As we near the end of our #beefmonth challenge, I’d be remiss if I didn’t cook one of my favorite cuts – brisket! Now, I will say that smoking is still my favorite way to cook brisket, but with a busy family and lengthy cooking time it just didn’t work for us to do that this weekend. Cue some help from the never-failing slow cooker.

I VERY roughly followed the instructions and recipe from Jen at Carlsbad Cravings. She’s a little more ambitious than I am, so we went with a trusty Cookies BBQ sauce instead of homemade…but her homemade sauce sounds amazing if you have the time!

Another quick ‘cheat’ from an expert beef eater is with the brisket itself. If most of you are like I was until we started raising our own beef I was pretty intimidated by the brisket. Briskets are HUGE and we used to only make them if we were planning to feed a small army…and then you really can’t afford to try new things and risk messing it up when you have a bunch of people coming over to eat. When we butchered our steer last Fall, we asked the locker to cut our 1/2 of the brisket in 1/2 (so really brisket quarters). This has made it so much easier to enjoy brisket outside of large, special occasions and make just enough for our family! 5 stars…I highly recommend. Here’s my version of this recipe…

Recipe:
Slow Cooker:
2-3 lb. beef brisket trimmed of excess fat
1 c. water
1 T. beef bouillon
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 T. soy sauce
1/2 c. BBQ sauce

Rub:
1 T. paprika
2 T. packed brown sugar
1 T. chili powder
2 t. garlic salt
1 t. onion powder
1 t. pepper
1/2 t. dried thyme

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with sides/jelly roll pan with parchment paper or foil for easy clean up. Set aside.
2. Spray 6 quart (or larger) slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray.
3. Trim brisket of excess fat and rinse and pat dry. If your brisket is extra long then slice it in half so it will fit in your slow cooker.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together Spice Rub ingredients. Rub all remaining Spice Rub evenly all over the meat then place brisket on prepared baking sheet. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes at 425 degrees F to sear meat.
5. Transfer brisket to slow cooker. If you are using a ‘regular’ 4-5 lb. brisket you may have to squish it in. Not all of it will be under the liquid.
6. Cover and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours until brisket is very tender, flipping over half way through cooking. If your brisket is tough, it just needs to cook longer.
7. Remove brisket to a foil lined baking sheet. Brush with barbecue sauce and broil 5-10 minutes, until slightly caramelized. Meanwhile, microwave or simmer remaining barbecue sauce until warmed through.
8. Brush brisket again with barbecue sauce and slice across the grain or chop if desired. Serve with remaining barbecue sauce plain or they make delicious sandwiches.