Slow Cooker Barbecue Beef Brisket

Serves: 4

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 10 hours

Total time: 10 hours 15 mins

This recipe was written for you to sear the meat the night before and store in the refrigerator with all of the other ingredients overnight. It was written this way for a busy working household where you do all the prep the night before and just place the bowl in the slow cooker the following morning and let it cook all day while you are out. When you return at the end of the day, dinner is ready. Or feel free to prepare everything in the morning and let it cook all day. Either way, it will need 8-10 hours on low or 5-7 hours on high. (Slow cookers vary. Our brisket was pull-apart tender in nine hours on low.)  
 
Ingredients:

• 2 pounds beef brisket
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 2 cups diced onions
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• ½ cup bourbon
• 1 cup non diet cola
• ½ cup beef stock
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• ½ cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
• Few dashes of your favorite hot sauce
• Bulky rolls
• Coleslaw (see our recipe here)

Directions:

1. Pat the beef dry and season on both sides with the salt and pepper.
2. Heat both oils in a heavy bottomed pan or pot until smoking hot and carefully lay in the beef. Let it sear without touching for about four to five minutes, flip and repeat. Remove directly to the slow cooker pot.
3. Reduce heat to medium high and add onions. Cook for one minute and add tomato paste. Stir constantly for another minute.
4. Add bourbon to deglaze pan. Let reduce by half then add cola, beef stock, sugar, mustard, ketchup, vinegar, molasses, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke and hot sauce. Stir to combine and remove from heat.
5. Pour liquid over beef. At this point, you can refrigerate until morning or place in slow cooker and set for eight to ten hours on low or five to seven on high. While beef is cooking, or the night before, prepare the coleslaw (see recipe here).
6. Once beef is fall apart tender, remove to a cutting board to rest. Pour the contents of the slow cooker into a sauce pan and reduce to a thick sauce, about 1 ½ cups.
7. To serve, slice the beef against the grain, place coleslaw on the roll bottom and top with the sliced beef and spoon on some of the sauce you reduced. Serve with lots of napkins.

Source: afamilyfeast.com