Freedom tastes like brisket. Fight us.
This is the last real cookout weekend of summer, and it deserves more than a plain sliced brisket. This week: hot and fast brisket, wrapped in beef consommé, finished Kansas City style — the point gets a second act as candied burnt ends while the flat stays classic sliced.
What You'll Need
- 1 whole packer brisket — go as big as you can find. Bigger briskets cook better.
- SPG rub + Smokin' Ghost BBQ Rub, or a general all-purpose BBQ rub
- 2 cans beef consommé
- Blues Hog Smokey Mountain, Smokin' Ghost Haunted Heat, or your favorite Kansas City-style sauce
- Extra rub, for the burnt ends
Equipment note: Pellet smokers work fine here. If you've got the option, a drum smoker running hardwood lump charcoal with a few chunks of pecan wood is the better call for this one — worth the extra effort on a cook this size. You'll also want a fat separator for the wrap juice and a probe thermometer, since this whole method leans on feel over exact numbers.
The Method
- Trim off the hard fat — no need to get aggressive, just the tough stuff.
- Season generously with your rub the night before, then wrap and refrigerate. This rehydrates the rub into the meat and frees up your actual cook day.
- Smoke at 300°F — drum with hardwood lump and pecan chunks, or a pellet smoker if that's what you've got.
- Cook until the bark is set, usually 3-4 hours.
- Wrap tight in foil with 2 cans of beef consommé poured in.
- Continue cooking until probe tender — usually another 2 hours or so, but cook to feel, not temp. You're generally landing in the 203-208°F range, but the number is a guide, not the finish line — the probe should slide in with zero resistance.
- Unwrap and run the wrap juice through a fat separator — you'll use this later.
- Separate the flat from the point.
- Re-wrap the flat in foil and rest it in a dry cooler for at least an hour. This is the most important step in the entire process — don't rush it.
- Cube the point into 1.5" squares.
- Mix some of the defatted wrap juice (au jus) with your BBQ sauce of choice until it tastes sweet and beefy — Blues Hog Smokey Mountain, Smokin' Ghost Haunted Heat, or your favorite Kansas City sauce all work here.
- Toss the cubed point in the sauce mixture, add a bit more rub, and spread into a foil pan. Return to the smoker for about 30 minutes to tack up.
- If they're still tight after 30 minutes, cover and continue cooking until probe tender.
- Once probe tender, pull the burnt ends and let them rest alongside the flat.
- Slice the flat against the grain, brush the slices with a light coat of sauce and the reserved au jus.
- Serve the burnt ends separately — they're the show-stopper, don't bury them under the sliced flat.
Pitmaster Notes
This is the recipe that separates the backyard warriors from the people who just own a grill. Two textures, one brisket — the flat for the traditionalists, burnt ends for everyone already reaching for seconds. And that rest step everyone wants to skip? It's the one thing that actually makes or breaks this whole cook.
If you're the one manning the smoker this weekend while everyone else is asking when it'll be ready — we made a shirt for exactly that feeling. Brisket Butts Ribs & Freedom →
Happy Labor Day, and thank you to everyone in this community who's served. This weekend's for you too.