Sam’s BBQ Brisket

This is a simply delicious way of cooking a brisket joint, resulting in gorgeous flaky beef that can goes in a bun perfectly. It’s a great alternative to burgers for a BBQ, and works equally well as a winter treat with baked potatoes – or anything, really!

Our friend Sam Boyles from Higher Hall Farm, Brayford, gave me the recipe and supplied the photo.

I didn’t try out this recipe for ages as the ingredients for the hot BBQ sauce seemed extraordinary, but they really work well together! There are no rules, and you can alter the ingredients to to suit your taste. For instance, I don’t put vinegar in, and I experiment with different herbs and spices. For parties I do several different sauces, from plain to hot and spicy, so all tastes are catered for.

The drained sauce can be frozen for use in the future, and gets better and better each time. This also works well with slow roast fore-rib or shin. The meat can be prepared early and is just as delicious cold.

Ingredients

1-3 kg piece of brisket (or fore-rib or shin) water

For the BBQ sauce:

  • 1-3 kg piece of brisket (or fore-rib or shin) water
  • 150 ml red wine vinegar
  • 70 g dark brown sugar
  • 70 ml whisky
  • 70 ml Coca-cola
  • 250 ml tomato ketchup
  • 200 ml stock from cooking the brisket herbs and spices to taste

Method

  1. Place the brisket joint in a covered dish with a couple of inches of water and cook on a low heat in an oven or slow cooker for about 5-10 hours depending on the size of the joint / pieces of beef. When cooked through and tender, remove the meat from the liquid it has cooked in and let it cool in a covered dish.
  2. Make a barbecue sauce by adding the ingredients to a saucepan and simmering for 20 mins.
  3. When the meat has cooled, break it into flakes and discard any fat.
  4. Add the meat to the pan and simmer for another 10 mins.
  5. Drain off any excess sauce. Serve the hot beef in a bun, and enjoy. A variety of salads, including coleslaw, and potato wedges or chips are perfect with this.