A whole packer brisket, salt and pepper, oak and pecan, and most of a day. Fat left on, wrapped when the bark is right, and judged by feel rather than by the clock.
Start the night before
A brisket is an all-nighter. Season it the same day you smoke it, get the pit up before the meat goes on, and plan for it to run longer than you think — a rested brisket holds beautifully, an unfinished one does not.
Buy a whole brisket rather than a flat or a point, and buy the biggest one you can — a small brisket dries out. Leave the fat on and take the fat cap down only a little. The more fat you leave, the less of the brisket cooks dry, and the lean end is where that matters.
Dry the brisket off with paper or a kitchen towel. Spread a thin layer of mustard all over — you will not taste it, it is there to hold the rub on and help the bark. Then an even layer of rub with no clumps: season the top, flip and hit the bottom, then flip it back and patch any bald spots.
Season generously. Brisket takes salt better than almost anything, because the fat renders and carries it into the meat — which is exactly what the classic Texas salt-and-pepper taste is.
Get the pit up to 120°C. When the charcoal is ready, start with about eight chunks of oak and let them burn off before the meat goes anywhere near them.
Load the brisket in the centre of the pit, positioned so the fat end points toward the firebox. Give it hard smoke for the first three and a half to four hours, keeping it steady with wood. Every time the temperature starts to drop, add more charcoal and about four chunks of oak — knowing it will spike each time you do.
At the three-hour mark, start blending a pecan chunk into the oak. After four hours you can go to pecan and charcoal for another two to four hours, or until the bark is where you want it.
This is the fork in the road. If you are wrapping — and on a home smoker, or on a first brisket, you should — wait until the bark is set and the colour is a deep mahogany, at an internal temperature of about 80°C. Wrap it in butcher paper, put it back in the pit, and raise the heat to 130°C, cooking with charcoal alone. If you are not wrapping, switch to straight charcoal and hold the pit steady the rest of the way.
Once the brisket is wrapped, no more wood. Charcoal only from there.
From about the ten-hour mark, start checking. It should feel soft, with a loose jiggle on it, even through the paper. The fat should have softened up and relaxed. A thermometer will usually read around 90°C when it is right.
The internal temperature is a reference, not a rule. If the number is there but the brisket does not feel right, keep cooking.
Take the brisket out of the pit and let it rest. Unwrapped, give it at least twenty minutes. Wrapped, rest it in the paper for twenty minutes to an hour, then open the paper up and let it breathe for another twenty.
Use a serrated knife, or a good sharp carving knife. Cut down the centre against the grain, then slice backward toward the tip of the lean end — that is where the lean and the fat meet each other, and the best cuts are right there. Serve it warm rather than hot.
Do not carve the whole thing. Cut brisket has a horrible shelf life: it loses its colour and dries out fast. Carve only the parts you are about to eat.
Sometimes the brisket goes on late, there have been a few drinks, and staying up is not happening. After about eight hours, wrap it in aluminium foil, get the pit up to 150°C and go to bed. The temperature drops slowly through the night and the brisket sits there stable. You will still want a couple of hours on it in the morning — but you got some sleep.