Slow-cooked brisket with barbecue sauce
Brisket is a lovely, if somewhat underused, cut of meat. It is a quite tough cut, so it should be cooked low and slow. Cooked properly though, it gives bags of flavour
SERVES
6
PEOPLE
PREP TIME
15
MINUTES
COOKING TIME
240
MINUTES
Ingredients
1.5kg buffalo or beef brisket
For the spice rub:
1 tbsp muscovado sugar
1 tsp onion salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp salt
1 ½ tsp smoked paprika
Fresh ground black pepper
For the barbecue sauce:
125ml apple cider vinegar
175ml tomato ketchup
2 tbsp tomato purée
75g muscovado sugar
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp flaky sea salt
1 tsp onion salt
1 tsp mustard powder
1½ tsp smoked paprika
2 garlic cloves, grated
250ml water
Method
Heat your oven to 160°C. Thoroughly combine all the ingredients for the spice rub in a bowl. Rub the mix all over your brisket and let it sit for at least thirty minutes.
Mix all the ingredients for the barbecue sauce in a casserole dish or a roasting dish with a lid. Put the meat into the dish with the sauce, cover, and roast for four hours, basting the meat with the sauce every hour. Your sauce should not reduce too much during that time, but if it is losing too much liquid, just add a little water.
After four hours, remove the meat and pour the sauce into a small pan. Simmer it over medium to low heat until it had reduced to the right consistency; you want a nice sticky, smooth, glossy barbecue sauce.
Pop the brisket under a hot grill, or flash it on a hot barbecue to caramelise the top. That will only take a few minutes, do not overdo it or you will burn the sugar in the spice rub and the sauce.
Carve the meat into slices and serve with your beautiful sticky barbecue sauce and favourite sides.
This keeps well and if you have any leftovers, they can be reheated and used for a quick lunch. Try it on some toasted sourdough topped with the barbecue sauce and some melted cheddar cheese with coleslaw or salad on the side.
