Hot and Fast Beef Brisket

Hot and Fast Beef Brisket Technique: (5 hours total)

(feel free to skip all the juicy details, and go straight to the basic recipe near the bottom)

Often a topic of some controversy, especially among the more old school smoker crowd, I have shied away from this method myself for some time; however, now that I have started catering, a 12-16 hour cook is just not gonna fly while I'm still working weekdays! In my competition experience, I can say that many competition teams employ hot and fast methods.

I spent a few days researching different techniques and time/temp options, and for some, they seem to think an 8 hour brisket is "hot and fast" and though that is pretty fast relative to a traditional cook, I was looking for something sub-6 hours, and wanted to find others that have done it to make sure I'm not just gonna waste a 16 pounder. Once I found a few, including Myron Mixon, who do it in the 6 hour range, I set to work!

Started out with a beautiful 16.5lb USDA Prime packer brisket. You will want to take extra precautions to retain moisture, since the high temperatures will want to suck all the moisture out. For me this included injecting the brisket with an injection including phosphates, keeping the brisket in a pan throughout the whole cook, trimming less fat than I typically do, cooking with the fat cap down, and spraying the meat periodically while in-wrapped.

I trimmed all of the fat and silver skin off of the top side of the brisket, and also trimmed out much of the fat between the point and flat, but still left them well attached, and left a good layer on each muscle. I did not touch the fat cap at all.

I injected this brisket with Butcher BBQ's "Prime Brisket Injection", but like I said, any phosphate inclusive injection should do the trick. This brisket was rubbed down with a pretty basic "SPOG" (Salt, Pepper, Onion, Garlic) mixture, as well as the addition of chipotle chili powder, and some food-grade Activated Coconut Charcoal which is purely for color, since this method will not produce as much of a "bark" as other methods.

Set my Yoder YS640 to 350 degrees, filled with Lumberjack "Char-Hickory" pellets, and let it preheat while I injected and rubbed down the brisket. You may want to let the injection do its thing for longer, and the Butcher BBQ label recommends 6 hours; however, I prefer more of the natural beef flavor, so I only injected about an hour before I put the brisket on the grill.

Left the brisket in an aluminum pan for the first 3 hours, and sprayed the meat every 30 minutes with a mixture of apple juice, a tiny bit of maple syrup, and a few dashes of chipotle hot sauce. You can go by time here, and I think you'll be fine, but other recipes I've seen recommend waiting until you hit about 160 degrees. In my case, it was 162 in the point, and 154 in the flat when I proceeded to the next step.

There was plenty of juices in the pan at the 3 hour mark, but I still added about a half cup of the remaining basting mixture, a quarter cup of turbinado (or you could use brown) sugar, and a third of a cup of Parkay (butter/margarine). For the wrap here, I just left the brisket in the pan and did not drain anything off, I threw a probe in the thickets part of the flat, and covered the whole thing tightly with foil.

After 2 hours in the wrap, my brisket was up to the high 190's so I began the "probe test" (once the probe goes into the meat like warm butter, you're done). This guy ended up passing the test at 206 IT, so I pulled it right away.

It is important to let you brisket rest for a time in order for the juices to re-absorb into the meat, so be sure to allot for at least an hour after completion. For this cook, I was heading to a family party, so after pulling, I unwrapped, and took my time transferring the brisket into some clear wrap, where I also dumped about a cup of the juices before wrapping it up. Threw the wrapped brisket along with the rest of the juices (in a big Ziploc) into a foil pan, and into my Cambro, or you can use a good cooler if you don't have a Cambro.

We sliced this guy up about 2.5 hours after pulling off the grill, and it was oh-so tender and very juicy. This brisket lost only a fraction of the normal size and weight as compared to the countless others I've cooked low and slow, and it may have been the most tender, and juicy brisket I can remember cooking. I can say for certain that I will not be going back to low and slow. This was easily the easiest brisket I've ever made, and possibly the best!


Please see below for the streamlined recipe:

Smoker Temp: 350 degrees
Time (approximate): 5 hours total. 3 on smoke, and 2 wrapped
Important factors: Phosphate injection, cooked in pan, baste regularly, leave most fat on, cook fat-cap down.
Finishing internal temp: approximately 205

Inject your brisket with a phosphate inclusive brisket injection. Rub her down with your favorite rub, or see the details of my rub in the body above. Cook the brisket at 350 for 3 hours, basting every 30 minutes. Wrap the brisket with some juice, beef stock, and/or butter (or your favorite wrapping liquid). Cook wrapped for about 2 more hours or until your IT reaches approximately 205 or until a toothpick/probe goes in like warm butter. Let the meat rest for at least one our, or up to 4 hours in a well insulated cooler. ENJOY!

The 3-2-R Method, Rib Recipe

This my standard method for smoking Ribs! I borrowed the basic idea of the method from competition teams I've observed, as well as alterations of other common methods.  

3-2-R = 3 hours on smoke, 2 hours wrapped, R=Rest for 30 minutes. The ribs will be tender and juicy, pull from the bone with minimal effort, but NOT fall off the bone under their own weight.

For this cook I use St. Louis style Spares. I trimmed them up nice and square, and removed the membrane and any junky pieces of meat and fat hanging off. I timed them up more-or-less competition style, you don't need to do this much squaring if you don't want.

Rub the ribs down with your favorite rub with the addition of some fresh ground Colombian coffee. I just spritz them with some apple or other juice before applying the rub, this is much easier than rubbing with messy mustard, you don't need mustard, I promise.

Throw them onto the smoker for 3 hours at 230, spraying with a half/half mixture of Apple, and Pineapple juice every 30 minutes. *This will help achieve a nice caramelized bark, and impart more smoke flavor. As a bonus it can help produce a stronger smoke ring.

(In this case I was smoking a packer brisket at the same time)

The 3 hours is flexible plus or minus 20 minutes. What you want more than the time is a nice auburn caramel color and a well set bark. You should be able to grab it with a gloved hand and have nothing transfer beside just oils (no rub transfer). There should also be minimal bone exposure at this point. If they are poking out a bunch, you'll want to cut the wrap time down significantly.

Lay out a double layer of heavy duty foil, and begin by adding some Parkay (squeeze butter), a few spoonful's of Turbinado Sugar (aka raw sugar), Tiger Sauce (a sweet spicy sauce), a sprinkle of the rub (including some coffee grounds), and some Texas Bird Bath ("Texas Pepper Jelly" brand, which is essentially just peach and mango preserves with sugar. Despite its name, it is actually for ribs)

Place the ribs in meat side down, then apply the same mix to the bone side liberally. Wrap the ribs up nice and tight and on to the smoker for 2 hours at 230-240. Be sure to wrap with folds/openings in an upward direction to avoid leaks, and fold (don't roll) everything together so you can check without ripping the foil.

Begin checking the ribs about 20 minutes before the 2 hour mark. I still don't do my ribs by temp, I've done it both ways, but the timing here works perfect for me if you're picking consistently sized ribs, and have good temperature control. Basically what you are looking for is for the bones to be partially exposed (some racks will push out more than others), and perform a "twist test" on a couple of the bones, where it feels like you could twist it out with a bit of force, but wont just pull right out under the weight of the surrounding ribs.

Once you are happy with the bone pull/twist test, pull the ribs out of the cooker (wrapped back up in the foil), and let them rest out on the counter for 20 minutes. Carefully remove the wrapping and strain the juices from the foil into a container (set aside for later). Set the ribs bone side down onto a your cutting board and let them rest another 3-5 minutes to set up the sauces on the top.

Please note: If you are trying to store them a couple hours now for a party, do not rest them, just open the foil (save the sauce and discard the foil), wrap them in plastic wrap, wrap up in old towels/blankets and into a cooler for up to 2-3 hours. (be sure to still save the drippings for the next steps. You may need to refrigerate the drippings for food safety)

Once you're ready to serve, drizzle some of the reserved foil sauce onto the top, and place the ribs meat side down (easier to get a good even cut) and slice. No sauce is needed for these ribs, even for sauce lovers. The drippings from the foil will be all you need to moisten them up. You may wish to dip or brush each rib into the sauce, or just serve it on the side. Keep in mind that the basic ingredients of the rub, and sauces you've added are essentially a BBQ sauce already.

Most importantly: Dig in and enjoy!

PS: These were smoked using a mix of Oak and Pecan. Ribs are great with fruit woods as well.

Welcome to La Luna BBQ! This site was created for the sharing of BBQ tips, tricks, recipes, videos, and anything else BBQ that catches my eye!

La Luna BBQ is essentially a dream-stage project, which will hopefully come to fruition over time. I am trying to build a small network, and following in order to help myself learn more about BBQ and the BBQ community. Additionally, to build a future support and exposure base for future ventures including my dream of owning a food service business, and to compete in local and national contests with my mouth watering BBQ recipes and techniques.

I have been cooking and creating since i was a young child, and my parents and 10 siblings were a constant support and often the unwitting recipients of a food failure. My strength and passion is in creating without the constraints of set recipes. Making something new, and trying new things, parings or techniques as i go.

I have been involved with BBQ, smoking and processing meat, curing and preserving meat to carrying degrees for most of my adult life, and more recently honed and cultivated my smoking skills and recipes into something that i feel is a unique take on traditional BBQ; combining styles and techniques from various regional traditions. I have skills and background in more modern cooking techniques, and openly welcome and use them to create unexpected results in BBQ.

I am certainly new to the BBQ community, and i am constantly learning things i never knew living in Utah, a less predominant BBQ state. I would love the opportunity to learn from more experienced BBQ fanatics and pit masters as i go through this process, and i encourage, and plead for your feedback, and comments on my various posts and videos.

This site may not see a lot of action or updates itself, but please see my Facebook page, and Youtube channel for regular updates. Essentially this is more of a placeholder for future ventures and dreams.

I hope you enjoy this ride with me!