Not much to a Texas style BBQ brisket really. A simple rub, meat and smoke. Sauce is to hide failures. Intricate rubs just aren’t Texas. Smoke – that’s the secret ingredient. It’s tough to pull off though. Probably the hardest thing there is. Pulled pork is very forgiving. Ribs maybe a bit trickier. But brisket – brisket is tough to nail. This approach makes things easier but if your friends don’t already tell you your pulled pork is the best they’ve ever had maybe you’re not quite ready to take on BBQ brisket. It’s expensive and it’s really not very good at all if you miss. How simple a rub is simple? Aaron Franklin, widely acclaimed as the master of Texas brisket has revealed his secret recipe to the world. Are you ready? Do you have a pen handy because you will want to take notes… It’s 50% kosher salt and 50% 16 screen crushed black pepper by weight. I have no idea what screen corresponds to but coarse is what you want – some call it butchers pepper. If you want to go really crazy you can add a bit of granulated garlic and onion. That’s it – and I think the garlic and onion are overkill. Serious overkill. Costco coarse black pepper is a nice grind size for this. Diamond Crystal kosher salt is roughly the same size so they work well together. The smoke is the thing. In central Texas they use post oak. Some might use hickory but mostly it’s post oak. It kills me that people are paying $25 a bag for wood chunks. If the wood doesn’t grown near you then OK – I do buy hickory but if you want oak or maple look at your firewood pile. I bet there’s some in there. Find a friend with a bandsaw and cut your own chunks. That’s what I do… I burn lump charcoal and I like Dragons Breath best if you can find it. It’s a mix of oak and hickory. It just smells like Texas when it burns. Really. Maple Leaf is a mix of beech, birch and maple – it’s not the same but it’s pretty good too. This technique works for the flat. I haven’t tried it yet with the point. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, the whole brisket has two pieces. The flat is leaner and flatter, the point is fat and delicious. I will try a point prepared this way before too long. Whole brisket 15 hour smokes are for the truly dedicated and while I admire them this works for the rest of us.
