Servings: 12 people
Calories: 700kcal
Equipment
- grill or smoker
- Smoking Wood I chose almond for this
Ingredients
- 1 whole brisket
- Duck fat spray
- 1/3 cup sea salt flakes adjust as needed
- 1/3 cup fresh cracked pepper adjust as needed
- 1/3 cup beef rub (optional) adjust as needed
- Butcher paper
Instructions
- The first thing you are gonna want to do is trim the fat. Now there is a great debate about fat cap on or off, how much to leave, how much to take, etc. So for the brisket I go with quite a bite of fat ribbons and opt to remove most of the fat and silverskin. Now I also will leave a trimmed fat cap depending on leanness of fat throughout the brisket. At this time you will also want to shape your brisket removing any part of the meat that is super thin and will over cook. Remove all silverskin. At this point, you may notice quite a bit of weight has been removed and you will need to adjust your cook times accordingly.
- Next, apply a thin layer of the duck fat spray then your pepper and salt. If you are choosing to apply beef rub, do so now. I like to let my brisket rest overnight in the fridge or for at least 6 hours before smoking. One hour before smoking, pull the brisket out of the fridge and let it come up to room temp.
- Now you'll want to light your pit and set it up for smoking. I am using an offset stick burner, which I prefer for longer cooks., simply because of adding wood. For the Cali twist I use a wood we have an abundance of out here which is almond. Almond wood is much like Red Oak but a bit milder. Set up your pit to run at 235-250 F. Once up to temperature, it's time to put the brisket on. Insert a digital thermometer in the thickest part and roll smoke for 1.5 hours per pound or until internal temp of 165 F is reached.
- At this time you are in what is called the "stall", where it will seem like forever before the internal temp starts to climb. Some pitmasters will wrap to speed up this stall, using butcher paper. This is your choice. I choose to wrap to help render all that yummy fat. Place back on smoke until the magic number of 209 F is reached.
- Once you reach 209 F internal temperature, remove from the smoker, wrap in towels and place into cooler for at least 1 hour to give the meat time to redistribute the juices and loosen up. You know it will be perfect if you touch it and it wiggles like gelatin. Slice against the grain before serving. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Serving: 1lb | Calories: 700kcal
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