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.
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.
Marinating is another option for smoked brisket. It is a general rule of thumb to marinate beef for a full 24 hours to ensure the fibers have absorbed the flavors as much as possible. For tender beef, you want to stick to an acid-based marinade, which is why lemon juice and vinegar are common choices.
Although the two brisket cuts can often be used interchangeably, the flat cut is most often used in braises that are sliced, like those popular on Jewish holidays and for corned beef. The fattier point cut, meanwhile, is preferred for pulled beef, beef sandwiches and smoked barbecued brisket.
Brisket is a popular Ashkenazi Jewish dish of braised beef brisket, served hot and traditionally accompanied by potato or other non-dairy kugel, latkes, and often preceded by matzo ball soup. It is commonly served for Jewish holidays such as Hanukkah, Passover, Rosh Hashanah, and Shabbat.
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.
Texas Crutch Method: The Texas crutch method involves wrapping the brisket tightly in foil or butcher paper during the cooking process. This helps retain moisture and speeds up the cooking time, resulting in a tender and flavorful brisket.
Slow cooking is a convenient method for cooking brisket. Season your brisket and place it in the slow cooker with some vegetables and broth. Cook on low heat for 8-10 hours or until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 90-95°C.
Now, coming to the point (jokes aside), the point is where almost all of the fat resides. This is a small and thick visible piece of connective tissue. Off the bat, the point consists of more flavor due to the amount of fat present. However, once the fat is cooked down, there's still a lot of meat leftover.
The three most well-known grades, in order from highest degree to lowest, are Prime, Choice, and Select. (There are grades lower than Select, but we'll leave those out of this discussion.) The beef is graded primarily on the marbling of the ribeye between the twelfth and thirteenth rib bones.
First off, you'd smoke or bake the brisket at 225 degrees for 3 hours; then you'd wrap it in foil and keep cooking it for 2 hours. Finally, uncovered and cook for 1 more hour before letting it rest for a few minutes prior serving.
Technically, filet mignon is as kosher as any other cut of meat. The problem with filet mignon and other cuts from the rear is that they are located near the sciatic nerve and fatty deposits known in Hebrew as chelev, which are Biblically forbidden.
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.
Wrapping a brisket in butcher paper or aluminum foil will speed up the cooking process. Wrapping the brisket will prevent what's called "the stall" — when evaporation from the surface of the brisket halts the cooking process.
Seasoned with Salt & Pepper: Traditionally speaking, Texas Smoked Brisket is seasoned with just Kosher Salt & Black Pepper on the surface of the meat. These tend to be finer grain seasonings as they will make a better bark that way. You can OPTIONALLY add Garlic Powder.
This is your brisket, after all. For a good sweet brisket rub, combine 1 part kosher salt, 1 part 16-mesh ground black pepper, 1/2 part sugar in the raw or pourable brown sugar and 1/4 part granulated garlic.
If you want to go with a marinade for your brisket plan on soaking the brisket in it for a good 24 hours to let the flavor deep into the meat. To make the meat more tender use an acid-based marinade. Try using lemon or lime juice or any type of vinegar. Add to this the seasoning of your choice.
During the cooking process, the surface of the brisket is exposed to heat, which causes the Maillard reaction to occur. This reaction creates a complex array of flavor compounds, including compounds that contribute to the meaty, savory flavors often associated with brisket.
If you're finding the rub isn't sticking to the meat, you can drizzle a bit of olive oil over the brisket and then add the rub, using your hands to evenly coat the meat.
Introduction: My name is Rueben Jacobs, I am a cooperative, beautiful, kind, comfortable, glamorous, open, magnificent person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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Lauren Habermehl for Taste of Home, GETTY IMAGES
Lauren Habermehl for Taste of Home