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Uncut with Jay Cutler: Meat Church’s Matt Pittman Details How to Smoke a Texas-Style Brisket

During the most recent episode of “Uncut with Jay Cutler,” our host invited a few friends over for a special BBQ edition of the show. Host Jay Cutler invited his guests over to his Franklin, Tennessee home where they spent the afternoon hanging out and recording the podcast.

One of the highlights of the day was Meat Church’s founder and CEO Matt Pittman smoking a Texas-style brisket for everyone. He brought with him some choice cuts of meat from Texas and even explained his process to the guys. Pittman only uses cuts from beef that he calls “never ever” products. He only buys his meat from producers that do not use hormones or antibiotics, so you know what you’re eating and know what to expect. After talking about the meat itself, Cutler needed to know Pittman’s secrets.

“Give a detailed [breakdown]. This is more for myself than anybody else,” host Jay Cutler joked as he asked Pittman to explain how to cook the perfect brisket.

Pittman let everyone know he’s got full how-to videos on Meat Church’s YouTube channel. There are breakdowns of how to trim your brisket, which Pittman says is “super key.” Plus, there are several various videos of how to cook a brisket. As Pittman shared, there are numerous ways to go about it. The Pitmaster says he traditionally uses an offset smoker and he’s very aggressive in trimming the fat off the brisket. Another key aspect of his famous brisket is the simple seasoning he adds.

“So trim it right, and then you season it really simply,” Matt Pittman explained on Uncut with Jay Cutler. “I mean I have nine BBQ rubs. But my beef rub, my Holy Cow [dry rub], is mostly salt and pepper. So it’s mostly salt and pepper, little bit of garlic, and just enough paprika to make it red. It’s going to pop you because there’s lots of pepper, but Texas BBQ is pepper forward.”

Matt Pittman Explains His Smoking Process on ‘Uncut with Jay Cutler’

Meat Church’s Matt Pittman continued to talk brisket and the preparation of the cut of meat. While his company’s Holy Cow dry rub is a great option to use, he says he also suggests only using salt and pepper for your brisket. Either or will do the trick and will keep things simplistic so that the brisket itself and its natural flavors shine through. Then, Pittman went on to detail how long to smoke and then rest your brisket.

“There’s just a couple keys to get it right,” Pittman shared on the podcast. “Just to boil it down. You want to smoke it until the bark is beautiful, which usually happens at an internal temperature of 170°, 175°. At that point, you’ve got to wrap it up. I wrap with butcher paper, that’s what we’re going to have today. And then you continue to cook it until it’s probe tender in the flat, which is about 203°. Then this is super key, most people will just go to eat it and you can’t do that. The best BBQ in the world is rested for eight hours. That’s extreme, but you at least need to rest it two or three hours.”

Of course, eight hours resting time is ideal, but that’s a long time to wait for anyone having a BBQ. A warming drawer set to 140° is a great option as well to let the meat rest. However, Pittman also shared his usual routine for letting his brisket rest.

“I usually pull it out of the smoker, let it sit outside for 30 minutes to really stop the cooking process. Then I throw it in the Yeti [cooler], leave it in there four or five hours. You get it down to about 140° – time to slice. That’s just a super, super high level, but there’s just a few keys. Trim it right, season it right, wrap it at the right internal temperature, and pull it at the right final temperature.”

Make sure to check out their full conversation with host Jay Cutler in the video above, or tune in and listen to Uncut with Jay Cutler on Spotify, Apple, or wherever else you listen to your favorite podcasts.