Oven-roasted brisket

A delicious way to recreate Texas dining.  And the only difficult part is getting out of bed early to get it started.

Plan 8 to 12 hours from start to finish.  I roasted mine for a full ten.  The only way to do this is low and slow.  If you cook your brisket too quickly, it will be tough, dry and fatty.

This is your reward for patience:

Start with a good cut of brisket from a local butcher - really, don't trust your big chain grocery store.  This is a quarter brisket.  It served eight.  Make sure they do not remove the thin layer of fat that covers one whole side -- it's essential to cooking it properly.

Unprepared brisket - note the layer of fat on the top

Put that sucker in a glass baking dish and firmly massage a ton of dry spice rub into the brisket.  I used a mix of:

• Salt
• Paprika
• Garlic powder
• Mrs. Dash
• Dried oregano
• Cumin

Be creative!  A touch of cayenne, perhaps.  Many butchers or gourmet grocers sell prepared dry rubs.  A good rub really brings out the flavor and ensures tasty crusty outsides and juicy tender insides.  Now let it rest, covered, at room temperature (no more than 75 degrees, please) for an hour or up to overnight.

This is extremely important:  Make sure your brisket is placed in the pan with the fatty side on top.  It will slowly melt away and keep the brisket moist and juicy as it does.

Your beautiful brisket should look like this, begging to be slowly roasted:

We're going to use a simple kitchen oven.  Smoking or grilling is a whole different ball game.  Set it to 250 degrees.  Cover the brisket with aluminum foil and put it in the oven to begin its slow journey to succulent deliciosity.

Now we must prepare a mop.  So-called because the traditional way to apply it to a huge piece of meat slowly roasting is with a tool resembling a mop.  I use a simple spray bottle (similar to Windex or 409) that I got from Home Depot for 59 cents.

Vinegar, smoke extract and brown sugar go in my mop

I use a simple mop vinegar, smoke extract and brown sugar.  This time I also added some leftover home-made beef broth for extra flavor, just because it was in the fridge.

Spray the brisket with the mop generously every 20-30 minutes.  It's OK if a little liquid starts to accumulate in the bottom of the dish.

Plan on cooking for 8-10 hours.  Once the internal temperature reaches 185 degrees (get a meat thermometer, darnit!), turn your oven down to 225 - it's done, but you can let it sit for up to 2 more hours before serving.

I served mine with fresh green beans and homemade peanut-garlic coleslaw:

Oven roasted brisket with peanut-garlic coleslaw and fresh green beans