A Pictorial Essay on Rudy’s Moist Brisket
Brisket evokes a lot of passion among BBQ fans. Everyone has their own take and favorites but without question, Texans truly love brisket.Now I’m a long-time fan of the moist brisket at Rudy’s Country Store and BBQ and i got to thinking about the process that a brisket goes through from the time it arrives at the restaurant until it’s sliced while you watch at the counter. So I took a peek behind the scenes.
And here we go. Black Angus briskets arrive at Rudy’s weighing between 12-13 pounds and looking like this.
Rudy’s typically cooks around 130-140 brisket per day per store. Now that is a serious amount of meat!
Then they are coated in a proprietary rub of spices and other ingredients. And they don’t spare the horses with the rub at all.
The spice-coated briskets are then stored on trays for the trip to the smoker. Typically, most briskets start smoking around 11pm each night.
The briskets smoke for 12-13 hours at 200 degrees and then for a time at 225 degrees. A critical rule that amateur smokers often break: the brisket must always be smoked with the moist side facing up.The same small group of pros work on the brisket at Rudy’s. The average tenure for these employees is well over ten years. These guys can tell by the insertion of a two-pronged just what level of “doneness” the brisket has reached. This is an intuitive skill that takes years to master.After the brisket is cooked and transferred to the serving area, a thick layer of fat is trimmed from the top. One unique aspect of the marbling in the moist brisket [as opposed to other smoked meats] is that according to a Texas A&M study, it’;s actually beneficial to you. Who knew? I’m going to email a copy of that study to my cardiologist.
After that heavy top layer of fat has been removed, the moist and the lean cuts are separated. I guess I like the moist for the same reason I order a Ribeye Steak instead of a Strip. For me, it’s just got more flavor.
This is where most consumers first really start to pay attention to the moist brisket. The moist needs to be sliced against the grain and with me, an almost Pavlovian response starts as the slices of moist begin to pile up on the wax paper. The aroma is almost visceral. I can virtually taste it.Then the server puts it on the scale.“Look about right?” he says.“Aw put on some more,” I always say. {And I always do[.]
And there you have it. They take this process very seriously at Rudy’s. And whether eating it right at the store [best], taking it home [very good] or reheating it the next day [still damn good] there’s simply nothing like a moist brisket from the guys who spell sauce wrong:]
