Texas Barbecue Brisket
Slow-cooked beef brisket in a sticky homemade barbecue sauce and spice rub, finished on the barbecue until tender and falling apart.
Ingredients
- About 5kg beef brisket
- 500ml beef stock
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 500ml tomato ketchup
- 100ml Worcestershire sauce
- 75ml 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 chilli powder
- 2 tbsp mustard powder
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- 1 bay leaf, crushed
Instructions
- To make the barbecue sauce, heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the onion and garlic for a few minutes until soft. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients with a good pinch of salt and simmer for 20 minutes. Blend with a hand blender or food processor to a smooth purée.
- Heat the oven to 150°C (130°C fan). Make the rub by mixing all the rub ingredients together with a pinch of salt. Rub all over the beef and set aside.
- In a large roasting tin, mix the beef stock with half the barbecue sauce. Add the brisket, cover tightly with foil, and cook for 4-5 hours until the meat is really tender when you push a fork into it. The beef can be prepared the night before — leave it to cool in the tin covered with foil, but don’t refrigerate.
- To finish, fire up the barbecue and wait until the coals are completely ashen for a low, not fierce, heat. Lift the beef onto the barbecue to char, lid closed if you have one, for about 20 minutes, turning carefully with tongs, until lightly charred all over and heated through. Rest on a board, then slice and serve with the remaining barbecue sauce on the side.