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Texas Smoked Beef Brisket

Adapted from Jason Dady, chef, Two Bros. BBQ Market, San Antonio, Texas

Although this is not the most traditional barbecue brisket recipe around, it still holds true to the classic Central Texas method: low and slow cooking until the meat is supertender. Sauce is usually not part of the equation here (though it’s sometimes used in Eastern Texas). In place of the chili powder in a more traditional Texas spice rub, Dady uses gochujang, a Korean red pepper paste with a flavor similar to sriracha. It’s available in Asian markets and well-stocked supermarkets.

Ingredients

5–6 pounds beef brisket
½ cup gochujang (preferably Sunchang-style)
½ cup fresh-ground black pepper
½ cup kosher salt

Directions

Trim excess fat off brisket, leaving an even layer of fat on top. Rub liberally with gochujang. Marinate 2 hours.

Heat smoker to 225˚F.

Rub black pepper and salt into brisket. Smoke on low heat until tender, approximately 8–10 hours.

Remove meat from smoker. Let rest at least 15 minutes. Slice brisket against grain. Serves 10–12.

Pair It

June Rodil, beverage director for McGuire Moorman Hospitality in Austin, which includes Lamberts Barbecue, provides wine recommendations. Daisy Ryan, the assistant beverage director, provides beer and cocktail pairing ideas.

Wine “Texas BBQ is like the butter of the BBQ world,” says Rodil. “It’s glistening and succulent, and is likely a reason for a long afternoon nap.” To counter that, she recommends Cru Beaujolais as the ideal pick-me-up. “The austere and surprisingly powerful tannins of a Cru Beaujolais combats the fat with agility and leaves behind a punch of bright red fruit like pomegranates, Bing cherries and ripe raspberries.”

Rodil’s pick Lapierre Morgon

Beer “German classic styles really shine with Texas BBQ, perhaps because there were a lot of early German settlers in Texas,” says Ryan. Dark, smoky Rauchbier is a particularly harmonious combination with smoked meat, he says.

Ryan’s pick Anything made at Schlenkerla, a “smoked beer” brewery in Bamberg, Germany.

Cocktail Ryan’s spirit pick is a smoky mezcal, especially if mixed into a Mezcal Margarita (mezcal and Tequila, lime, agave).

Meet the Celebrity Chef: Jason Dady

Texas native Jason Dady isn’t known exclusively for barbecue. Dady’s known for a diverse group of San Antonio restaurants that include Tuscan-inspired flagship Tre Trattoria and a Spanish tapas bar, The Bin.

But when he opened Two Bros. BBQ Market in 2008, along with his brother, Jake Dady, he had a vision for a family-friendly BBQ restaurant complete with a playground and sandbox for kids. It’s a bit pricier than the typical ’cue joint, but you can’t be mad at a place that also serves deep-fried strawberry pies.

“Being in San Antonio, we felt that the barbecue options at that time didn’t live up to the picture of what we though barbeque should be,” says Dady. “We found a really good location, and we had decided that we were just going to jump into it.”