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Barbecue Beef Brisket Sandwiches

A sandwich of smoked beef brisket with mustard, barbecue rub, and vinegar sauce, served on hamburger buns.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Vinegar and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Barbecue Beef Brisket Sandwiches

Oven250°F smoker
Time6 hours in the pouch, then 10 hours

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Place mesquite into the firebox of a 250°F smoker.

  2. Trim the fat cap of the brisket to ¼ inch.

  3. Place the brisket into a large foil pouch.

  4. Pour the vinegar mixture, Worcestershire sauce, and honey into the pouch.

Smoke the brisket

  1. Place the pouch in the smoker and cook for 6 hours, changing the mesquite chunks as needed.

  2. Remove the brisket from the pouch.

  3. Spread mustard evenly over the brisket.

  4. Massage the barbecue rub into the meat.

  5. Place the brisket back into the smoker and cook for 10 hours, changing the mesquite chunks as needed.

Slice and serve

  1. Separate the brisket halves along the fat line.

  2. Slice across the grain as thinly as possible, chopping roughly.

  3. Place the serving portion into halved hamburger buns.

  4. Place some vinegar mixture into a squirt bottle.

  5. Serve the sandwiches with the vinegar mixture.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

329Calories
27 gProtein
15 gFat
19 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Honey1 tbsp (21g)64
Soy Sauce1 tbsp (15ml)9
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Mustard1 tsp (5g) yellow3

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Vinegar + honeytop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,586 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Sauce + mustardtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,120 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Honey + mustardtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together919 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

  5. Beef + mustardtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,664 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Beef brisket
Tough connective tissue breaks down into tender, juicy meat during long, low cooking.
Dijon mustard
Its thin coating helps the barbecue rub adhere to the surface of the meat.
Honey
Adds sweetness and helps the surface brown and caramelize during smoking.
Worcestershire sauce
Adds savory, tangy depth to the liquid that flavors the meat inside the pouch.
Vinegar mixture
Adds acidity that brightens the rich meat and balances the sweetness of the sauce.

The step that matters

Cooking the brisket for the full 6 hours in the pouch and then the full 10 hours after. Brisket needs long, slow cooking so its collagen softens into gelatin; cooking too briefly or at high heat leaves the meat tough and dry.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, vinegar, sauce, honey):

  1. Mustardthe original
  2. Tomatofits about as well
  3. Capsicumfits about as well
  4. Onionfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, vinegar, sauce, honey. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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