Smoked Brisket

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.

Everything you need to know—tools, tips, and a simple recipe—to make the ultimate smoked brisket at home.

The Basics On Smoked Brisket

The Meat

Beef brisket is a large cut of meat from the breast or lower chest of a cow. Because this muscle gets a lot of exercise, it is a tough cut best suited to low-and-slow cooking. It is most commonly used to make Texas-style smoked brisket, corned beef, pastrami, roasted or braised brisket, and pho.

A full brisket is made up of two overlapping muscles — the fatty, thicker point cut and the leaner, thinner flat cut. At the supermarket, you will typically see the leaner flat cut, but this is not what you want when smoking a brisket. Because it lacks fat and marbling, it’s challenging to smoke without drying out. It’s best to use a whole beef brisket, or whole packer brisket/full packer brisket, with both the flat and point cuts intact; the fat marbling in the point cut helps keep the leaner meat juicy over the very long cook time. You may need to special order this cut or go to a butcher.

To ensure a juicy brisket, it’s important to get meat that is graded USDA Prime or Choice (or even Wagyu for a splurge). If the packaging doesn’t specify, it’s likely a lower grade and you should avoid it. I highly recommend purchasing the meat from a good butcher; this way, you can ask the butcher to trim the meat for you, which is the only difficult part of preparing a smoked brisket. If you need to do it yourself, this is a good tutorial. (Be sure to leave at least a 1/4-inch fat cap on the brisket!)

The Seasoning

Many BBQ experts season brisket simply with just salt and black pepper, but I prefer to use a homemade spice rub that includes smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, dry mustard, and cayenne pepper for more flavor. Either way, it’s essential to season the meat and let it sit overnight in the refrigerator before cooking. This is essentially dry brining the meat, much as you would do for a turkey. The salt in the rub not only seasons the meat but also draws out the natural juices to make a brine that then soaks back into the meat. Basically, the salt modifies the internal proteins to hold onto more moisture, making the meat juicier, and also dries the surface of the meat for better browning.

Step-by-Step Instructions

In a small bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the spice rub and mix to combine. Coat the brisket evenly on both sides with about half of the rub.

Allow the meat to sit for 10 to 15 minutes to “sweat” and absorb the rub, then coat the meat with the remainder of the rub. It may seem like too much rub but it’s not; use it all.

Place the brisket on a rack over a baking sheet and refrigerate, uncovered, for 24 to 36 hours.

Preheat your smoker to 225°F. Place the brisket in the smoker, fat side up. If using a meat thermometer with a wired probe (which I highly recommend if you have one), insert it into the thickest part of the meat to monitor the internal temperature continuously. (If you only have an instant-read thermometer, check the temperature periodically by quickly inserting it into the thickest part of the meat, being careful to minimize the time the smoker is open to avoid losing heat and smoke.)

Smoke for 6 to 8 hours, or until the internal temperature is 165 °F to 170°F, and the bark is a nice mahogany color.

Cut 2 sheets of butcher paper or aluminum foil, each about 3 feet long, and overlap them on a large work surface. Using heat proof gloves or oven mitts, remove the brisket from the smoker and place it lengthwise on the papers, fat side down, then wrap it in butcher paper or aluminum foil. Return to the smoker, seam side down. Wrapping the brisket, a technique known as the “Texas crutch,” speeds up the cooking process by preventing what’s called “the stall,” when evaporation from the surface of the brisket halts the cooking process. Wrapping also helps lock in moisture that would otherwise be lost as the brisket cooks.

If using a remote probe thermometer, place it back in (through the paper) and continue cooking until the internal temperature reaches 203°F, 4 to 6 hours more. The cook time will vary with each piece of meat; the brisket is done when it reaches the proper temperature and the thermometer probe slides in and out of the meat with little resistance, like soft butter. Place the wrapped brisket in an insulated cooler to rest for 1 to 3 hours.

To serve the brisket, unwrap it over a sheet pan to catch any juices (you’ll want those for serving). Transfer the brisket to a large cutting board (preferably one with a well for collecting juices), lean side down. Using a sharp carving knife or an electric carving knife, slice the meat against the grain.

Note that the grain in the flat-cut portion of the brisket runs perpendicular to the grain in the point-cut portion. So, start by slicing the flat cut ¼-inch thick. When the slices start to show a line of fat running through the middle, you have reached the point cut, so rotate your slicing angle 90 degrees and cut the point into slightly thicker slices, cutting away any excess fat as you go. Arrange the slices on a platter or plates and spoon the reserved meat drippings over them. Serve BBQ sauce and any fixins’, like pickled red onions, cornbread, potato salad, and coleslaw, on the side.

You May Also Like