Description
One of my son’s friends is extremely into smoking and grilling and two of his best recipes are brisket and pastrami. Every year he brings these meats as a meal for their fantasy football draft and they are absolutely delicious. He smokes them for up to 8 hours before bringing them and has them down to a science. So one year he asked if we could use the instant pot to produce similar results.
I had to break out the instant pot and experiment to get something that was good. I wound up getting a number of different briskets to try this out and was pleased with the results. As always, with an instant pot the beautiful thing is the time at which this thing cooks. My son’s friend would spend crazy amounts of time smoking and while this may not have that smoke taste, you’re saving a ton of time for a result that comes almost as close.
Top it off with an onion gravy to serve with and you’re talking about a family favorite that everyone will love. Prepare to have this meal requested weekly because of how juicy it is.
Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 beef brisket, 2-3 pounds
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp avocado oil or other oil with high smoke point
- 3 sliced yellow onions
- 3 large garlic cloves
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup dry red wine
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp paprika
Instructions
- Dry brisket with paper towels
- Trim off any excess fat from the brisket that exceeds 1/4 inch thickness
- Season brisket on both sides with salt and ground pepper
- Select Saute setting on the instant pot, adjust the heat level to More, and heat the oil
- With tongs, lower the brisket fat side down into the pot
- Let it sear for 6 minutes on the first side, then turn the brisket over and sear for 6 more minutes
- Transfer the brisket to a serving plate
- Press the cancel button to reset the cooking program, then select the saute setting again and this time leave it on the Normal heat setting
- Add the onions, garlic, and the remaining 1 teaspoon salt and saute, stirring to dislodge and browned bits from the pot bottom, for about 10 minutes, until the onions are softened
- Stir in the water, wine, tomato paste, rosemary, thyme, and paprika
- Using the tongs, lower the brisket into the pot
- Secure the lid and set the pressure release to sealing
- Press the cancel button to reset the cooking program, then select the meat/stew setting and set the cooking time for 50 minutes at high pressure
- Perform a quick release by moving the pressure release to venting, or let the pressure release naturally
- You can then open the pot or you can leave the brisket in the pot on the keep warm setting for up to 10 hours
- Transfer brisket to a carving board or plate
- Set a mesh strainer over a bowl
- With heat mitts on, lift the inner pot out of the instant pot and strain the cooking liquid into the bowl
- Return the garlic and onions to the inner pot
- Pour the liquid into a fat separator, then pour the cooking liquid from the fat separator back into the inner pot, discarding the layer of fat behind
- With an immersion blender, blend together the cooking liquid, onions and garlic until smooth
- Place the inner pot back in the instant pot housing to keep the gravy warm
- Carve the brisket into 1/4 inch thick slices to serve
- Pour gravy on top of the brisket