Slow Cooker Brisket, Camp Version
A chuck roast and a homemade sauce that cook themselves while you set up camp.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 58
- protein
- 42 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 240 min
- total time
- 255 min
- water
- 350 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Beef brisket or chuck roast | 3 lb | chuck roast costs less and shreds the same |
|---|---|---|
| Kosher salt | 2 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1 tsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1 tsp | |
| Onion powder | 1 tsp | |
| Dried oregano | 1 tsp | |
| Garlic cloves | 4 | peeled at home |
| Onion | 1 large | sliced thick |
| Beef broth | 1 cup | bouillon plus water works and weighs nothing |
| Soy sauce | 2 tbsp | |
| Ketchup | 1 cup | packets or a squeeze bottle |
| Corn starch | 1 tbsp | |
| Water | 2 tbsp | cold, for the slurry |
Method
- Build a fire and let it burn down to coals. You want steady low heat for hours, not flames.
- Rub the salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and oregano over every side of the meat.
- Lay the onion slices and garlic cloves in the bottom of the dutch oven and set the meat on top. Pour in the broth and soy sauce.
- Lid on. Bank coals under and over the oven, aiming for a low simmer. Check every 45 minutes and add coals as they burn out.
- After about 4 hours the meat should pull apart with a fork. Move it to a plate.
- Stir the ketchup into the liquid in the pot and bring it back to a simmer over direct coals.
- Mix the corn starch with 2 tbsp of cold water, stir it in, and cook a minute until the sauce coats the spoon.
- Shred the meat, return it to the sauce, and stir.
This started as a slow cooker recipe, which is really just a dutch oven with a plug on it. Coals do the same job: low, even, unattended heat for four hours. The trade is that you have to feed the fire every 45 minutes instead of walking away entirely.
The sauce goes in late on purpose. Ketchup scorches against a hot cast iron wall over a long cook, so the meat braises in broth and soy sauce first, then the ketchup joins the drippings at the end and the corn starch pulls it together. Brisket needs a cooler and a day one plan, so this is a car-camping dinner, not something you carry.
Packing
Mix the five dry spices into one small jar at home and rub the meat the night before so it seasons in the cooler. Peel the garlic and slice the onion at home too. Bouillon cubes replace the broth carton.
Variations
- A teaspoon of chili powder or cumin in the rub if you want more edge.
- Coconut aminos for the soy sauce if you are avoiding wheat.
- Leftovers go into tortillas the next morning with whatever hot sauce you brought.
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/slow-cooker-brisket