4 Rivers Smokehouse ★ 4.6
4 Rivers Smokehouse on South Orlando Avenue in Winter Park is the John Rivers Texas-style barbecue chain founding location, with brisket, ribs and burnt ends.
Signature: Texas-style brisket, Burnt ends
History
Central Texas barbecue tradition arrived in Central Florida through chef John Rivers, who opened the first 4 Rivers Smokehouse in Winter Park in 2009 after years of catering brisket out of a Lake Mary garage. Within a decade the chain expanded across Florida and beyond, anchoring Orlando's craft-barbecue scene. The Florida heat and humidity require longer rests and water-pan smoking, but the canonical Central Texas brisket form holds: oak fire, simple rub, slow smoke and slicing pencil-thick across the grain. Pig Floyd's added a Latin spin in Mills 50.
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 1 whole packer brisket, 5-6kg, with point and flat
- 100g coarse kosher salt
- 100g coarse ground black pepper
- 10g granulated garlic (optional)
- Oak wood for smoking
Method
- Trim the brisket fat cap to 6mm thick. Trim the hard fat between point and flat. Square the edges.
- Mix salt and pepper (and garlic if using) and apply liberally to all sides of the brisket. Let sit 1 hour at room temperature.
- Heat a smoker to 105C / 225F using oak wood.
- Place brisket fat-side up in the smoker. Smoke unwrapped for 8 hours, maintaining temperature.
- When the bark is set and the internal temperature reaches 75C / 165F, wrap in butcher paper.
- Continue smoking until internal temperature reaches 93C / 200F and a probe slides into the flat like butter, another 4 to 6 hours.
- Rest the wrapped brisket in a dry cooler 2 hours minimum.
- Unwrap, slice the flat against the grain pencil-thick. Cube the point fat for burnt ends or serve sliced.
Tip from the editors. Patience is the recipe. If you pull the brisket before the probe-tender mark, the flat is tough. The 2-hour rest is mandatory; it lets the meat reabsorb its juices.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Where to eat texas-style smoked brisket
Texas-style smoked brisket in Orlando
Pig Floyd's Urban Barbakoa ★ 4.4
Pig Floyd's Urban Barbakoa on North Mills Avenue is the smokehouse with Latin-style barbecue, smoked pork tacos and Cuban-influenced sides in Mills 50.
Signature: Smoked pulled pork, Cuban smoked sandwich
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