Today we are grinding up a whole brisket for a Texas brisket inspired Smoked Texas Brisket Burger featuring our Cowboy Coffee Bacon Jam and homemade pickles. Chef Tom fires up the Yoder Smokers Loaded Wichita Offset Smoker to slow smoke the burgers before finishing them with a high heat sear on the griddle over oak splits INSIDE THE FIRE BOX!
WHAT YOU'LL LOVE
- Grinding a whole brisket twice, with garlic and chipotles mixed in between passes, builds a burger with more depth than store-bought ground beef and distributes the chipotle flavor evenly through the meat
- Building the coffee bacon jam by returning the cooked bacon to the same pot the onions caramelized in ties the whole condiment back to one shared base of flavor
- Smoking the patties low first, then finishing with a hard sear over oak splits inside the firebox, builds smoke flavor before the crust forms, the same reverse-sear logic used on steaks
- Steaming the cheese under a closed firebox door with a splash of water melts it fully without needing a broiler or torch
- Steaming the cheese under a closed firebox door with a splash of water melts it fully without needing a broiler or torch
Smoked Texas Brisket Burger
Tom Jackson
Rated 4.0 stars by 23 users
Category
Entree
Cuisine
American
Servings
16
Prep Time
1 hour 3 minutes
Cook Time
1 hour 15 minutes
Calories
1759
Grind up some brisket for the ultimate Texas-style burger - smoked, juicy and topped with our Cowboy Coffee Bacon Jam and homemade pickles. Slow-smoke these burgers for juicy, delicious flavor, then finish them with a high-heat sear over oak splits for a smoky, charred flavor that will make your mouth water.
Ingredients
- 4 lb brisket
- 1/4 cup chipotles in adobo
- 1 head garlic
-
extra virgin olive oil
-
2 tbsp Jacobsen Salt Co. Kosher Sea Salt
-
2 tbsp Jacobsen Salt Co. Tellicherry Black Peppercorns, coarse grind
- 8 oz Horseradish Havarti cheese
- 8 oz sharp cheddar
- Bacon Jam (recipe below)
- Pickles (recipe below)
- 8 Brioche buns
- 2 mini cucumbers, sliced 1/8”
- 2 jalapeños, sliced 1/8”
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, sliced 1/4”
- 3/4 cup water, plus more for boiling
- 3/4 cup white vinegar
-
1 tbsp Cattleman’s Grill Trail Dust All Purpose Seasoning
-
1 tsp Noble Saltworks Maple Smoked Turbinado Sugar
- 1 clove garlic, crushed, peeled
- 1 lb bacon, sliced 1/2”
- 1 1/2 lb yellow onion, sliced 1/4” thick
-
2 tbsp Cattleman’s Grill Smoky Chipotle Coffee Steak Seasoning
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup coffee
- 1/2 cup cider vinegar
-
1/2 cup maple syrup
- 2 tbsp TX whiskey
Pickles:
Coffee Bacon Jam:
Directions
- To make the pickles, place the cucumbers, jalapeños and sliced onion in a pint sized mason jar. Combine the 3/4 cup water, vinegar, Cattleman’s Grill Trail Dust All Purpose Seasoning, Noble Saltworks Maple Smoked Turbinado Sugar and garlic in a small pot. Bring to a simmer. Pour over the onions in the jar. Store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. The onions will be ready to eat after a couple of hours, but best overnight.
To make the roasted garlic, slice the tip end of the head of garlic off, exposing the cloves. Place in a Lodge 8” Cast Iron Skillet. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Drizzle a few more tablespoons oil in the skillet. Cover with a lid and cook over low heat until the cloves are tender. You can flip the garlic to cook evenly. Let cook, then squeeze the cloves of garlic out of the papery skins.
- To make the brisket burgers, grind brisket once with a large die. Mix garlic and chipotles in adobo into the meat. Grind again with small die. Form into 1/2 lb patties and chill.
- To make the bacon jam, cook the bacon over medium heat in a Lodge dutch oven, stirring frequently until lightly browned. Remove from the dutch oven using a slotted spoon. Drain bacon on paper towels. Discard all but 2 tbsp bacon fat.
- Add the sliced onions and Cattleman’s Grill 8 Second Ride Carne Asada Seasoning to the dutch oven. Cook until translucent, about 5-10 minutes. Add the garlic and brown sugar. Cook for one minute.
- Add the remaining ingredients. Bring to a simmer. Return the cooked bacon to the dutch oven. Cook over low heat until the mixture is syrupy.
- Transfer to a food processor and pulse to desired consistency.
- Fire up the smoker! Build a charcoal base in the firebox of the Yoder Smokers Loaded Wichita Offset Smoker. Add splits of oak wood to maintain a 225-250°F temperature inside the grill.
- Combine the Jacobsen Salt Co. Kosher Sea Salt and ground Jacobsen Salt Co. Tellicherry Black Pepper. Season the patties with the salt and pepper mixture.
- Smoke the burgers until they reach an internal temperature of 130°F, then remove them from the grill.
- Add a chimney full of hot charcoal to the firebox, right in the center. Add more oak splits to the top. Place a Yoder Smokers Cast Iron Griddle in the firebox, directly over the fire.
- Sear the burgers on the hot skillet. Flip and top with the cheeses. Add a squeeze of water to the griddle and close the door to the firebox to steam the cheese. Remove when the cheese is melted and the internal temperature is 145-150°F.
- To build the burgers, add the pickles to the toasted bottom bun of the brioche roll. Place the burger on the pickles. Top with bacon jam and the top bun.
Recipe Note
Recipe FAQ
Why grind the brisket twice instead of just once?
Grinding once first, then mixing in the garlic and chipotles before a second pass, distributes that flavor evenly through the meat and gives the burger a finer, more consistent texture than a single grind would.
Why return the cooked bacon to the same pot the onions caramelized in?
Building the bacon jam in one pot means every stage — bacon, onions, garlic, and the final syrupy reduction shares the same base of rendered fat and browned bits, tying the whole condiment together.
Why smoke the patties low first, then sear them hot inside the firebox?
Smoking to 130°F first builds gentle smoke flavor through the patty. Searing afterward over oak splits builds the crust last, the same reverse-sear approach used on steaks, so you get both smoke and char.
Why splash water on the griddle and close the firebox door while melting the cheese?
The trapped steam melts the cheese fully and quickly without needing a broiler or torch, using the same heat source that's already searing the patty.
What internal temperature should the brisket burger patties actually reach?
This recipe finishes them at 145-150°F, but ground beef needs to reach a minimum internal temperature of 160°F to be safe. The 130°F smoking stage is only a checkpoint before searing continue cooking until the patty reaches at least 160°F, not 145-150°F, before serving.
How indoor-friendly is this recipe?
2 out of 5 the bacon jam and pickles come together entirely indoors, but the offset smoker's low smoke and oak-fired sear are central to this burger's flavor and difficult to replicate on a stovetop.
Recipe Highlights
Double-ground brisket: Builds even flavor distribution and a finer texture than a single grind.
One-pot bacon jam: Ties bacon, onions, and reduction together in shared flavor.
Smoke-then-sear patties: Applies reverse-sear logic to a ground burger.
Steamed cheese melt: Uses trapped heat instead of a separate broiler step.
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Nutrition
Nutrition
- Nutrition Serving Size
- 10.81 oz
- per serving
- Calories
- 1759
- Carbs
- 36 grams
- Protein
- 102 grams
- Fat
- 130 grams
- Sodium
- 1497 milligrams
