One 10-12 lb. whole beef brisket. Trim the fat to ¼” thickness
2/3 cup Arawak Farm Dry Rub/Spice Blend #1
Equipment: Gas Grill
Gas grill with a full propane tank and a drip tray
Eight (8) cups all-natural hardwood chips, preferably Hickory, for smoking
A smoker box
A grill or analog thermometer (recommended even if your grill has one)
Preparation
Order the brisket from your butcher shop or grocery store meat counter. Most brisket sold is typically not whole. Ask them to trim the surrounding fat to ¼”. This protects the meat from drying out!
At least an hour before preparing the grill, place brisket on a rimmed baking sheet. Rub the brisket all over. It should look like sand stuck to the meat without being cakey! Let the meat stand at room temperature for one (1) hour.
Meanwhile soak six (6) cups of the hardwood chips in a bowl of water for at least 30 minutes or overnight. Leave in the water throughout the entire cooking process. Keep remaining 2 cups of chips dry. If you are using a three-burner grill, light only one burner on either end. Make sure drip tray is empty because a lot of fat will render.
Place smoker box over the lit burner and add ½ cup of soaked wood chips to box, and close grill cover. Adjust heat as needed to keep temperature at 225-250 degrees. The wood chips should begin to smolder and release a steady stream of smoke. To get more smoke without increasing grill heat, add a few dry chips to the soaked ones in the box.
Place brisket, fatty side up, on grill grate as far away from the lit burner as possible. Cover the grill and smoke meat. Resist the urge to open the grill cover often, as this will cause the temperature to fluctuate. Adjust heat as needed to keep temperature steady at 225-250 degrees.
Keep smoking the brisket and rotate every three (3) hours and flipping as needed if top or bottom is coloring faster than the other, until meat is very tender but not falling apart and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat reads 195-205 degrees…about 10-12 hours!
Transfer brisket to carving board and let it rest at least 30 minutes. Slice brisket against the grain about ¼” thick.
