Start by making your ancho chile rub. Combine the ancho chile powder, kosher salt, coarsely ground black pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, ground cumin, dark brown sugar, dried oregano, cayenne pepper, ground coriander, and cinnamon in a medium mixing bowl. Whisk everything together thoroughly until the blend is uniform in color and texture, no streaks of individual spices remaining. Take a moment to smell this blend and you will already understand why this rub is going to do serious work on your beef.

If you are working with a brisket flat, trim the fat cap down to approximately 1/4-inch thickness. You want enough fat to baste the meat through a long smoke but not so much that the rub cannot penetrate. For ribeye steaks, pat them completely dry with paper towels. Moisture is the enemy of good bark formation, so take your time here and get the surface of that beef as dry as possible before any seasoning touches it.

Apply the ancho chile beef rub generously to all exposed surfaces of your beef. For brisket, use approximately 2 tablespoons of rub per pound of meat. Press the rub firmly into the surface with the heel of your hand rather than just sprinkling it on. You want it adhered, not floating on top. Every crack, crevice, and edge of that brisket needs coverage. For ribeye steaks, coat both sides and the edges with a firm, even layer.

Once the beef is coated, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap or butcher paper and place it in the refrigerator. For steaks, a minimum rest of 1 hour is acceptable but 4 hours is better. For brisket, go overnight, anywhere from 8 to 12 hours. This dry brine period allows the salt in the rub to draw out a small amount of surface moisture, which then dissolves the salt and gets reabsorbed into the meat, seasoning it from within and improving the final texture of the bark dramatically.

When you are ready to cook, fire up your smoker or grill to your target temperature. For brisket, dial in your smoker at 225 to 250 degrees Fahrenheit using post oak, hickory, or mesquite wood for fuel and smoke. For ribeye steaks on a charcoal grill, build a two-zone fire with a hot side screaming at 450 to 500 degrees Fahrenheit and a cooler indirect side for temperature control. Let your cooker stabilize at the target temp for at least 20 to 30 minutes before any meat goes on.

For brisket: place the rubbed brisket fat side up on the smoker grate and close the lid. Do not open it for the first 3 hours. You are building your smoke ring during this early window and every time you lift the lid you lose precious smoke time. After 3 hours, check the color of the bark. You are looking for a deep mahogany exterior with the ancho chile creating an almost chocolate-colored crust. Spritz with a 50/50 mix of beef broth and apple cider vinegar every 90 minutes from this point forward.

For ribeye steaks: remove the steaks from the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking to take the chill off. Place the steaks on the hot side of your two-zone charcoal fire and sear for 2 to 3 minutes per side without moving them. You want to hear a hard, aggressive sizzle the moment that beef hits the grate. After searing both sides, move the steaks to the indirect side and cook to your desired internal temp: 125 degrees Fahrenheit for rare, 130 to 135 degrees for medium-rare, or 140 degrees for medium.

Monitor the internal temp of your brisket throughout the cook. When the internal temp hits approximately 165 degrees Fahrenheit, the brisket will likely enter the stall, where evaporative cooling temporarily stops the internal temp from rising. This is normal. At this point, wrap the brisket tightly in unwaxed butcher paper to push through the stall while preserving your bark. Return it to the smoker and continue cooking until the internal temp reaches 200 to 205 degrees Fahrenheit and a probe or thermometer slides into the thickest part with zero resistance, like pushing into warm butter.

Rest the meat before you cut into it. This step is non-negotiable. For brisket, rest it wrapped in butcher paper inside a dry cooler with towels for a minimum of 1 hour and up to 4 hours. The internal temp will continue to rise a few degrees during this carry-over period, and the juices will redistribute throughout the muscle fibers. For ribeye steaks, rest them on a wire rack over a sheet pan for 5 to 10 minutes tented loosely with foil. Cut too early and you lose everything.

Slice your brisket against the grain with a long slicing knife in cuts approximately 1/4-inch thick. Look for that beautiful smoke ring, a pink band of color just below the bark that tells the whole story of your cook. Serve the sliced beef on a butcher paper-lined tray with your favorite BBQ sides. For ribeye steaks, slice them away from the bone if bone-in, or serve whole with a pat of compound butter melting over that ancho chile crust. Appreciate what you have created, because this right here is the real deal.