Texas barbecue brisket

Take your barbecue beyond the burger with this brilliant beef brisket

  • Prep:30 mins
    Cook:6 hrs
  • Serves 10
  • A challenge

Nutrition per serving

  • kcal 958
  • fat 59g
  • saturates 26g
  • carbs 13g
  • sugars 10g
  • fibre 0g
  • protein 94g
  • salt 1.2g

Ingredients

  • about a 5kg/ 11 lb piece of beef brisket
  • 500 ml/ 18 fl oz beef stock
  • 1 tbsp sunflower oil
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 500 ml/ 18 fl oz tomato ketchup
  • 100 ml/ 3½ fl oz Worcestershire sauce
  • 75 ml/ 2½ fl oz lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp malt vinegar
  • 2 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tsp crushed chilli flakes
  • 1 tsp Tabasco sauce
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 2 tbsp each chilli powder and mustard powder
  • 1 tbsp each paprika, ground cumin, garlic powder, ground black pepper, caster sugar
  • 1 bay leaf, crushed

Tip

Buying your brisket
When you order the brisket from your butcher, ask for a neat-shaped whole piece, trimmed of any excess fat on the side. The more uniform your piece of beef, the easier it will be to handle.
MPU 2

Method

  1. To make the barbecue sauce, heat the oil in a frying pan, then cook onion and garlic for a few mins until soft. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients to the pan with a good pinch of salt and simmer for 20 mins. Use a hand blender or food processor to whizz to a smooth purée.

  2. Heat oven to 150C/130C fan/gas 2. Make the rub by mixing all the ingredients together with a pinch of salt. Rub the mix all over the beef and set aside.

  3. In a large roasting tin, mix the beef stock and ½ the barbecue sauce. Add the brisket to the tin, cover tightly with foil, then cook for 4-5 hrs until the meat is really tender when you push a fork into it. The beef can be prepared the night before – just leave it to cool in the tin covered with foil, but don’t refrigerate.

  4. To finish the beef, get a barbecue fired up and wait until the coals are completely ashen – you want a low, not fierce, heat. Lift the beef out of the roasting tin and place on the barbecue to char. If your barbecue has a lid, close it now. Cook for about 20 mins, turning it carefully with tongs, until lightly charred all over and heated through. Lift onto a board and serve sliced with the remaining barbecue sauce on the side.

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