I'm not entirely sure where the inspiration came from, but I was struck with the thought of a BBQ Dinner for Christmas Eve this year. Growing up, Christmas Eve's dinner was a bigger (eating) event to me than anything on Christmas day, mostly because it was usually our immediate family only, and we sat in the dining room for just the 2nd time that year. Plus my mother almost always made this incredibly rich (and beefy!) beef stroganoff that I absolutely loved. So perhaps in an effort to carry on that tradition, I decided to pick up a brisket flat and fire up the smoker on the 24th, in about 6 inches of snow on a steady 20 degree afternoon: 

I used briquets for the first time in the smoker, and they held a constant temperature waaaaay better than my normal hardwood charcoal. BBQ people always say this, but I never tried because the concept of a briquette seems too industrial to me. I also couldn't find hickory chunks in December (come on people, we bbq all year long!), so i had just a few leftover chucks, and then opted for the mesquite infused briquette in combination with kingsford's "competition" briquettes. Ultimately the smoke flavor was good, but more subtle than i would have pulled from a full smoke of hickory. 

I contemplated making a bbq sauce for this, but then remembered our friends Jamie and Amanda gave us some Iron Works sauce as a gift this past fall, and I figured why make a sauce when an authentic bbq joint in texas already has... and that sauce is sitting in my cupboard? It did not disappoint. That's a solid sauce! Rich, sweet, savory, a nice bite, a little heat... it married perfectly with the smoked brisket. 

So here's what I did this time around:

I started with a 5 lb brisket flat and had the butcher trim all but a 1/4 inch of fat from the top. He was a little overzealous on that trimming, but everything turned out fine. I then read a great tip on the virtual weber bullet site about cutting a small corner off the raw brisket to show which way the grain runs in the beef. Once the beef comes off the smoker its tough to tell how to cut against the grain, so this little tip makes it super easy to start cutting. Thanks guys! I then marinated this in a beer/vinegar/rub concoction overnight. And the next morning rubbed it with my new favorite beef rub I created for this fall's chili competitions. I'm keeping that one a secret, 'cause I kind of think i need to sell the damn thing its that good! Anyway, here are a few shots of this process:

I then smoked it at 220-20 for 4.5 hrs, wrapped it in foil and continued smoking for another 2.5 hrs. It came off smelling amazing, and after letting it rest for about 45 minutes I sliced it up:

We served it with classic collards and some orange/maple roasted sweet potato spears: 

The final verdict? Overall flavor was really, really (really!) great. The sauce and rub combination was killer. The crust was a little soft which i attribute to no sugar in the rub, a heavy hand when applying it that morning,  and maybe wrapping in foil a touch early. The flavor was totally there, I just missed the crust texture. It also could have been a bit smokier, but when I make this baby again it'll kill! Great winter meal, and makes me realize winter really is the time to serve up some bbq.