Malcolm Deshields’ Barbecued Brisket

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

From: The Only Texas Cookbook, Texas Monthly Press, 1981 By: Linda West
Eckhardt
Malcolm DeShields is a wiry little chap from Corpus Christi who calls
himself the Barbecue Man. He is the sort of fellow who calls women under
fifty "girl" and those over fifty "lady." He makes his points by giving you
a jab to the shoulder for emphasis. Malcolm belongs to the school that says
wet sauces are bad for barbecue. He says, and I agree, that any sauce with
tomato or sugar will burn. Barbecue cooked dry - over a very low heat and
in a covered barbecue pit - will produce a marvelous real Texas barbecue.
This is what Malcolm says about cooking a brisket:
Choose about a 9-pound brisket. One with some fat on it. You don't want it
too lean. Make you up a dry rub of equal parts of salt, fine pepper, and
paprika - say about 1/8 cup of each - and rub this all over the meat real
good. Don't ever pierce it with a fork. Turn it with them tongs.
Build you up a good fire in your barbecue pit-at one end using mesquite,
hickory, or oak. If you have to you can use hickory chips soaked in water
with charcoal. Now let your fire burn down real good. If you have a pan of
water to put in - all the better. You'll have to figure out how to get it
in dependin' on your own pit, but the water should be somewhere kinder in
the middle. Your fire cain't be too hot. But you cain't let it go out
either. You may have to kinder nurse it along, addin' little logs from time
to time, 'bout as big around as yore wrist. Remember to keep the fire off
from the meat.
Well, anyway, when you got your fire just so, put the brisket on and cover
it up. You'll need some sort of draw so the smoke just sucks right over the
meat. I'd say a 9-pound brisket 'ud cook about 18 hours. Now, girl, don't
think you can just go off and forget it, you got to turn it once in awhile
with them tongs, add wood or add water, but um-um, that barbecue will be
just right.
You can do the same thing with pork ribs, steak, or chicken.
Use the same seasoning. Cook ribs about 3 hours, chicken about 2. Steak
just 20 minutes.
Posted to bbq-digest V4 #026
From: "Garry Howard" <g.howard@ix.netcom.com>
Date: Sun, 22 Dec 1996 12:28:17 -0500

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