Learn how to smoke a brisket with this easy smoked brisket recipe and you will be enjoying the best brisket, all season long. Smoking a whole beef brisket can be intimidating the first time you try but with these tips and tricks of the trade you will always end up with a perfect brisket.
While you are smoking meat toss of corned beef brisket to make homemade pastrami that will rival your favorite deli!
- Simple ingredients allow the smoke flavor to shine through.
- Preparation is key. Allowing yourself enough time to properly smoke the meat is key. It takes time for all the connective tissue to break down so be sure to allow yourself an hour per pound of meat when calculating your cook time.
- When cooking for a large crowd this technique for smoking brisket is able to be used over multiple pieces of brisket, the only thing you are limited by is the size of your smoker.
Ingredients needed:
How to choose a brisket:
When picking out a brisket, my grandmother would hold the middle of the brisket in her flat hand to make sure both sides fell. The bigger the fall the better the meat. She also taught me when picking packaged bacon to chose the package that was soft and liquidy. That meant more bacon meat than bacon fat.
Credit: Reader Jana
Brisket rub recipes:
Coffee Rub:
- ground coffee
- kosher salt
- brown sugar
- paprika
- chili powder
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- ground cumin
- oregano
- coarse ground black pepper
Measure out equal parts of each of the ingredients, stir to combine and rub on meat.
Classic Smoke Rub:
- Smoked paprika
- Sea salt
- Black pepper
- Cayenne pepper
- Onion powder
- Dried oregano
- Ground cumin
- Garlic powder
Measure out 2 parts of all of the rub ingredients with the exception of the cumin and the garlic powder. Those are just one part. Stir to combine and rub on meat.
Texas A & M Brisket Rub
- ½ cup of canning/pickling salt
- ¼ cup of paprika
- 3 Tablespoons of coarse ground pepper
- 1 Tablespoon of fine ground pepper
- 2 Tablespoons of onion powder
- 2 Tablespoons of garlic powder
- 2 Tablespoons of cayenne pepper
- 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar (packed)
- 2 Tablespoons of granulated sugar
What is brisket?
The brisket cut of meat comes from the chest of the steer. This muscle does a lot of work over the life of the animal helping keep their head and neck upright, aiding the animal in getting up and down off the ground as well as all the walking, running and eating that a steer does. The muscle strands are tightly laced and have lots of connective tissue, binging the muscle strands together.
Unlike the beef tenderloin that runs along the underside of the spine and does not have nearly as much connective tissue needing less heat and time to properly cook, a brisket will need extended time in the smoker to get the best results for the most tender brisket.
Best Brisket for smoking
When choosing a whole brisket for smoking you want to purchase a brisket that has both the flat and the point still attached to the brisket. Also known as a 'packer brisket' because the butcher just needed to package up the entire brisket instead of breaking it down for the customer, the whole packer brisket will give you the juiciest, most tender bite of brisket.
For this recipe, we are going to keep the seasonings simple with kosher salt, garlic salt, and ground black pepper. If you want to branch out I will include some other brisket rub options below.
Seasonal Favorite
This is my award-winning Crisco pie crust recipe; flaky, tender, and made with simple ingredients you already have.
Substitutions
I have provided you with 3 different smoked brisket rub recipes. Each one is a little different. I hope you find one that you love or can make to meet your tastes.
Smoker - I have a rectec smoker because I love the auto-feed pellet option but I know others who have big green eggs and others love their traeger smokers. As long as you know how to use your smoker and love the results, that is all that matters.
Large cutting board - if this is your first time trimming up a brisket you may be surprised how big it is! A large cutting board will be helpful for not only trimming and transferring the meat to the smoker but clean the same cutting board and use it to serve your meat.
Chef knife or sharp pairing knife - getting the silver skin removed can be tricky but a sharp knife can be very helpful.
Thermometer - my RecTec has a thermometer that will communicate to an app on my phone alerting me to the internal temperature of the meat but all you really need is a meat thermometer to keep track of the meat temperature.
Butcher paper or foil - There is much debate in the smoking community about foil vs. butcher paper. Choose one and try the other the next time. Use what you find works best for your personal preference.
How to make smoked brisket, basic instructions
- Trim and season - Trim off any of the blue/silver skin from the meat but leave the thick layer of fat intact. Season all sides of the brisket liberally with your seasoning. no meat should be showing.
- Rest - Place in the fridge for at least 12 hours, loosely covered with plastic wrap. This will allow the meat to dry out giving it a lovely pellicle before smoking.
- Rest and preheat - when ready to smoke pull the meat from the refrigerator and allow the meat to come to room temperature for about an hour. While the meat is coming to room temperature, preheat the smoker to 225 F using wood chips or smoker pellets of your choice.
- Smoke - Place your brisket fat side up on your smoker. Smoke your brisket for 30-60 minutes per pound. It typically takes about 12 hours when I smoke a brisket.
- Stall and wrap - Once your brisket has reached 160° internal temperature, this will be the stall. It is time to wrap it in foil or butcher paper, tightly and replace it back on the smoker and continue smoking until the thermometer reaches 202 at the thickest part of the meat.
- Rest - DONT SKIP THIS STEP. It might be tempting to cut 'just a small piece; off the end. Don't do it. This will give an exit point for all the fabulous juices to escape. Allow the meat to rest for a MINIMUM of 30 minutes but 1 hour is preferred. Keep the meat wrapped in aluminum foil or another layer of paper.
- Slice and serve - When slicing the brisket slice it against the grain and enjoy!
Smoking a brisket, photo instructions
- Trim off any silver skin from the meat but leave the thick layer of fat intact. Silverskin does not break down like the other connective tissues do at this low smoking temperature.
- Season all sides of the brisket liberally with your seasoning. No meat should be showing.
- Place in the fridge for at least 12 hours, loosely covered with plastic wrap. This will allow the meat to dry out giving it a lovely pellicle before smoking. A pellicle will allow smoke to better adhere to the surface of the meat during the smoking process.
- When ready to smoke pull the meat from the refrigerator and allow the meat to come to room temperature for about an hour. While the meat is coming to room temperature, preheat the smoker to 225 F using wood chips or smoker pellets of your choice.
- Place your brisket fat cap up on your smoker. A general rule of thumb is to smoke your brisket for 30-60 minutes per pound. It typically alow about 12 hours when I smoke a brisket. Do not raise the lid of the smoker for at least 4 hours. You are working on getting a lovely smoke ring on the meat with concentrated smoke.
- Insert a meat thermometer in the thickest portion of the meat, avoiding the fat. Once your brisket has reached 160° internal temperature, this will be the stall. It is time to wrap it in foil or butcher paper, tightly and replace it back on the smoker and continue smoking until the thermometer reaches 202 at the thickest part of the meat.
- Rest - DONT SKIP THIS STEP. It might be tempting to cut 'just a small piece; off the end. Don't do it. This will give an exit point for all the fabulous juices to escape. Allow the meat to rest for a MINIMUM of 30 minutes but 1 hour is preferred. Keep the meat wrapped in aluminum foil or another layer of paper.
- Slice and serve - When slicing the brisket slice it against the grain and enjoy!
Reheating Instructions
Steam the meat in a pan with ½ inch of water until heated through.
Frequently asked questions, answers and tips:
In this recipe, I use kosher salt, ground black pepper, and garlic salt. Other seasonings that could be added are brown sugar, paprika, cumin, dried oregano and onion powder just to name a few. The possibilities are endless.
Different wood pellets or chips will give you different flavors to your brisket. For a bolder flavor, I would suggest oak, hickory, mesquite or a combination of these three with mesquite being the strongest flavor of smoke. For a milder or sweeter smoke flavor, I would suggest fruitwood such as applewood, cherry wood or peach wood. Pecan wood is another lovely option.
Chef Tip
While waiting the hour for the meat to rest, double wrap the meat in layers of foil or butcher paper. Place the meat in a cooler that has been 'preheated' by pouring hot water into the cooler, warming for 15 minutes, and then the water is dumped out. This will help keep the wrapped brisket at a higher temperature for serving versus just letting it rest wrapped on a cutting board.
Side Dishes
- Potato Stacks Recipe
- Buffalo Cauliflower Bites
- Grinder Pasta Salad (Italian Antipasto Style)
- Crispy Oven Roasted Baby Potatoes (Roasted Mini Potatoes)
Ingredients
- 12 Pounds (5 3/7 kg) medium beef brisket
- Black Pepper ground
- Salt kosher
- garlic Salt
Instructions
- Trim and season - Trim off any of the blue/silver skin from the meat but leave the thick layer of fat intact. Season all sides of the brisket liberally with your seasoning. no meat should be showing.12 Pounds (5 3/7 kg) medium beef brisket, Black Pepper, Salt, garlic Salt
- Rest - Place in the fridge for at least 12 hours, loosely covered with plastic wrap. This will allow the meat to dry out giving it a lovely pellicle before smoking.
- Rest and preheat - when ready to smoke pull the meat from the refrigerator and allow the meat to come to room temperature for about an hour. While the meat is coming to room temperature, preheat the smoker to
225 °F (107 °C) using wood chips or smoker pellets of your choice. - Smoke - Place your brisket fat side up on your smoker. Smoke your brisket for 30-60 minutes per pound. It typically takes about 12 hours when I smoke a brisket.
- Stall and wrap - Once your brisket has reached160 °F (71 °C) internal temperature, this will be the stall. It is time to wrap it in foil or butcher paper, tightly and replace it back on the smoker and continue smoking until the thermometer reaches 202 °F (94 °C) at the thickest part of the meat.
- Rest - DONT SKIP THIS STEP. It might be tempting to cut 'just a small piece; off the end. Don't do it. This will give an exit point for all the fabulous juices to escape. Allow the meat to rest for a MINIMUM of 30 minutes but 1 hour is preferred. Keep the meat wrapped in aluminum foil or another layer of paper.
- Slice and serve - When slicing the brisket slice it against the grain and enjoy!
Nutrition
I am Sarah Mock. Welcome!
Sarah Mock is a classically trained Chef and graduate of Johnson & Wales University. A culinary blogger for 15 years Sarah helps the home cook prepare her recipes with professional results.
Jana says
When picking out a brisket, my grandmother would hold the middle of the brisket in her flat hand to make sure both sides fell. The bigger the fall the better the meat. She also taught me when picking packaged bacon to chose the package that was soft and liquidy. That meant more bacon meat than bacon fat. She was a great teacher.
Sarah Mock says
These are great tips! I love it!