22 Aug Down, Set, Munch! College Football Kicks Off 150 Years of Good Eatin’

College football kicks off its 150th season this Saturday, Aug. 24 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando with the renewal of a heated Sunshine State rivalry between the Florida Gators and Miami Hurricanes. In full disclosure, out of college football’s 150 seasons, the Morris family has had the same University of Florida season tickets for the past 80 of them. So we’re not even going to pretend to be impartial. WORK ‘EM SILLY, GATORS!

No matter where your loyalty lies, one thing we all can agree on is that tailgating is our country’s tastiest tradition. Among our favorite game day culinary rituals is attempting to duplicate the legendary smoked brisket perfected by award-winning Chef John Rivers, of 4 Rivers Smokehouse fame, in his Southern Cowboy Cookbook. PRO TIP: If you want the brisket ready for Saturday kickoff, start preparing it on Thursday. This bad boy requires 12 to 18 hours in the smoker.

JOHN RIVERS’ SMOKED BRISKET

Brisket
1 whole brisket, from 10 to 15 pounds, untrimmed with full fat cap
1 cup 4R Brisket Rub (Recipe follows)
1 cup All-Purpose BBQ Sauce
Sliced dill pickles
Onions, sliced thin
White bread

4R Brisket Rub
Makes 1/4 cup
2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon sugar

Make rub
Mix all ingredients in a small bowl. Store in airtight container. Will keep indefinitely.

Prepare brisket
Apply rub liberally on brisket, making sure to cover all sides and crevices. Refrigerate uncovered at least four hours, preferably overnight.

Remove brisket from refrigerator at least 1 hour before smoking, letting it come to room temperature.

Prepare smoker
Soak hickory chips or chunks for 1 hour before smoking. Soaking will allow the wood to smolder and smoke for longer periods of time versus catching on fire and quickly burning up.

Light charcoal and allow to burn to a white ash

Place soaked wood on top of hot coals and adjust smoker vents to settle the temperature in a range between 200˚ and 225˚F

Smoke brisket
Place brisket, fat side up, indirectly over the smoking wood. Close the lid and get comfortable. Depending on the size of your brisket, smoking will take from 12 to 18 hours. A general rule of thumb is 75 minutes for every pound of brisket.

Keep an eye on your coals and wood, replenishing both as needed, but opening the lid of the smoker as little as possible.

After 8 to 10 hours, check the internal temperature of brisket using a meat thermometer inserted into brisket at its thickest point. Continue checking every 30 to 60 minutes until the internal the internal temperature reaches 190˚to192˚F

Remove brisket from smoker. Using multiple layers to prevent dripping, wrap brisket in plastic wrap and place in a small, empty cooler. Cover with a folded towel (or two), close the cooler lid and let it rest for 1 to 2 hours before carving. This will allow the juices to settle back into the meat.

Slice brisket
When ready to serve, remove brisket from cooler and place in a baking sheet or sheet pan with a rim. Carefully cut open the plastic wrap, allowing the juices to spill out into the pan.

Place the whole brisket on a cutting board and, starting at the thinnest part of the flat, begin to slice the brisket against the grain, working toward the thicker side (the point). Trim the fat cap off as necessary or to your preference.

As you work your way up the brisket, you’ll begin to notice a seam of fat forming in in the middle of the brisket. This is the connective tissue that holds the two pieces of meat together. Once it becomes distinct and runs the entire width of the brisket, you need to separate the two cuts.

Using a long knife and cutting the full width of the brisket, slice directly into seam of fat along the contours of the meat until the two pieces are separated.

Remove the point (the piece), flip it over and, using the back of your knife, scrape the excess fat from the meat. Repeat on the bottom piece.

Rotate the point 90 degrees so the grains of both pieces are running in the same direction. Flip both pieces over so the bark is facing up and continue carving as needed.

Serve with white bread, pickles, onions and sauce.