{Nibble} Slow-Cooker BBQ Brisket

January 28, 2014 Mallory Murphy Viscardi

I handily have a bazillion cookbooks in this apartment. I obsessively comb the web for new inspiration (special thanks to Feedly, without which I'd be lost and disorganized and incapable of remembering who posted that awesome recipe for homemade Ritz Bits Crackers I found three weeks ago. But thanks to Feedly, I can! It was Food52, and you can find it here).

But hear me now: the first place I look when I'm serious about architecting a dinner that isn't going to fail is America's Test Kitchen. My subscription to those three sites (it includes Cooks Illustrated and Cooks Country) is, without a single doubt in my mind, the best $70 I spend each year.

It's not possible to overstate how amazing the apartment smelled while this baby was cooking. You cook it on an inverted bread pan (I used disposable ones, $2 at any grocer store) to prevent the meat from touching the slow cooker directly (which would cause the meat in direct contact to cook disproportionately quickly).

Anyone who drooled over the Slow-Cooker BBQ Brisket I made last week has Cooks Country to thank. You can find the recipe here (you do need the subscription, and if you have to pick just one site, $30 or so annually, I'd recommend starting there). My modifications to the recipe are listed below, and I apologize for taking so long to get it posted. There was a lot of this going on:

Source

Recipe Notes:

We balanced the deep, rich flavors of the BBQ sauce with the light, crisp flavors and textures of a simple wedge salad. Add a little bread and butter and dinner literally cannot get any better.

I put the minced adobo chiles into the rub, because I'm bad at reading directions. When I realized I added them in at the wrong step, I tossed 1tsp. of just the adobo juice in with the onions when I cooked them.
I added garlic and onion powder to the dry rub because, let's be honest, I add them to everything that starts with a dry-tub.
I used two aluminum pans because one was too delicate once it warmed up to support the weight of the meat.
Instead of using plain water in the slow cooker, I rinsed out the marinade bag and used 3/4 c. (instead of 1/2 c.) flavored yummy goodness.