Joe’s Kansas City-Style Brisket You Can Make at Home Author Steven Raichlen Shares Tales From 'The Brisket Chronicles'

Brisket has been a constant in author and “Project Smoke,” host Steven Raichlen’s life and now he wants to show you exactly how to get the most out of the versatile cut in his latest book, “The Brisket Chronicles.”

“I didn’t grow up in Texas and Kansas City. I didn’t learn to smoke at my daddy’s knee using the pit that’s been in our family for six generations,” Raichlen said. “But I’ve been eating brisket since I’ve been eating solid foods and this book enabled me to bring a lifetime of food experiences under one cover.”

“The Brisket Chronicles” has 50 recipes — Raichlen found himself hard pressed to stop there — which let you explore the various methods of prep: thinly sliced (Joe’s Kansas City-style brisket), braised (Jewish deli brisket), cured (old school pastrami) and deep-fried (brisket tots).

“Brisket is an epic meat. It’s so central to so many food cultures and manifests in so many different ways.”

Steven Raichlen will travel to Kansas City — he thinks the use of the point for brisket is “ingenious,” — for The Brisket Chronicles Live on Friday, May 17, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at Smoke ‘N’ Fire (8030 W. 151st St., Overland Park, Kansas).

Tickets ($75) include a copy of the book, a live demonstration by Raichlen, bites based off the recipes in the book, live music and an open bar. The event is a benefit for Kansas City PBS’ educational programs.

Joe’s Kansas City-Style Brisket

In a city as barbecue-obsessed as Kansas City, there are many styles of brisket. None is quite as distinctive as the brisket at Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que, founded by Jeff Stehney, head pit master of the much-decorated Slaughterhouse Five championship barbecue team and a 2017 inductee in the Barbecue Hall of Fame. Stehney starts not with whole packers, as is the practice in Texas, but with brisket flats. He gives them the usual rub and smoke treatment, but what really sets them apart is the way they are carved—into paper-thin slices on a deli-style meat slicer. This gives you a sandwich with a shaved beef texture that may remind you of Chicago’s Italian beef.

YIELD: Serves 10 to 12

METHOD: Barbecuing

PREP TIME: 20 minutes

COOKING TIME: 8 to 10 hours, plus 1 to 2 hours for resting

HEAT SOURCE: Smoker (ideally, an offset barrel smoker)

YOU’LL ALSO NEED: A large (13-by-9-inch) aluminum foil pan; wood logs, chunks, or soaked, drained hardwood chips; a metal bowl or aluminum foil pan (for the smoker); a digital instant-read thermometer (preferably remote); spray bottle; heavy-duty aluminum foil; an insulated cooler; a rimmed sheet pan; a deli-style meat slicer or electric knife.

WHAT ELSE: Most of the briskets in this section are cooked to an internal temperature of around 205°F. This makes them supernaturally moist and cut-with-the-side-of-a-fork tender—the texture we associate with Texas barbecued brisket. Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que cooks the meat only to 185°F, which leaves it still sufficiently firm to slice on a meat slicer. Joe’s also suggests wrapping the brisket in foil partway through the cook. Imagine that—the “Texas Crutch” (page 60) in Kansas City.

INGREDIENTS

1 large brisket flat (6 to 7 pounds)

1/2 to 3/4 cup Slaughterhouse 2.0 Championship BBQ Rub (recipe follows)

1 cup apple juice or apple cider, in a spray bottle, for spritzing

12 hamburger buns, brushed with 3 tablespoons melted butter and grilled or toasted, for serving

Your favorite sweet-smoky barbecue sauce (I’m partial to my bottled Project Smoke Lemon Brown Sugar or Spicy Apple Barbecue Sauce), or one of the sauces in chapter 10, for serving

Sweet pickle chips, for serving

To Make The Brisket:

1. Using a sharp knife, trim the brisket, leaving a layer of fat at least ¼ inch thick (see page 14). Be careful not to over-trim. It’s better to err on the side of too much fat than too little.

2. Place the brisket fat side up in the aluminum foil pan. Sprinkle the rub to coat the brisket on all sides, rubbing it into the meat with your fingertips.

3. Fire up your smoker following the manufacturer’s instructions and heat to 250°F. Add the wood as specified by the manufacturer. Place a metal bowl or aluminum foil pan with 1 quart of warm water in the smoker—this creates a humid environment that will help the smoke adhere to the meat and keep your brisket moist.

4. Place the brisket in its pan fat side down in the smoker. Smoke the brisket for 1 hour, then turn it fat side up. Continue cooking the brisket until the outside is darkly browned and the internal temperature registers about 155°F on an instant-read thermometer, 5 to 6 hours, rotating the brisket 180 degrees halfway through so it cooks evenly. Spritz the brisket every hour with apple juice. Refuel your cooker as needed, following the manufacturer’s instructions.

5. Wrap the brisket tightly in heavy-duty aluminum foil, crimping the edges to make a tight seal. Insert the probe of a digital thermometer into the meat (it’s best to pierce the foil only once). Return the wrapped brisket to the smoker and cook to an internal temperature of 185°F, 2 to 3 hours more.

6. Transfer the wrapped brisket to an insulated cooler and let it rest for 1 to 2 hours. (This allows the meat to relax and its juices to redistribute.)

7. Unwrap the brisket, working over a rimmed sheet pan to collect the juices. Slice the brisket paper-thin on a meat slicer or transfer it to a welled cutting board and slice it with an electric knife.

8. To serve, pile the sliced brisket onto the prepared buns. Spoon on the reserved brisket juices. Add barbecue sauce and sweet pickles.

SLAUGHTERHOUSE 2.0 CHAMPIONSHIP BBQ RUB

Yield: Makes 1 1/4 cups

This barbecue rub is classic Kansas City, with sugar to make it sweet and mustard, chili powder, and cayenne to turn up the heat.

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup kosher salt

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 tablespoons dry mustard powder, such as Colman’s

2 tablespoons sweet paprika

2 tablespoons granulated garlic

2 tablespoons granulated onion

2 tablespoons dried granulated lemon peel

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon ground white pepper

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

Combine the salt, sugar, chili powder, dry mustard, paprika, granulated garlic, onion, lemon peel, and black and white and cayenne peppers in a bowl and stir to mix, breaking up any lumps with your fingers.

Slaughterhouse 2.0 Championship BBQ Rub will keep, in a sealed container at room temperature away from heat and light, for several weeks.

Excerpted from The Brisket Chronicles by Steven Raichlen, photographs by Matthew Benson. Workman Publishing (C) 2019.