Daniel Contreras’ Pecan Wood Smoked Brisket
One of my goals in creating Hungry Fan was not only to share yummy game day goodness with you all — to help make game day just a little bit better (and yummier) — but also to foster a community in which you all could share your own tips and recipes with one another.
Thanks to the awesomeness of social media, I met Daniel Contreras, “The Brisket Man from Dallas.” Daniel is a huge Cowboys fan and has inherited from his dad a pretty killer recipe. So I am kicking off the first of what I hope to be a great recipe series for all you Hungry Fans, entitled Fan Food, which is for the fans, by the fans, with Daniel’s brisket!
It’s actually a pretty simple recipe. To cook his brisket to perfection, Daniel stresses that it’s really more of a process of cleaning the smoker, properly prepping the meat, and ensuring that the fire is super hot.
Daniel’s secret ingredient? The wood. He says, “Some people use apple wood or mesquite, but we use pecan wood.” Daniel suggests that the flavor the pecan wood adds is “unreal.” Fun fact: Daniel’s family has a bunch of pecan trees so they literally source their wood locally on their own land! How’s that for handy?
Does this brisket get any special rub? Nope. No special rubs. Just salt and pepper. “We let the pecan wood do the magic,” says Daniel. Achieving this brisket brilliance takes 6–7 hours, which leaves you plenty of time for shiners (Texas beer).
Check out the mouthwatering video of it coming out of the smoker here. And follow Daniel (@dcontreras8121) on Instagram here!
