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.
Christin,
This looks so good and like another comment doing a trial run with a 3lb brisket. Curious , why fat side down for the first 4 hours? Being from Texas 🙂 most recipes say fat side up to keep moist.
This looks like a super nice recipe. I’ve bookmarked it to cook when I cant get outside to cook my brisket on the Kamado.
Also – have you tried marinating the brisket in a touch of liquid smoke prior? This will add to the smokey flavour more so then the bacon….. helping to fool people even more! 🙂
This recipe is amazing!! I made it on Sunday to rave reviews. The sauce is flavor, built upon flavor, built upon flavor. Aprons off to you Christin. Thank you for sharing!!
Hello Christin, all the way from down under! Perth Western Australia.
This recipe looks wonderful, I will be trying it out on the weekend.
Cheers
Andrea
This recipe is outstanding. A little time intensive but worth every minute. The progression of cooking steps were very clear and easy to execute. When I took my 6 lb brisket out of the oven and tasted it…… OMG…..like butter!!
The sauce is perfect also. Thank you for this 5 star recipe and for sharing.
I’ll be making this on Saturday, and I am super excited! I was wondering if I would have to make any changes if I cook it in a smoker instead of an oven?
I’ve never made it in a smoker Karen, so I’m not sure. Good luck!
Christin, just bought my first brisket today and I’m going to use this recipe….hope it works out
Hope it works too Joe!!
Saw this recipe about 2 weeks ago and haven’t been able to get it off my mind. I’m a half hour away from flipping this over and the house smells SO amazing. If it tastes even half as good as it smells, I’ll be in brisket heaven!
OK- this was beyond good! Totally making this again many times. I could cut it with my fork – would be great on sandwiches too. Since it’s just me there are leftovers – already looking forward to those as well. Yum and thank you for the recipe! SO good!
So glad you enjoyed it Sue! The leftovers are just as good! 🙂
Saw this recipe about 2 weeks ago and haven’t been able to get it off my mine. I’m a half hour away from flipping this over and the house smells SO amazing. If it tastes even half as good as it smells, I’ll be in brisket heaven!
This was a very big hit. I’ll be making it for a big family dinner soon.
OMG! I am making this right now and it is fantastic.