Smoked brisket buns with mustard barbecue sauce and pickled chillies

Smoked brisket buns with mustard barbecue sauce and pickled chillies

Smoked brisket is regarded as the pinnacle of low-and-slow barbecuing, and David Carter’s version is the crowning jewel of the menu at his celebrated London restaurant Smokestak. Find out all about the five stages of making barbecue brisket here before coming back to the recipe for these sensational buns.

Smoked brisket buns with mustard barbecue sauce and pickled chillies

It’s perfect for a big get-together in the garden and one of the most satisfying things you can create with your barbecue.

Discover more alternative barbecue recipes.

  • Serves icon Serves 15-20
  • Time icon Hands-on time 1 hour 30 min. Smoking time 10-13 hours, plus at least 1 hour resting

Smoked brisket is regarded as the pinnacle of low-and-slow barbecuing, and David Carter’s version is the crowning jewel of the menu at his celebrated London restaurant Smokestak. Find out all about the five stages of making barbecue brisket here before coming back to the recipe for these sensational buns.

It’s perfect for a big get-together in the garden and one of the most satisfying things you can create with your barbecue.

Discover more alternative barbecue recipes.

Nutrition: Per bun (for 20)

Calories
756kcals
Fat
45g (18g saturated)
Protein
51g
Carbohydrates
34g (11g sugars)
Fibre
1.6g
Salt
2.9g

Before you start

Because you need to add wood to the barbecue every 30 minutes or so, it’s best to start early in the morning for an evening meal.

Before you start

Because you need to add wood to the barbecue every 30 minutes or so, it’s best to start early in the morning for an evening meal.

Ingredients

  • 30g fine salt
  • 30g coarse ground black pepper
  • 1 whole brisket, trimmed for smoking (ask your butcher)
  • Brioche buns to serve

For the chillies

  • 160ml cider vinegar
  • 2 tbsp caster sugar
  • 4 red chillies, finely sliced

For the sauce

  • Dash vegetable oil
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp chilli flakes
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 120ml cider vinegar
  • 120ml apple juice
  • 50ml Worcestershire sauce
  • 30g dark brown sugar
  • 250g tomato ketchup
  • 2 tbsp American mustard

Specialist kit

  • Lidded barbecue
  • Wood chips for smoking
  • Butcher paper
  • Probe thermometer
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Method

  1. Set up the barbecue for indirect heat (so the coals are to one side and the meat can be put on the other). You’re trying to maintain a temperature of 110 130°C. You’ll be cooking for a long time, so get a good amount of charcoal in there and use the barbecue vents to level the temperature before you start cooking. Soak the wood chunks/chips in water (you’ll need about 20 handfuls).
  2. Mix the 30g salt and 30g pepper together, then sprinkle it over the brisket, ensuring every part is evenly coated. You don’t want to pack it on too thickly, but it should season every exposed part of the meat. Give the joint a little shake to remove any excess.
  3. Put the brisket in the barbecue, fat-side up. If your heat source is at one side, put the pointed end of the joint facing the heat. Add a handful of smoking chips or a few chunks of wood, close the lid and cook for 8-10 hours, keeping an eye on the temperature and topping it up with a handful of damp wood chips every half hour or so. (If you need to top up the charcoal too, a BBQ chimney is useful as it gets the charcoal to the right heat before you add it.)
  4. Meanwhile, make the chillies. Put the vinegar, sugar and 80ml water in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. As soon as it boils, remove from the heat, add the chillies and cover. Leave to cool to room temperature.
  5. To make the sauce, heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat, then add the onion and garlic. Cook for 6-8 minutes until softened but not coloured, then add the spices, salt and 1 tsp of the pepper. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring. Add the vinegar, then simmer until the sauce reduces to a syrup (about 8 minutes). Add the apple juice, then reduce again to a syrup (about 8 minutes).
  6. Add the Worcestershire sauce and sugar, cook for 2 minutes, then add the ketchup. Turn the heat to low and cook for 20 minutes, stirring every now and then. Set aside to cool.
  7. Start testing your brisket for doneness after 7½ hours. You want it to be a deep, deep brown – almost black – with a solid crust or ‘bark’ all over. If you have a probe thermometer, it’s usually ready to wrap at around 73-75°C. Lay out 2 large sheets of butcher paper on a work surface, overlapping slightly, then wrap the brisket up in them, as if wrapping a present. Return it to the barbecue with the paper folds facing down and cook for another 2-3 hours (there’s no need to add more wood at this stage). If you’re in a rush, you can raise the temperature of the barbecue slightly (but only by 20-30°C).
  8. The brisket is ready when it sags at either end as you pick it up in the middle (or is at 90-92°C). Rest it for at least an hour (but it’ll be fine for 2 hours) wrapped in the paper.
  9. When ready to serve, pour half the barbecue sauce into a bowl and mix in the remaining 1 tsp pepper, the mustard and the pickling liquid from the chillies to create a second mustardy sauce.
  10. Carve the brisket against the grain, starting with the flat, in 5mm thick slices. As you get towards the point and the muscle changes, so will the grain, so keep an eye out for it. Try to slice the point end slightly thinner than the flat. Spread the buns with one or both sauces, then add 1-2 slices of brisket, coiling them around in a spiral. Top with a few pickled chillies, put the lid on top and dish them out to your hungry (and very lucky) guests.

Nutrition

Nutrition: per serving
Calories
756kcals
Fat
45g (18g saturated)
Protein
51g
Carbohydrates
34g (11g sugars)
Fibre
1.6g
Salt
2.9g

delicious. tips

  1. Keep leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days or freezer for up to 3 months. Reheat in the oven at 150°C fan/gas 3½ or add to chilli con carne or ragùs.

  2. Make the pickled chillies and sauce base up to 3 days ahead and chill.

Buy ingredients online

Recipe By:

Chef and Smokestak founder David Carter

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Read what others say...

  1. Great recipe, although weight of meat would of been really helpful. Made this and can honestly say it was incredible I used a 2.5kg of rolled brisket which I unrolled before marinating. Would of easily fed 8-10 however fed 4 as everybody wanted 2nd’s!

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