Slow Cooker Smoky Beef Brisket
Ginger ale, herbs, spices, mustard, ketchup, soy sauce, liquid smoke and a slab of meat equal tender and juicy slow cooker smoky beef brisket.

Equipment
- Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 1.2 to 1.5 kilograms beef brisket in one piece
- 1 large onion peeled and thinly sliced
For the smoky barbecue sauce
- 3 tablespoons rock salt
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- 1 tablespoon celery salt
- 1 tablespoon ground mustard
- 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons ground white pepper
- 3 tablespoons smoky paprika
- 2 tablespoons garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon ginger powder
- ½ cup spicy grainy mustard we used homemade
- ½ cup tomato ketchup
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar firmly packed
- 1 cup ginger ale
- ¾ to 1 tablespoon liquid smoke the amount depending on the actual weight of the brisket
Instructions
- Spread the onion slices to completely cover the bottom of the slow cooker bowl.
- Rinse the brisket, pat dry with paper towels and lay on top of the onion slices.
- Place the rock salt, thyme, oregano and basil in a spice grinder or food processor. Process until powdered.
- In a mixing bowl, mix together the processed salt and herbs with the rest of the ingredients for the sauce until the salt and sugar are dissolved.
- Pour the sauce over the meat.
- Set the slow cooker on LOW and cook the brisket for 7 and 1/2 hours.
- Remove the bowl from the cooker and let the brisket cool slowly to room temperature.
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Line a baking tray with foil and spray with oil. Alternatively, line the tray with non-stick baking paper or a silicone mat.
- Lift the brisket and lay on the prepared baking tray.
- Strain the sauce into a sauce pan. Boil, uncovered, until reduced to the consistency of syrup. DO NOT wait until too thick; it thickens as it cools.
- Brush the reduced sauce on every exposed surface of the brisket.
- Bake the beef brisket at 400F for about 10 minutes or until the sauce is lightly caramelized.
- Transfer the brisket to a cutting board, slice and serve with the remaining sauce on the side.
Notes
My first time to cook Texas-style beef brisket. But the moment I started slicing the meat, I already knew it was going to be superb. And it was. We went to meat heaven.
It all started with Young Sheldon. You know, the spin-off from The Big Bang Theory. In Episode 7 of Season 1, Meemaw refuses to give George her brisket recipe which, apparently, was to die for. That piqued my interest.
Texas-style beef brisket is traditionally slow cooked in a smoker. Ten to fourteen hours. We don’t have a smoker but we have a slow cooker and a bottle of liquid smoke. They did the trick.

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