Everybody Wants a Piece of the Crock (Pot) BBQ Beef Brisket

I got a crock pot for Christmas, and it's proven useful for making soups and long braised meats when you don't want to stick around the house all day monitoring the oven or a pot on the stove.  But I wondered how it would do in a dry rubbed application left to cook low and slow for the better part of a day.  

The crock pot or slow cooker is so simple that it's difficult to spend a lot of money on one.  I've seen them for as little as $18, and they're rarely more than $50.  Obviously someone has devised a way to market $200 versions, and at one point I thought I should spend all the extra for a cast iron base to be able to brown meats first on the stove, but I make do with my other cast iron ware just fine.   

I was pleasantly surprised when we arrived home at dinner time recently to what looked like a thoroughly cooked hunk of cow meat that had slimmed down quite a bit, floating in hitherto nonexistent liquid.  I admit having a bit of anxiety that something would go wrong and it would look the same as I left it at 7am.  The result though was a success...it didn't get the char of something cooked in the smoker or indirectly on the grill, but the flavor was not far off.  The rub fully penetrated the meat between the overnight marinade and the long cooking. 

When it was finished the final mass displaced 20 oz. or so of juices and rendered fat that I made into a balm for Nicole to assuage her fears of stretch marks as her girth increases with child.  She smells like Reba McEntire's favorite, Fritos, but her skin looks glorious.  The meat barely stayed together when lifted out of the cooker, and cut easily across the grain.  When prodded with a fork it easily gave way to tender little shreds. 

You'll want a good, spicy bbq sauce to go along with this, even glazing the meat in the final 30 minutes or so of cooking if you're around.  We enjoyed the fork tender brisket with some steaming hot collards that were simply cooked in stock, the recipe of which follows.   

Brisket Ingredients:

1 4 lb. beef brisket, rinsed in cold water and patted dry

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon cumin

2 tablespoons paprika (Spanish pimentón if you can)

1 tablespoon black pepper

2 tablespoons kosher salt

Mix the rub ingredients together and then massage them into the entire surface area of the meat, using all the rub.  Refrigerate 6 hours or overnight covered in plastic wrap. 

Bring the meat back up to room temperature, then place it, in a couple pieces if necessary, in the crock pot and set it to low for 11 hours.  When it's done, remove to a cutting board, let sit 5 minutes, then cut into strips across the grain.  Serve with bbq sauce. 

Quick Braised Collard Greens Ingredients:

2 bunches collard greens

1 medium onion

32 oz. chicken or vegetable stock

2 tablespoons olive or other cooking oil to saute

Optional: bacon or other salted pork product

Salt & pepper to taste

Thoroughly rinse and drain the collard greens.  Cut out the spine of each one and discard.  Layer the greens on top of each other, then roll them up and cut across into strips an inch or so thick.  Heat the oil on medium high and when it's smoking add the onion and pork if using it, and cook until the onion is translucent.  Add the greens and stir to help them wilt.  After 2-3 minutes add the stock and a cup or so of water to mostly submerge the greens.  Bring to a boil then turn down to low heat and cook another 20 minutes or until the collards are tender.  Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve hot or warm.