Beef Brisket

I just made a beef brisket on Sunday and thought I should write down how I did it. We bought a side of beef last year and I still hadn't cooked either of the briskets, mostly because I didn't quite know what to do with it. I read recipe after recipe online and kind of settled on a method. Here it is:

1 beef brisket (mine was 3.8 lbs)
garlic powder
onion powder
liquid smoke
Worcestershire sauce
kosher salt

I started by putting the meat in a 9x13 pan and dousing one side with the liquid smoke. Then I generously sprinkled the onion and garlic powders and the salt over it and rubbed it in with my hand. I did the same thing with the other side. Then I covered it with plastic wrap and let it sit overnight in the fridge.

Most of the recipes that I read said to cook it for ~1 hour per pound, so I started it at about 12:00 for dinner (you need more time for cooling, etc.) Right before I put it in the oven, I remembered that I had forgotten the Worcestershire sauce, so I splashed it on right before going in the oven. I swapped out the plastic wrap for foil and made sure that it was on there good and tight. I cooked it at 275* for 4 hours (or until the thermometer reads 170). Some recipes said to add water/beef broth, but I'm glad I didn't because there was plenty of juices in the pan when it came out.

I let it sit in the pan for about an hour to cool and soak the juice back up. I took it out and used the meat slicer that I have to thinly slice it across the grain. Then I put it back in the pan with the juice, poured Jack Daniel's Original No. 7 sauce (soooo good) on the top and cooked it for about another 30 minutes. You could eat it plain, but we put it on big, soft buns from the Walmart bakery, along with more BBQ sauce.

It was so tender, Natalie was cutting it with a plastic fork. I have one more brisket left and I definitely plan on making it this way again! And soon!

Also, I had a hard time figuring out how many people this would serve. My 3.8lb cut, sliced up and put on sandwiches, fed 6 adults and a handful of kids, with leftovers.