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.
Do you think it would be possible to brown the brisket and put everything in the crockpot? Just curious if anyone has tried this…
I cooked this on 4/14 for my husband and toddler. The sauce was absolutely insanely good (and dense!). How do you get the fat layer on the brisket to crisp up underneath the 1 cup of sauce? I feel like I should have broiled the brisket separately, before adding the 1 c of awesome sauce!
Tried this today! Absolutely delicious!! Wasn’t hard at all, just time consuming. So, worth the time! Yum!!
I made this for Christmas last year and it was a hit. Made a modified bbq sauce with black cherry vodka, bone broth, and the leftover bacon. Killer recipe! If you can find smoked sea salts it will add to the smokiness.
That sounds fabulous Abby! I am going to have to try it with black cherry vodka!
I made numerous mistakes making this recipe (nursing baby, toddler chaos, distracted mom lol) but this still turned out AMAZING. Like a WTF?! kind of good. I’m dying to try it again with a bigger cut of meat since I only had a 2.5 pounder and halving all the other aspects like the rub and the sauce proved tricky. I make a lot of stuff from scratch in my kitchen and I’m a pretty decent cook when I’m not interrupted every five seconds… but this what a truly memorable eating experience for everyone. Husband inhaled it. Toddler inhaled it. And I may have to the pry the bowl of strained bacon bits out of my husbands hands later.
That makes me so happy that y’all enyoyed it so much Samantha! Hope you get to try it again soon with a bigger cut of meat and without the distractions. 🙂
Samantha since you used 2.5lbs, do you recall how long you cooked it for about? I’m working with that size also.
Hello, I’m planning on making this brisket but am not a big fan of chipotle peppers. Can I make the sauce leaving them (and the adobo) out? Or is there a good replacement?? Thanks so much!!
Hi! I made this brisket last night and it was amazing. But it was a bit labor intensive when it came to making the sauce. I don’t mind that at all, but I was wondering if there is a way to make this ahead say for an outdoor barbecue. Do you think you could cook it the day before, strain the juices of fat and then put the brisket back in the juices, cover and refrigerate? Would you advise slicing the brisket first, placing it in the juices to keep it moist or store the whole brisket unsliced in the juices. Or, make the sauce and then store the brisket in the sauce…sliced? Unsliced? When heating it up the next day, how do you keep it from drying out? Thanks!
There are a lot of strategies that would work here, as brisket is very forgiving. The thing that would make for the least work at your barbecue event would be to do the whole thing a day ahead of time, cool, then slice the cooled brisket into neat slices. Make a double layer foil packet to wrap the whole brisket up again, reshaped into its original shape, with just a little bit of juice to prevent drying out. Warm the whole packet up on the grill, carefully open the top for the last few minutes, and serve with extra sauce. If you’d rather slice it the day of for presentation, just skip the slicing step ahead of time, reheat on the grill in the foil packet, slice, and serve. Just don’t get steam burns when you open the packet, and don’t let the fat splash down into the grill because you’ll get flares.
I’m making this for Super Bowl this weekend. Does the beef get really salty from the bacon? I already cut down on the salt in the dry rub. Thanks!
Hi – Recipe looks amazing! I have a brisket about 2.5lbs – how long would you recommend cooking it for? Thanks…look forward to trying!!! x
I’d maybe cook it for 3 1/2 hours instead of 4. The cooking temperature is so low, you’re really not at risk of overcooking it and it will only get more tender the longer it stays in the oven.
I’m from Kansas City – Home of BBQ and I have to say this ranks right up there with the top 2 BBQ restaurants!
Flavor was perfect. Sauce was awesome and the brisket was amazing! It was an absolute hit with my family! Thanks so much!
Oh wow Sandi! That’s such a fabulous compliment! I’ve always wanted to visit Kansas City to try the BBQ!
Can I just use the bacon method and not bother with the sauce. By using just the bacon will that make it a Smokey flavor
So can I layer the bacon strips vertically then horizontally all over the brisket slab then turn it over after 4 hours as I’m attempting to cook the brisket over 8/12 hours on 100/110 deg Celsius. Also does it need to be tightly wrapped with foil
I miss my KC BBQ! Now I’m even more excited to try this. Thanks for commenting. #IMissKC
I live in New Zealand, we generally don’t see beef brisket on the shelves here. What sort of meat is this? Or is there an alternative that can be used?
It is beef brisket. It is cut from the breast, or lower chest of the cow.
It may be called braising beef or stewing beef where u are. I’m in U.K and some butchers and markets will call it brisket but others will call it a braising joint.