If you're looking for a crowd-pleasing recipe, look no further than this Pioneer Woman brisket recipe.
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While brisket recipes smoked on a wood pellet grill or traditional smoker may be getting a lot of fanfare these days, old-fashioned oven-baked brisket should not be forgotten.
This Pioneer Woman brisket recipe is no exception. Ultra-tender, loaded with flavor and slowly braised for hours in a simple overnight marinade, Ree Drummond’s brisket recipe is a streamlined take on this classic homestyle favorite.
Let’s see how it stacks up to other Pioneer Woman recipes (like her fabulous million dollar dip).
How to Make The Pioneer Woman’s Brisket
Lauren Habermehl for Taste of Home, GETTY IMAGES
First time buying brisket? Look for a good grade of meat and a cut that has an even thickness and width from end to end. This ensures even cooking and will prevent one end from drying out while in the oven. A great brisket should also have a generous 1/4-inch (or even 1/2-inch) thick fat cap on one side and visible fat marbling on the other. More fat equals more flavor!
Ingredients
Directions
Step 1: Marinade the brisket
In a large roasting pan, combine the beef consomme, soy sauce, lemon juice, liquid smoke and garlic. With the fat side up, lay the brisket in the marinade. Cover the pan tightly with foil and let the brisket marinate for 24 to 48 hours in the refrigerator.
Preheat the oven to 300°F. Transfer the foil-covered roasting pan to the oven and braise the brisket for 6 to 7 hours (about 40 minutes per pound). You’ll know the brisket is done when the meat is tender and easily shreds with a fork.
Editor’s Tip: While “fall-apart tender” is often used to describe brisket, you don’t actually want the brisket to fall apart once cooked. That’s a sign that the brisket was overcooked. A perfectly cooked brisket should still require some gentle pull when carving.
Step 3: Slice and serve
Transfer the brisket to a cutting board. Then, slice against the grain (it’s a top trick to make tough meat tender) and return the slices back to the juices in the pan. Serve warm, spooning reserved juices over the slices. If you’re into barbecue, Ree also recommends slathering with good barbecue sauce. Enjoy!
Here’s What I Thought
Lauren Habermehl for Taste of Home
This was hands-down the easiest brisket recipe I have ever made. I loved that it required very minimal prep work, and the oven did all the heavy lifting for me. All I really had to do was slice, serve and enjoy!
While this brisket recipe does come out super flavorful and tender, it is a bit on the salty side due to the amount of beef consomme and soy sauce used in the marinade. If you’re sensitive to salty foods, serve the brisket with a side of honey barbecue to balance the flavors.
Next time, I would add about 1/4 cup of honey, brown sugar or maple syrup to the marinade to give the brisket just a little sweetness that’s similar to the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel brisket recipe that I love.
Tips for Making The Pioneer Woman Brisket
Why is slow-cooking brisket necessary?
Brisket is a tough, muscular cut of beef that comes from a hard-working area of the steer. This means that, while flavorful, brisket tends to be tough unless cooked low and slow (like our favorite slow-cooked oven ribs). Whether smoked or braised, a low and slow cooking method helps the brisket retain moisture, render fat and relax the connective tissue to make a juicy, flavorful and tender dish.
What should you pair with The Pioneer Woman brisket?
Pair this braised brisket with an array of side dishes. Choose southern favorites like baked beans and skillet cornbread or other comfort foods like The Pioneer Woman’s mashed potatoes or baked mac and cheese. You really can’t go wrong!
What should you do with leftover brisket?
Keep leftover brisket refrigerated in an airtight storage container for 3-5 days. Enjoy chilled, at room temperature or reheated. Leftover brisket is especially good shredded and mixed into chili, stuffed into a baked potato or rolled up in tortillas and baked with homemade enchilada sauce.
Wrapping this brisket in foil to capture any dripping that come out plus adding beef broth will give us a lot of liquid to ensure this brisket stays moist. Continue to cook the brisket until the flat is probe tender which is typically around 203 internal.
Place brisket, fat-side down, on grill rack over pan.Cover and smoke according to your recipe, or 4 to 5 hours until the brisket reaches 185°F to 190°F and is tender. Turn once halfway through smoking. Add additional coals and water as needed to maintain temperature and moisture.
The point cut is preferred for making shredded brisket, but don't sweat it: You can use either point or flat cut with great results. Brisket is a classic for beef tacos. Here it's slow simmered with abundant spices, then sliced and simmered some more before it's piled into tortillas.
The brisket is made up of two different muscles: the point and the flat. The point cut is the fatty part of the brisket, which is called the deckle. The flat cut, also known as "first cut", has the deckle removed, which makes it leaner and causes it to lay flat.
When placing your meat, make sure the fattest side is facing upward. You want to do this so that the fat can dribble down over the meat to keep a brisket moist and juicy for longer.
Often used for other meats that require long, slow cooking on the barbecue, such as ribs, the 3-2-1 method essentially involves firstly smoking the meat as it is for three hours, wrapping it for the second two hours, and finally finishing the cooking unwrapped for the last hour.
The point has extremely tender meat, to the point it falls apart, and it's also bursting with incredible flavor. The only difference is that the fat content is a lot, which means you'll have less meat to work with.
When buying brisket at the grocery store, it is typically labeled as "beef brisket." It's a specific cut of meat that comes from the lower chest area of a cow. You might also find variations like "whole brisket", "brisket flat cut", and "brisket point," which refer to different parts of the brisket.
Is brisket cheap compared to other cuts of beef? Despite becoming increasingly popular, an entire brisket still remains one of the cheapest cuts of beef to buy. Typically you can buy a whole-packer brisket for $3-6 dollars a pounds on average for choice grade. Prime grade and wagyu will be more expensive.
To set things straight, we're here to put an end to the confusion, so you can get back to the grill with confidence. For brisket cooked to flavorful perfection, fat-side-down is the way to go. This is the only way to achieve a brisket that is perfectly moist with a perfect bark on both sides.
Our general rule of thumb is to plan on between 30 and 60 minutes per pound when learning how to cook a brisket. For example, a 16-pound brisket cooked at 275 degrees Fahrenheit will take between 10 and 12 hours. The entire process from trimming, injection, seasoning, and cooking will take between 18 and 20 hours.
Keeping a water pan in the smoker is the best way to retain moisture. After the first 2-3 hours start spritzing your brisket with water, apple juice, hot sauce or apple cider vinegar every 30 minutes to an hour. This helps keep it moist and stops it from burning.
Moisture is key to reheating brisket, so you'll need to add some liquid to keep it from drying out. Reserved cooking juices, beef broth, and barbecue sauce are popular for reheating brisket. Other liquids that add flavor and moisture include apple juice, beer, and water.
Add broth or a mixture of broth and water, cover tightly with foil, and reheat in the oven at a low temperature (around 250°F) until warmed through. 2> Use a Slow Cooker: Place the brisket slices in a slow cooker with some liquid (like broth, barbecue sauce, or a vinegar-based sauce).
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