Cheater BBQ Brisket and a Giveaway!

Cheater Basic Dry Rub
1/4 cup paprika
2 tbls kosher salt
2 tbls coarsely ground black pepper
1 tbl garlic powder
1 tbl dry mustard

Combine all ingredients.

Nashville Crossroads Cheater Q Sauce
1 small onion, grated
2 tbls vegetable oil
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbls Worcestershire sauce
1 tbls bottled smoke (optional, but awesome)
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste

Cook the onion in the oil in a small saucepan over medium heat until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Simmer for a few minutes until thickened and smooth.

For the brisket:
Rub a 4-5 lb brisket with the rub, place it in a rimmed pan lined with enough foil to wrap the brisket tightly. Pour about 1 cup of sauce over it and wrap it up tight. Put it in a 250 degree oven for 6-8 hours or until ~190 degrees. Chill in the fridge for several hours before slicing, then reheat it, wrapped in foil (with a little more sauce, if you like) for 30 minutes at 350.

recipes are from Cheater BBQ by Mindy Merrell and RB Quinn

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I love free stuff. I admit it, it's part of the reason I started food blogging, I'm not ashamed. Heh. I also love BBQ, even though I keep living in places where I can't have a grill, let alone a smoker. So when I got an email asking if I wanted to try out a cookbook called "Cheater BBQ" which is about indoor barbecuing I was all over it.

See in my new apartment I can't have a grill. Even though I have a porch. When we asked our landlord about it his response was "grills burn down houses". I really wanted to argue with him, but I restrained myself since we wanted to get the apartment. Heh. So I have to make do with other methods. Now I've done indoor barbecue a few times before, I've made bbq pulled pork, pulled chicken, pulled beef and spare ribs, so I'm not really a stranger to these kinds of things. But I have had some issues making my own barbecue sauce and with, you know, details. Like time and temperature and little things like that. This book helped a lot with all that. But enough rambling, it's time for brisket.


The cookbook has a couple different methods, one for the oven and one for a crockpot. I don't have a crockpot that would fit a brisket, so I opted for the oven. It's wicked simple, but first you need a brisket. See this? That's the fat cap. You want that. I know, fat is bad, but the only reason a brisket without one would help you lose weight is because no one would want to eat the dried out, tasteless thing. So, if you're going to be spending 6-8 hours doing this, you might as well do it up. Right? Right. Now, all you have to do is take your rub and rub it in there. I picked the basic rub, it sounded good and was nice and simple. Plop the brisket down on enough foil to wrap it up in and pour on some of that sauce. Oh, you do have to make the sauce it first, but it's also really easy. You could use bottled, but this was really good, a great balance of tart, sweet and smoky. Good times. If this book has done nothing else, it showed me what was wrong with all the bbq sauces I was trying to make. Not enough anything. Good to know. Anyway, wrap it up and toss it in a 250 degree oven for 6-8 hours, until it's about 190 degrees inside. I had a 4.5 lb brisket and it took almost exactly 6 hours to cook. It was wicked, wicked good. Don't let the nice neat slices fool you (you get that by cutting it after chilling it for a while, makes it much easier), we cut this stuff with a fork it was so tender. The flavors of the rub mixed with the sauce was just awesome. I actually have half of it left in the freezer, waiting for a day when we need a little taste of summer.

Now, I've heard some people voice concerns about liquid smoke, but there is no need to be afraid of it. Allow me, if you will, to quote Cheater BBQ:

"Liquid smoke is exactly that- smoke from smoldering hardwoods or fruitwoods, condensed in water with impurities and carcinogens removed. It is not chemical or synthetic. It is safe, consistent, time saving, economical and environmentally friendly smoke in a bottle."

Embrace liquid smoke people. It's a good time.

Want to try this stuff for yourself? One of you lucky kids can get your own copy of Cheater BBQ! Just leave a comment and you're entered. Want another chance? Mention this giveaway on your blog and leave another comment telling me you did. That's it, I'm keeping it simple. I'm going to give you guys until Friday. Good luck!