This recipe for Texas-Style Oven Braised Brisket is cross posted from Spring Forest Farm.
I’m from Texas and I love a good brisket. I don’t own a smoker, though. While I can make an excellent brisket on the grill, I found myself wanting a recipe for the oven. With this summer heat scorching away, the thought of standing over an open flame just melts me. It’s hot enough already. This is how I came to create a recipe for Texas-Style Oven Braised Brisket. You might say that heat was my motivation, or the desire to avoid heat. (I suppose that makes air conditioning my incentive.) However I got here, I like the results. This Texas-Style Oven Braised Brisket is flavorful, tender, and worthy of all the traditional barbecue sides.
THE BRISKET
A whole brisket is known for its two parts. There’s the flat and the tip, which together make a whole. For this recipe, I used a three pound flat which had been separated from the tip by the processor. The flat is generally the leaner side of a brisket. Often, it slices well. This one sort of fell apart while slicing. I used it as chopped beef, then.
A brisket flat from Costco or Sam’s Club will likely weigh 12-16 pounds, whereas a grass fed and finished brisket flat may only weigh 3-4 pounds. This difference comes from the way in which the cows are fed and finished. Feeding grain to cows makes them fatter quicker. It also makes for more marbled and fatty meat. Even though the cuts from a grass fed and finished cow are leaner, this three pound flat had a nice, thick fat cap along one side.
THE DRY RUB
This dry rub is probably comparable to most barbecue dry rubs. Instead of brown sugar, however, I used a bit of maple syrup after applying the rub. The maple syrup used in this recipe lends a little bit of sweetness to cut the spiciness of the powders. It also helps to caramelize the top of the brisket.
Because I left the fat cap on for cooking, much of the rub was cut away before serving. The cayenne in this dry rub packs a kick if you get a large bite of rub on any one piece. When it’s well distributed along each bite of brisket, this is a perfect ratio for my family. If you like things a little more mild, I would cut the cayenne powder in half.
The first image is with the rub and maple syrup added. The second image is after the first hour of cooking.
THE PROCESS
If you’d like to trim anything from your brisket before cooking, you may begin with that step. Mine looked pretty good straight from the package. I only trimmed a few pieces of fat from the underneath. You do not want to remove all of the fat. It’s needed for cooking as that is what makes the final product moist and tender. I left the entire top side of fat intact for cooking. After any trimming, dry the meat off with a paper towel.
Mix the dry rub together in a bowl, minus the maple syrup. Apply the dry rub to the entire brisket and then lay the brisket in a roaster with the fat cap facing up. You do not need a rack to elevate the brisket. If using maple syrup, just drizzle a tablespoon or two across the top of the brisket.
I roasted the brisket, uncovered, at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for one hour. I then removed it from the oven to add beef stock to the pan. You want to bring the stock up to about an inch and a half of depth. In my pan, that was about three cups of stock. At this point, I covered the brisket with a lid and returned it to the oven for two hours. At that mark, I removed it once again. I added another three cups of beef stock as most of the stock had caramelized at the bottom of the pan. I returned the brisket to the oven for another two hours, but also lowered the temperature to 250 degrees Fahrenheit to complete the cooking process.
CUTTING AND SERVING THE BRISKET
After removing the cooked brisket from the oven, I moved the meat to a glass cutting board and allowed it to rest for 10-15 minutes. When it was time to slice, I began by removing the fat that remained across the top of the brisket. Some people slice this right into the meat. I like a leaner cut, so I take it off. You want the brisket to be placed long across the cutting board, so that when you slice, you cut across the grain. This brisket (as pictured) was so tender that I only got a few slices before the rest just pulled apart. If that happens, serve as chopped beef rather than complete slices. Both taste amazing. The sauce remaining in the pan is rich and flavorful. You can pour some over the brisket before serving.
How to Make Texas-Style Oven Braised Brisket
Ingredients
- Roaster or Brasier
- 3-4 lb. brisket flat
- 1 tbsp. chili powder
- 1 tbsp. smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp. sea salt
- 2 tsp. garlic powder
- 2 tsp. cumin
- 2 tsp. coriander
- 1 tsp. white pepper
- 1 tsp. cayenne powder (cut in half for a more mild rub)
- 1-2 tbsp. maple syrup (optional)
- 3-4 c. beef stock
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Remove the brisket flat from packaging. Trim as you wish, but leave the upper fat cap intact. After trimming, pat the brisket dry with a paper towel.
- Mix all of the dry rub ingredients from chili powder to the the cayenne. Pour the dry rub over the meat, covering each side well. Use your hands to pat it firmly onto the meat. After covering the brisket, place the brisket in a roasting or braising pan with the fat cap facing up. There’s no need for a rack to elevate the brisket.
- If using maple syrup to complement the spiciness of the rub and caramelize the brisket, pour 1-2 tablespoons of maple syrup over the top of the brisket. Then place the pan in the oven, uncovered, to cook for one hour.
- After an hour, remove the pan from the oven. Add beef stock so that there is about an inch and a half of liquid in the pan. This took 2-3 cups in my pan. Place a lid or tinfoil over the brisket. Return it to the oven for two hours.
- After two hours, remove the brisket from the oven again. Add additional liquid as necessary. I found that my original beef stock had mostly caramelized, so I added another 1-2 cups at this point. Cover the brisket again and return it to the oven. Reduce the heat to 250 degrees Fahrenheit and cook for a final two hours.
- After cooking the brisket, remove the brisket from the pan and move it to a cutting board. Allow it to rest for 10-15 minutes. After resting, remove the fat from the top of the brisket if you desire a very lean cut. With the brisket positioned long-ways across the cutting board, slice against the grain of the meat. If the slices fall apart, opt for chopped brisket instead of neat slices. For serving, you may pour some of the pan sauce over each portion.
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