Because of this thread, I bought and cooked corned beef brisket last week. It was wonderful!! Very tender and very flavorful. I wondered why I don't cook them more often. Because of this thread I learned to buy a "flat." Until this thread, I did not know there was a difference, or even a choice. I opted for the long simmer in the oven, rather than the bake. I wanted something that would take little of my attention because I was in the middle of making the "car bomb" cupcakes. Rather than cooking the veggies with the brisket, I cooked them separately, mainly because I wanted to make skillet-roasted potatoes (not a fan of boiled potatoes). We got 2 meals out of it, then I got a corned beef sandwich and to finish up the "crumbs," I made a dab of corned beef salad to munch on with crackers. I ♥ CF

Your brisket was tough due to the cooking method. It is very important to realize that by cooking a beef brisket to 195 degrees F DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY MEAN A TENDER BRISKET. "How" you arrived at that final temperature is the whole secret. You must VERY slowly approach that final temperature by cooking it at about 225 degrees (never never any higher than 250 absolute max). This is what's called LOW AND SLOW smoking. "Magical" chemistry related things will happen to the fat and collagen when you cook it this way. Those very "flavorful" and "tenderizing" chemical reactions will not occur to any great extent by cooking it any other way. If you try to hurry the process along.....the magic will not happen. And believe me you don't want to miss the magic. IMO, brining a fresh brisket that is to be smoked is absolutely ridiculous. Brining will in no way shape or form produce a better tasting brisket than one that is cooked "Low and Slow". Low and slow means cooking at a low temperature around 225 degrees F for a long time. A good test to see if a brisket is done is to press your finger into the fattiest part of the meat. If it is soft and your finger doesn't have a problem penetrating, it's ready! In the future, take your brisket and season it literally JUST BEFORE you smoke it. Use Toni Chachere's Mo Spice seasoning mix if you can find it. It has less salt in it. DO NOT brine nor season your brisket the night before. There are very specific reasons for doing it this way. Smoke it with some chips (apple-wood is best) only for the first hour or so of the process. Keep the temperature in the cooking area around 225 until it is done. I cook mine to about 180 degrees then use the very reliable and accurate finger poking test. This very simple procedure will produce the most tender, the most juicy, and the most flavorful "beefy" tasting piece of meat that you have ever eaten. The external and internal fat whithin the brisket is "magically" broken down into a "sweet" tasting chemical sugar that only occurs at certain low temperatures. The fat that does not melt away will become "to die for" good tasting.....but, very unhealthy to eat too much of it. The converted fat residue that remains inside of the brisket muscle fibers will impart that wonderful beefy taste to the meat. And the collagen will have broken down to make the meat very tender. You simply CANNOT rush this process and try to hurry it up to arrive faster at the 190 desired end point. The brisket will be done when it passes the poke test. Again, the magic will not occur if you rush this process. FYI, an 8 pound brisket will take about 10 hours to get to that tender/juicy point. This is "extremely" easy to do in a temperature controlled "electric" smoker. However, it most certainly can be done on a BBQ pit. The real brisket experts over in Texas do it all the time. Sorry to hear that your brisket did not come out well. The cooks at Cook's Illustrated don't know much about cast iron pans either. Dan Semper Fi-cus

Low and slow. Iowagirl's would be good. A long time ago (look at the date! LOL) I posted about cooking a brisket for bison and this sounds pretty close to what I did..shred or sliced thin and made a BBQ sauce. Posted by jen_tx (My Page) on Thu, Jun 22, 06 at 12:19 I have a wonderful brisket recipe. It's from a cookbook called Stir Ups that the Junior Welfare League of Enid, OK put out. I usually make this in my roaster oven and put it out in the garage so it doesn't invade my dreams! Everytime I make it, it gets rave reviews. (I already had it typed out in Word, thank goodness!) BBQ Brisket 5-6 lb. Brisket (I use one with the fat trimmed off) Seasoning Salt Garlic Salt Worcestershire Sauce Pepper Sprinkle brisket generously with seasoning salt, garlic salt, Worcestershire sauce and pepper. Bake 30 minutes at 450°. (I put the brisket in a disposable pan with deep sides.) Cover brisket in foil and bake 7-8 hours at 225°. When done, pour juice off and chill both brisket and juice. Remove solidified fat from top of juice and slice brisket thinly. (an electric knife works best) Sauce: 1 C. Ketchup 1/3 C. Worcestershire Sauce ¾ C. Brown Sugar 1 Tbsp. Lemon juice For sauce: Use 2 cups of juice (add water if needed to make 2 cups). Combine all sauce ingredients with the 2 cups of juice from the cooked brisket and heat. Pour sauce over sliced brisket and heat in medium oven till hot

I have long been a proponent of using the cheapest brisket you can buy, so it's possible it was my post you saw. Boca Boys Brisket Rub: 2 tablespoons chili powder 2 teaspoons ground cumin 2 tablespoons paprika 1 teaspoon black pepper 1 tablespoon ground coriander 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 tablespoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper 1 tablespoon salt 1 tablespoon dried oregano Wash the brisket and rub every square inch with the rub. Wrap it in foil or Saran and leave it overnight in the fridge. Cook the following day, preferably in a smoker, but you can use an oven. Cook at 225 to 250 degrees until the internal temperature of the flat is 205 degrees. Remove from the cooker/oven and wrap in foil and it let sit in a hot box for a couple of hours. Done.