Simply Scrumptious Smoked Beef Brisket

If you've never had beef brisket before...  Oh! My! Goodness!!  I didn't grow up eating brisket, and I didn't know what I was missing!

I've shared my instructions for baked brisket, and you can read them here.  I don't have a smoker, so this week, I asked our son, Darren, to share his recipe for smoked brisket.  Here it is:

"When smoking a brisket, it's important to start with a quality piece of meat. That way, you don't have to do a lot to it in the way of seasoning. I smoked an Elm Run Farms grass-fed brisket this week and here's the extremely simple approach that I took...

"After this thick cut of meat was completely thawed, I removed it from the refrigerator and allowed it to sit at room temperature for about an hour. Then I rubbed it with simple mix of salt, pepper, and onion powder. This can be varied to suite anybody's taste, but I used equal parts salt and pepper, with a little less than half that much onion powder (2 parts salt, 2 parts pepper, one part or less onion powder). I rubbed a thin layer over the whole brisket, flipping it over for complete coverage.

"Smoking times, temperatures, and techniques vary from person to person, but I smoked this (3 and a half pound) brisket fat side UP for just over 5 and a half hours at about 250 degrees. I used hickory wood for the smoke and kept a water pan I the smoke chamber to maintain moisture. About 3 hours into the smoking process, and again about 4 and a half, I misted the brisket with apple cider vinegar... This also helps with moisture and adds a slight sweetness to the caramelized fat layer on top of the brisket.

"After the meat looked and felt done, which includes a little bit of char on the corners yet remaining tender and moist, I confirmed temperature with a meat thermometer (it was about 181) and pulled it off the smoker. I wrapped it up in foil (butcher paper works too) and let it rest for and hour or so before slicing into it. DELICIOUS! I'm going to have to pick up a few more of these briskets."