When you think of brisket, you think Texas first. Then you think of big offset smokers, salt, pepper, and maybe a little dried onions and garlic. And for the more adventurous, a little paprika and cayenne peppers… To make a fiery brisket, however, there’s more than just the seasonings to master.

To prepare a brisket, you remove, of course, a little of its fat, but not too much. Then, you cook the brisket in 1 piece for hours until it is perfect, taking care to wrap it during cooking so that the moisture remains "trapped" in the piece of meat. Once perfectly cooked, you separate the brisket into 2 parts, and you make slices with the "flat" and "burnt ends" with the "point".

For a few years now, there is a method that has been developed and adopted by many people in BBQ competitions. It consists of separating the 2 muscles of the brisket before even cooking them in order to speed up their cooking and thus make the cooking experience simpler. Personally, I find that this method is much less "sexy", but that it is much more practical for those who compete 2-3 times a month and who want to sleep a little longer than for those who do "traditional" cooking and who have to watch their BBQ for hours to obtain perfection.

MY favorite way to make brisket is something else. The first time I made and ate brisket cooked at a high temperature and in small slices, I was at the American Royal in Kansas City with La Team BBQ Québec. Our head pitmaster, Dany “Wally” Tremblay, was preparing a brisket of wagyu beef to cook on the smoker. He was removing a lot of fat and meat that he would normally make sausage with, but since he was overseas, he was just going to discard it.

Being the curious and eco-friendly type, I decided to season these pieces of meat and cook them at 400°F in "grill" mode. The result was phenomenal and I must admit that, personally, I preferred the taste of the "brisket" cooked this way to the "traditional" way. It was while remembering a discussion I had with Steven Raichlen, The Grill Master, about a way of cooking the "brisket" that he had discovered during one of his countless BBQ discovery trips around the world that the idea came to me.

The method Steven Raichlen was explaining to me was basically slicing a raw brisket thinly, then vacuum-packing it, freezing it, and finally grilling it. By freezing the meat, the water inside the brisket turns to ice, breaking down its fibers and making it more tender.

The advantage of this approach is that if on a Tuesday evening at 5 p.m. you decide to eat brisket, well, you can!

Light your BBQ and let it heat up to 400-500°F over direct heat. Once your meat is slightly defrosted, season it with your favorite dry rubs (personally, my favorite dry rub mix for a fatty cut of beef like brisket is a combination of 50% Appalaches BBQ Québec X La ferme Monette dry rub and 50% Texas BBQ Québec dry rub or Montreal BBQ Québec dry rub ), slice it and place the slices on the grill of your BBQ, directly over the heat. After 1 minute 30 seconds/2 minutes 30 seconds, you can turn the meat over and cook the other side for the same amount of time. This method of preparation is truly my favorite, because it is quick, easy and, above all, excellent!

For sauce lovers, I recommend putting some on the meat after you turn it, so that the sauce never touches the grill and it slowly caramelizes on the meat to give it a perfect result. If you are a heat lover, I recommend using the Dragon BBQ Québec sauce , which will light up all your taste buds and allow your brain to satisfy all its desires in terms of food/taste pleasures. Otherwise, if you prefer your meals a little less spicy, the Expresso BBQ Québec sauce will allow you to reach nirvana. The latter is a "must" for any piece of beef.

So, whether you are busy people, epicureans who like to take their time, or simply curious to try something new, I encourage you to dare to prepare your "brisket" in this way, my favorite way, so that you get an incredible result. You will see, you will get there easily and quickly.

Happy BBQ!