I think I pulled it out a couple hours early and it was just fine.

After having success in cooking corned beef, I will attempt to cook a non corned beef brisket. Not being Jewish and having no family tradition of it, is it supposed to have a sweet sour type flavoring or just more of an onion garlic brown gravy type flavoring Or maybe what ever is your preference but I am asking about what is traditional. I see suggestions for onions, onion soup, chili sauce, garlic, brown sugar, etc. What's a brisket maker to do?

Will it make your task easier or more difficult to know that there are different so-called traditional recipes, some that have more of a sweet-sour sauce and others that have more of an onion-brown gravy sauce?

The onion soup mix-chili sauce method is certainly common, but obviously it's a 20th century convenience food take on a more traditional recipe. We've made it many times and enjoy it for nostalgia's sake. But nowadays I'd prefer to create the same flavors using unprocessed ingredients.

Good advice. I guess if something is sweet sour or "barbequey" I expect it sliced or pulled on a bun. If there is potatoes and carrots with it I would expect it to be more of a brown onion wine type of sauce or braising liquid. This might just be habit of mine as I have never had a sweet sour type meat with potatoes and carrots. I will do some research and then decide on what to do. One other question. How did brisket get connected to Passover? is it a traditional food served at all Jewish holidays or just Passover?

I have on occasion been served, and been disappointed with, sweet-and-sour-type brisket. If you see a recipe with grape jelly, run away.

More typical will be onions or onion soup mix (I prefer the former, which I sautee until a little brown before adding to the roasting pan); tomato paste, ketchup or chili sauce (again the first on the list is my preference); carrots, potatoes and/or parsnips (always the first, often the second, occasionally the third will find its way into my brisket); garlic; depending on how well your pan seals and whether you're using potatoes, liquids including red wine and water are often included (both). Note that many of those things are sweet (onions, carrots, all the tomato products), a few have sour notes (tomato items, wine), but the finished dish ends up far, far away from sweet-and-sour.

Yeah, I agree with a lot of this. It generally isn't sour, just more sweet (though I've seen recipes that call for a hefty amount of vinegar, which would make it pretty sour. I've never tried that.) It definitely isn't "barbequey," i.e. it doesn't taste all like it was cooked in BBQ sauce (nor smoqued, obviously). (Chili sauce, like that made by Heinz or Bennets, isn't spicy at all.)

Whatever recipe you settle on, make sure you cook it until it's very tender and slice against the grain. This could take 4 hours at 300-325 degrees, though it could take more or less, depending on the size and shape of the piece of meat you buy. A fork stuck into the meat should encounter little, if any, resistance. Like all braises, it can be better the next day. This gives you a lot of flexibility in case the meat takes longer to cook than you expected. Store it overnight in the fridge, in the sauce. Toss most of the solidified fat the next morning.

Darren72 wrote:Whatever recipe you settle on, make sure you cook it until it's very tender and slice against the grain.

The recipe I've been using suggests taking the meat out of the oven at 1.5 hours, slicing it (use an electric knife, it's a lot of meat to slice), then putting it back in, as assembled as possible. That makes it a lot easier to slice than when it's fall-apart done. It does, however, increase the risk of drying out the meat because of increased surface area.

I like to slice it the next day, when it's cold, before reheating. You just have to be careful you don't dry it out when reheating.

I just sliced my cold left over corned beef brisket and it sliced much easier today. I certainly would cook the brisket a long time. I am thinking maybe one cup of catsup, one can Rotel for a spicy kick, and one package of onion soup mix. A bit more chopped onions and garlic. Maybe a little red wine into the mix.

toria wrote:Good advice. I guess if something is sweet sour or "barbequey" I expect it sliced or pulled on a bun. If there is potatoes and carrots with it I would expect it to be more of a brown onion wine type of sauce or braising liquid. This might just be habit of mine as I have never had a sweet sour type meat with potatoes and carrots. I will do some research and then decide on what to do. One other question. How did brisket get connected to Passover? is it a traditional food served at all Jewish holidays or just Passover?

Brisket is served for many Jewish holidays -- Passover, Rosh Hashana, Chanukkah and the Sabbath being the most common. There isn't really a definitive recipe, except that braising is the common method.
The sweet-sour form is more like sauerbraten than barbecue.

Like many ethnic foods, brisket became popular among Jews because it was an inexpensive cut, and it was something easy to make to feed a crowd. Then, too, it holds up well to being cooked in advance and reheated and to long, slow cooking. So it's often made into cholent, which is a kind of pot roast that cooks a low temperature for a very long time, so you can start it on Friday before the Sabbath and let it cook unattended until dinnertime Saturday.

Thanks for the information. I will try making it sometime.

Just picked up my brisket today at Fresh Farms in Niles. Now to ponder which way to prepare it.

10 brisket recipes