This Oven-Barbecued Beef Brisket is so smokey, tender, and juicy. No one will ever guess it wasn’t cooked on the grill.
We are very partial to pork in the Carolinas and I truthfully haven’t eaten a whole lot of beef brisket in my life.
But this Oven-Barbecued Beef Brisket. OMG!
This is a recipe from Cook’s Illustrated and it makes THE most flavorful brisket.
It is one of the most scrumptious pieces of meat I have ever tasted and I think it has the potential to create quite a few brisket lovers.
The brisket is coated in a rub and completely wrapped in bacon – 1 full pound of bacon- and slow-cooked in the oven. The smokey flavor of the bacon really penetrates into the meat and all that pork fat coating the beef brisket really adds to its flavor.
So much smokiness that it will fool most people into thinking this brisket was cooked on the grill or in a smoker.
Once the brisket has cooked fully, the bacon is removed and serves double duty as a flavoring for the BBQ sauce. The meat is then broiled to give it a nice char to complement the smokey flavor.
A super flavorful sauce that is both sweet and spicy is made from the bacon, which is finely chopped, cider vinegar, dark brown sugar, chicken broth, ketchup, and chipotle peppers. Once cooked, you can strain the sauce and discard the bacon, or I like to strain half of the sauce and then add it back to the saucepan. This way, there’s still some bacon, but it’s not an overwhelming amount.
Leftovers heat up well and this would be a good thing to cook in advance if you are having dinner guests. If you are just feeding your family, you can get multiple meals from this Oven-Barbecued Brisket. No kidding, I usually manage to get 3 meals out of it. Leftovers can be made into Brisket Grilled Cheese Sandwiches or Brisket Nachos.
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Watch the short video below to see how to make Oven Barbecued Beef Brisket.
Oven-Barbecued Beef Brisket
Ingredients
Rub
- 1 1/2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons paprika
- 2 teaspoons dry mustard
- 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Brisket
- 1 (4-5 pounds) brisket roast – if there is a thick layer of fat, trim it down to 1/4 inch
- 1 pound bacon
Sauce
- reserved bacon from cooked brisket
- 1 onion,, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup cider vinegar
- 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1-2 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 4 teaspoons canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce,, minced
Instructions
- Make the rub. Mix all ingredients well in a small bowl and set aside.
- Place oven rack in upper-middle position and heat oven to 275 degrees. Rub dry rub all over brisket and poke holes all over with a fork. Place half of bacon going crosswise in a broiler safe 9 by 13-inch pan (it’s best not to use glass). Put brisket fat side down on top of bacon. Lay the rest of the bacon crosswise on top of brisket, wrapping it down around the sides, and tucking any excess under. Cover pan with foil and place in oven for 4 hours.
- Take pan out of oven. Carefully flip brisket over, fat side up. Replace foil and return to oven. Turn off heat and leave brisket in oven 1 additional hour.
- Pour accumulated juices from brisket into large measuring cup or a bowl. Remove bacon from brisket and chop into pieces. Cook bacon in medium saucepan over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until fat has rendered. Add onion and cook until softened, 4-5 minutes. Take off heat and add vinegar and dark brown sugar. Return to heat and simmer until reduced to a syrupy consistency, about 5 minutes.
- Skim fat from accumulated juices and add chicken broth to make a total of 3 cups. Add to mixture in saucepan and reduce until about 3 cups in volume, 8-10 minutes. Take off heat and add ketchup. Mix well and strain if desired. (I like to strain about half the solid pieces out and leave the rest). After straining, add chipotle peppers.
- Turn oven to broil. Brush brisket with 1 cup sauce and broil until top is lightly browned and fat starts to crisp. Cut brisket against the grain into 1/4-inch slices and serve with extra sauce.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe adapted slightly from Cook’s Illustrated.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
Great recipe! But one question:
When it says return to oven then turn off for one hour, is this to continue cooking it, or just a way to rest it and keep it out of the way? I have a fan oven which will remove the heat quickly so would be good to understand the motive.
Thanks 🙂
I’m from texas and our sauce is a bit different than this , but this method was spot on and was a fantastic alternative to the grill.
I just tried this with a 2 lbs brisket, but only cooked it for 2 hours with the 1 hour flip with no heat (in the warm) oven. It came out “tough”. It was fully cooked, at 180ish at the 2 hour mark. Did I overheat it, or does it become softer over time?
P.S. the flavor of the sauce was on quality of the fancy places that make this and charge you a million dollars.
Second question though, is the sauce supposed to be super chunky??? Obviously there is a ton of bacon and onions in it, but at some point they talk about it being a syrup consistency. Then skimming things out. I was confused with that while process.
There are a few things that can affect it. If you cook for so long it’s going to be well done. If that’s the case I would cook an extra hour like they suggested. Secondly an important thing is to rest the meat. I usually take it out stand alone for about 30min – 1 hour.
Here’s an advice by LYUBA from will cook for smiles:
Place the brisket, fat cap up, in the middle of aluminum foil prepared in the roasting pan. Bring the aluminum foil together and close it, covering the brisket loosely, leaving a little space between the brisket and the foil.
Place in the oven and bake for about an hour and 15 minutes per pound, until the brisket reaches 185°. Use a meat thermometer to measure the thickest part of the brisket.
Open the foil and bake brisket for another 45 minutes to an hour, until internal temperature reaches 200-202°.
Take the brisket out onto the cutting board, tent it with a sheet of foil, and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Make sure to cut the brisket against the grain.
Usually two things cause it to be tough: undercooking and not resting the meat. I’ve done medium rare brisket because I lacked the time and my cut is super fat – couldn’t find leaner brisket till now – so depending on recipe you can get away with a lesser cooked brisket.
What I’d say is if you’re going to fully cook it, cook an extra hour if it’s not tender yet. Google per pound how long should it be cooked. And rest it for 30 minutes. It will give the meat time to cool and let the juices out while it tenders. Does wonders to it.
Here’s advice by LYUBA from another site:
Place the brisket, fat cap up, in the middle of aluminum foil prepared in the roasting pan. Bring the aluminum foil together and close it, covering the brisket loosely, leaving a little space between the brisket and the foil.
Place in the oven and bake for about an hour and 15 minutes per pound, until the brisket reaches 185°. Use a meat thermometer to measure the thickest part of the brisket.
Open the foil and bake brisket for another 45 minutes to an hour, until internal temperature reaches 200-202°.
Take the brisket out onto the cutting board, tent it with a sheet of foil, and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Make sure to cut the brisket against the grain.
I cook brisket several times a year in the oven. Cooking it low and slow is an absolute must. I cook even lower at 200 – 250 degrees. Mine literally falls apart, and is so delicious! For me, when is it done? When it’s falling apart. May not be to everyone’s taste, but I guarantee you, I never have any left! People beg to take some home! I will be trying this recipe and cooking it my way.
I just put this in the oven. I added the onions in the pan. Do I need juice or will the bacon fat keep everytjhing from burning?
I found this recipe months ago and have made it several times. I have a 7 pound brisket in the oven, as I type this. For someone who can’t grill (me) and who wants to cook brisket, this is the recipe. The brisket grilled cheese sandwiches and brisket nachos are scrumptious!
The best brisket we’ve ever had. Didn’t change much at all except omitted onions and chicken stock. Cooked at 230 for 4ish hours (200 degrees) off for one and then broiled for about 15 min. The sauce is incredible.
Can anyone advise how long to cook a smaller (1.7lb) joint for? This recipe is exactly what I’m looking for!
I always make this recipe with a 2-2.25 lb brisket with half the amount of rub, and bake for 3 hrs on the first side instead of the 4 hrs, and follow the rest of the recipe, flipping it over and leaving in the oven turned off for 1 hr and it comes out amazing.
I just tried this with a 2 lbs brisket, but only cooked it for 2 hours with the 1 hour flip with no heat (in the warm) oven. It came out “tough”. It was fully cooked, at 180ish at the 2 hour mark. Did I overheat it, or does it become softer over time?
With Brisket you want to get the internal temp to 198-203°. When the probe goes in like going through hot butter, it’s ready.
My roommate came home this morning with a 15lb whole brisket. It was originally priced at $84.59. He got it for around $15.00. $22.00 plus his 10% discount. ( he’s in the meat dept at the local grocery).
He shouted out “hey do you have the stuff to make one of these?”
Now he thought this was an hour or so deal. Ha ha ha .
I knew brisket was low and slow. My dad’s bbq team actually placed with their brisket recipe. So of course I text my mom with the good price and a request for my dad’s recipe. After waiting 30 min I take matters into my own hands. I Google 5 star brisket and Google finished my sentence. I read a couple of recipes then hit this fabulous golden keeper.
I cut that huge hunk of meat into 3 nice sized roasts. 1 to the freezer, 2 others into separate roasting pans. Followed directions exactly.
Sliced that bad boy with the dang fork. So tender, so rich, so good.
Roommate just walked by… with mouth full… saying oh my g… so good.
I also gave him a longer ready time, so when it was ready on time, it looked like I was like a kitchen God who could provide results with a windfall piece of meat during covid quarantine.
Five star for your comment girl I felt like I was in your shoe and your roommates for I was the buyer spent less than what I saved thing is I cooked the whole 16lbs I’m nervous because I went thru sorta the same thing, except my wait and search ranged ’round 3 hours compared to your 30 min +googling wait. Favorite tip or advice “don’t over think it” in my case, too late. Oh and ” flat had the point and the point is round, lol. So finally I got enough info n more importantly kahona’s to start da bugga. Guess what? I’ts still cooking, Oooooh…. We’ll have to wait. In closing it’s my first time and I certainly hope it’s not my last time. I just really liked your post. Happy holidays. ..
Thanks for sharing this recipe… great way to learn how to do bbq at home
Can’t wait to try this! We don’t care much for pork, can another kind of bacon be used, what do you recommend?
We don’t eat pork either. We get turkey bacon from Costco, it is a thicker cut of turkey bacon and it comes out perfect