts.

Brisket's home and rested for 45 minutes. Separating muscle groups means better cross-grain cuts.

About a quarter inch of bark, and just as much of that mahogany-colored smoke ring. That's why you barbeque.

About a quarter inch of bark, and just as much of that mahogany-colored smoke ring. That's why you barbeque.

Sauce? What sauce? Oh, I suppose you could, but this Barbeque Brisket doesn't need it. This was fun; I think it's time to start lobbying the committee…

Sauce? What sauce? Oh, I suppose you could, but this Barbeque Brisket doesn't need it. This was fun; I think it's time to start lobbying the committee for a new cooker.