Smoked brisket tacos are the best way to use up shredded carne asada. Slowly cooked and slowly cooked over wood before being served on freshly grilled tortillas, this BBQ braised brisket is the best excuse to cheer on the smoker!
In this recipe we will try to make the filling from scratch, but you can use leftover brisket as well. As long as it isn’t older than two or three days, it tastes just as good in a taco.
The good news when smoking fresh beef is that you don’t have to use a whole brisket. Skip the hassle of separating the base and tip and just use the base. There’s nothing wrong with that, but floor coverings tend to be easier to buy and get. It’s common in grocery and butcher shops, as well as mail order meat shops.
Cut
Some breasts can be a little rough, so start by placing them on a clean cutting board, fat side up. Use a knife to trim away any areas that look thicker than half an inch of fat.
Flip the breast over so it’s fat side down. This other side should be clean with visible flesh. Trim off any excess fat that you see. You don’t have to get everything, so don’t fret or spend hours on it. Just clean up quickly with the knife.
Inject
To carry as much flavor as possible into our tacos, we use a dash of beef brisket so they absorb more flavor. When the brisket is smoked alone, we don’t always use an injection; In fact, some grill masters disapprove of the forehead. However, tacos are juicier and messier, so we added a bit of flavor.
Place the brisket in a shallow baking dish. This will help catch any marinade run-off as we inject it.
Mix together 2 cups water, 1 teaspoon beef base, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, and 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce. Do this in a small saucepan over medium-high heat for best results.
When the ingredients are dissolved, load your meat injector with the marinade. Find the grain of the brisket and squirt the marinade at 90 degrees. Inject in a grid pattern with one inch between each hole. Set aside some of the injected marinade. That will be important later.
Rub
I enjoy a no-fuss massage for my chest, and the taco meat filling is no different. There are many great store-bought spices out there, but for my homemade spices I combine these ingredients to cause little damage:
- 2 tablespoons of coarse kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons of coarse black pepper
- 1 tablespoon of cumin
- 1 tablespoon of smoked paprika
- 2 tea spoons ground coriander
If you want to reduce the spiciness, try leaving out the cumin and paprika. It is important that you save the salt and black pepper. This makes the meat flavorful and more tender, similar to dry curing .
Mix all the ingredients with a fork into a small tattoo to remove any clumps. Apply bandage to flat chest, covering all sides and aiming for even coverage. Don’t be shy: beef can use a lot of spices.
How to make smoked chest tacos
Turn your smoker on at 107°C. Add some walnut wood shavings to your coals. I often use oak or hickory to smoke the brisket, but we incorporate so much flavor from elsewhere into these tacos that I don’t want to overpower it. Read our Guide to Smoking Chestwoods for more information.
Place the brisket in the smoker and place fat-side down on the grates. There’s a lot of debate in the smoking community about fat-side up or fat-side down, but facing down protects the meat from direct exposure to heat. This should help the meat retain moisture and keep it juicy and tender. Perfect for tacos.
After six hours, the breast should have developed a nice dark brown color. We’re not interested in creating a crust, so let’s wrap the flat in foil. This allows us to moisten the meat and push it through the grill station.
Remove the breast from the smoker and place it on a sheet of aluminum foil. Gently drizzle the rest of the injection marinade(I said it was important!) over the breast.
Wrap the breast well, missing each side of the aluminum foil. It is important that there are no air pockets for vapor or air leaks and that it is double bagged. With the brisket wrapped in the rest of the injection marinade, this should work like a stew. If the breast is wrapped in the rest of the injection marinade, this should effectively braising the meat.
Raise the temperature of your smoker to 275°F-300°F and place the wrapped meat back into the smoker racks. Smoke is another hour or two. Roast for another two hours, but check after one hour.
After an hour, insert a meat sample into the thickest part of the breast. We’re looking for a low drag texture with an internal temperature of around 210°F(99°C). That’s higher than the 90C we’d normally aim for, but we need it to get the meat out for the taco filling. If it’s not done, re-wrap the meat and cook it a little longer.
When the brisket is cooked, remove it from the smoker and place it on a cutting board. Store the meat loosely wrapped and let rest for 20-30 minutes.
Using a breast knife, cut the meat at a 90 degree angle to its muscle fibers. Cut into thin strips and cut each slice into small pieces. Place the pieces back in the foil and allow them to absorb any remaining juice.
Writer & content creator. BBQ fanatic!
