OT: Cooking a Brisket

Here’s the recipe we use and love!

Roasted Beef Brisket
Makes 12-16 hearty servings

5 pounds fresh brisket (not rolled), well trimmed
4 garlic cloves, peeled
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup water
1 large onion
3 small bay leaves

The night before serving, place the brisket in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. In a saucer, mash the garlic with the salt. Add the paprika, pepper, and lemon juice and combine. Spread on both sides of the meat. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

To roast, preheat oven to 425* F. Coat a heavy roasting pan with vegetable spray and place the meat in it, fat side up. Add 1/2 cup water and bake, uncovered, for about 45 minutes, or until the roast is nicely browned. Add more water if necessary – you don’t want the drippings in the bottom of the pan to scorch.

Slice the onion and place it on top of the roast. Add an additional cup of water and the bay leaves. Cover, reduce oven temperature to 325* F, and bake it a total of 3 hours longer. Add more water from time to time – you want plenty of pan juices, but the roast shouldn’t be swimming in liquid, either.

After it has cooked for 1 1/2 hours, remove the meat from the oven, place on a carving board, and slice thinly. Return meat to pan, putting it back in its original shape as neatly as you can. Spoon some pan juices over it and bake for 1 1/2 hours longer, watching it carefully so it doesn’t bake dry. Serve with pan juices.

Note: By slicing the roast when it is partially done, you’ll have neater slices that hold together when served, and you save last-minute preparation time.

Recipe taken from Cooking from Quilt Country: Hearty Recipes from Amish and Mennonite Kitchens by Marcia Adams.

Ok. I’m from Texas, but I use my crockpot to make an easy brisket that turns out better than a roast. I have two favorite recipes for cooking a 4# trimmed brisket.  

4# brisket, trimmed

Fajita spice sprinkled all over brisket.

Half a large onion, sliced in bottom of crockpot.

Place brisket on top of onions.  Slice other half of onion and lay on top of brisket. 

Cook on low all day. (10 hours)

Serve au jus. 

Yum!

I think fajita spice is basically pepper, salt, lemon, and garlic powder. 

The other recipe uses the same size brisket. 

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. dry mustard

2 tsp. paprika

1/8 tsp. pepper

1/2-1 tsp. garlic powder (I use 1)

Combine seasonings until well blended. Rub into trimmed brisket. Place in crock fat side up. Cook on low 10-12 hours. Serve au jus. 

Enjoy!

We’ve done this recipe a couple times: http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/beef-brisket-53232.aspx

I can’t ever get them to fit in my crock-pot, so I’ve used a roaster or the oven.