<p>Nothing like the last minute … I need to put this up in the morning so that it’s ready for after work before services. Any great recipe ideas out there?</p>
<p>Haven’t done it, but this sounds good and easy:
[Brisket</a> Crock Pot Recipe #21222 @ CDKitchen.com :: it’s what’s cooking online!](<a href=“http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/437/Brisket55556.shtml]Brisket”>Basic Crock Pot Brisket Recipe | CDKitchen.com)</p>
<p>Reviews are good. I’ll try it!</p>
<p>Make sure you brown it well first and it will be fine.</p>
<p>I just made a brisket yesterday.</p>
<p>I do not brown my brisket before putting it in the crockpot.</p>
<p>I do season it, place it fat side up in the crockpot, and then add a bottle of BBQ sauce. Cook on low ~ then it will be more tender.</p>
<p>Cut across the grain. I also pour some BBQ sauce over the meat when serving, or even just some of the liquid from the crockpot so it’s not too dry.</p>
<p>If you cut a slice right after you pull the brisket out of the crockpot, it is so very delicious! I probably ate 3 or 4 slices right there as I was cutting it.</p>
<p>twinmom,
L’Shanah Tovah! My brisket recipe will not work for you as it will spend 4-5 hours this morning being slow-cooked and periodically basted in the oven and then will cool overnight. 
Tomorrow sauce is made and brisket heated for serving post-services.</p>
<p>I’ve never made brisket, but I find great recipes all the time on cookinglight.com and allrecipes.com. Both sites have user reviews that often contain suggestions for modifications.</p>
<p>I wish all my Jewish friends a tranquil holiday!</p>
<p>I overcooked my brisket yesterday, cooked in my oven. And tonight when I serve it it will be overcooked more. I am pretty mad about it. We have two services tonight, and I play with the congregational musicians. So I have to reheat it in my crockpot during the first service, prior to our potluck between services. What a waste of perfectly good brisket. I don’t have time to start over either. It is what it is. A stringy pile of tasty meat. With yummy carrots and potatoes. Oh well.</p>
<p>L’Shana Tova!</p>
<p>Well, so far the recipe in Post #2 smells great! I’ll let you know how it was sometime over the weekend!</p>
<p>L’Shana Tova to all!</p>
<p>^ I didn’t brown it first. Hope that’s okay!</p>
<p>I have never browned my brisket, but I found on a website that browning it enhances the flavor. Is that why it should be browned? Also, my butcher indicated that the large piece of fat should be left on the brisket through the cooking process for better flavor (fat side up), and then trimmed when it’s done.</p>
<p>Do those who brown their briskets only brown the non-fat side? Do you have opinions on whether to brown or not before cooking?</p>
<p>That’s interesting about not trimming the fat side till after cooking.</p>
<p>Not trimming off the fat keeps the meat moist and bastes it. It’s especially important for cooking it in a smoker.</p>
<p>My favorite brisket recipe is Nach Waxman’s Brisket from one of The Silver Palate cookbooks…I think it is The New Basics. </p>
<p>It is a simple recipe that yields amazing results:</p>
<p>Take a flat cut brisket of about 3-5 lbs, dust with a couple of tsps of flour. (You can skip the flour if you make it for Passover or are concerned about gluten. But if you skip the flouw be sure to pat the brisket dry with paper towels before browning.) Heat a few tablespoons of vegetable oil in a heavy baking dish with a tight lid over med-high heat, and brown the brisket well all over. You want dark crispy spots. Set aside.</p>
<p>Peel 8 large onions and cut into thick rings, separating the rings. Add to the baking dish and cook until deep mahogany brown. Put brisket on top of onions, fat side up, and add two carrots (peeled and cut in two if you wish) and a couple cloves of garlic, peeled and quartered, along side. Paint top of brisket with 2 tablespoons tomato paste. Sprinkle with 1 1/2 tsp coarse kosher salt and grind pepper over all. </p>
<p>Cover tightly and bake in middle of preheated 375 over for 1 1/2 hrs. Remove from oven and place brisket on cutting board. SLice at a slight angle, about 1/4 in slices. Return overlapping slices to the pot, reassembling the brisket at an angle. Cover, and bake for another 1 3/4 to 2 hours until fork tender. It’s great reheated. </p>
<p>If the top isn’t really tight, try covering the pot with a sheet of oiled parchment paper or aluminum foil under the lid. If you want to bake it in something that can’t be used for browning at high heat–such as LeCreuset enamel–do the browning phase in a cast iron skillet and transfer everything to the baking dish. In that case, I would deglaze the browning skillet with a bare couple of tablespoons of water in order to get all that good browning flavor into the dish.</p>
<p>I cook 15 lbs of this every year for our church’s seder. The flavor is amazing. Really browning according to instructions and doing the slicing step are key to success.</p>
<p>OP here: The brisket was delicious - tender and enjoyed by all!</p>
<p>I have always understood that browning the meat ahead of time does two things…
first it seals the exterior which aids in retaining the moisture…
second it helps create those little fonds of flavor that enhance the taste of the sauce…</p>
<p>one advantage however of a crock pot is that it is cooking in liquid over a long period, slowly on low heat…so the browning would not be mandatory…</p>
<p>I like the sounds of Consolation’s recipe… I will try it…though I am a bit leery of the slicing step…but it sounds crucial so I will try it… there is a deli here in Portland that has perfect brisket…and I am still in search of a recipe that recreates their flavor… the owner told me at one point it was simple…liquid, onions, carrots… I have tried ones with beer…and ketchup…brown sugar… some of them just mask the brisket and that is why I am still experimenting…</p>
<p>I will share a recipe that I have had for 25 years. It is more involved than the recipe cited here (crockpot one), but is very good, IMO. I can’t give exact measurements, but if you have made brisket before you should be able to follow along.</p>
<p>I buy tons of meat. If I am going to put in the effort to make this, I want to make it once, get a dinner out of the same day that I make it (the aroma will have family members peaking into the kitchen to see what’s for dinner), another meal out of it for 10-15 people, and still have a few more busy nights where I do not have to worry about what we will have for dinner. Also, brisket shrinks somewhat once cooked. I cannot tell you how many pounds I buy, but it is as much as what will fit into a large disposable tin that I can LIFT into an oven. I have a double oven, and multiple racks so if I need to make it in 2 very large disposable tins (frequently do it that way) so be it. I double the disposable tins to avoid leaks!</p>
<p>As much meat as will fit
Soup greens (cut the roots in half for added flavor) and wrap in cheese cloth-1 per tin
Roughly chopped onions
one can of tomato paste per tin
2-3 cans of red wine per tin
1 lb. of carrots (peeled and cut) per tin (if it fits, I add a bit more)
2 chicken boulliion cubes per tin
2 bay leaves per tin
garlic powder (you judge how much to sprinkle in)
1/2 teaspoon of sugar per tin</p>
<p>Bake, covered with foil at 325 for a long time, until the meat is tender. My original recipe says 2-3 hours, but because I use more meat, it bakes for much longer (if my memory is correct). Frankly I don’t time it. I just want the meat to be as tender as possible without burning it. I slice it, which is the biggest part of the job. The juices can run everywhere if one is not using the proper surface for cutting, and one needs to start with a very large sharp knife to get the job done quickly. After all of the meat is sliced I bag what is not being served for dinner in doubled gallon zip lock bags with the juices. I portion enough for dinner sized portions, and for a large dinner of 10-15 people I will make it a head of time and freeze it. I do not want the portions going into each bag to be too big, because I want them to defrost over night the fridge. I freeze all of the zip lock bags in the gravy (cover the meat in the gravy). Once defrosted, the meat is even more tender than when we ate it the first night. Enjoy!</p>
<p>I used to first saute onions in olive oil, dredge meat through flour, and brown before putting it into the oven with the other ingredients. I stopped doing that years ago. I found that is a step that I can skip and still have a delicious brisket. For me, it is not worth the extra hassle.</p>
<p>Re recipe in Post 2–there doesn’t seem to be any liquid called for in the recipe. And it all worked out, OP??</p>
<p>For some reason, my brisket was not as tender as usual this year 
I’m printing these recipies to try through the year…thanks!</p>
<p>For the recipe in #17, when I said 2-3 cans of red wine, I mean that I measure it using the empty tomato paste can. Oh, and sorry for the typos.</p>