Tender Juicy Smoked Brisket Recipe

If you love smoked brisket, you’ve come to the right place! We LOVE to make this smoked brisket recipe for special occasions, and for feeding big crowds!

Unlike leaner cuts of beef, like rump roast, cooked with a strategic two-step process for tenderness, Brisket is fatty! But it’s also different from a fatty Pork Butt (pork shoulder), which I usually shred after cooking. Brisket is a two-muscle cut (the flat and the point) with beautiful marbling, and needs low and slow smoking!

This makes a perfectly flavored smoked beef brisket that’s so tender it just falls apart when you cut into it. Be sure to print your free recipe card below! There are a lot of smoked beef brisket recipes out there, and this is our favorite a more old-fashioned smoked brisket recipe. (No fancy smoker needed.)

I use the entire beef brisket, rub seasonings all over it, smoke it for 4-8 hours, then wrap it in aluminum foil and bake slow and low overnight (9-12 more hours). Feeds 15-20 people depending on brisket and portion sizes. Serve with BBQ Bacon Baked Beans!

The Smokers

I have NOTHING against Traeger’s… I love mine… But, you don’t need an expensive pellet smoker to make a good smoked brisket… It just needs to be big enough to fit the brisket inside!

We have an old “Big Chief” smoker that we picked up at Cabalas before Traeger’s were a thing. It’s old, a bit rusty, and uses a coil electric burner to turn the wood pellets, or wood chips, into smoke. But, it works great!

Selecting Beef Brisket

If you want truly legendary brisket, it all starts with selecting the right cut! I buy a whole brisket in one of two ways: I love to buy meat directly from Y-1 Farms (a local rancher). When you purchase a side of beef (a half cow), you receive one large, whole brisket (a cow has two total). Y-1 Farms sells the highest quality beef, and their brisket is the best I’ve ever had!

I also like to buy beef brisket from Costco, as they reliably offer high-quality meat. When shopping, you are looking for a Whole Packer Brisket, which contains both muscle sections: the Flat and the Point.

The Flat: This is the leaner, thinner portion of the brisket. It’s best for beautiful, uniform slices.

The Point: This is the thick, fattier end that sits on top of the flat. It contains a lot of intramuscular fat, making it the ideal cut for flavorful, tender shredded meat or classic burnt ends.

Look for a brisket that has a substantial fat cap on one side. (Brisket is not a low-fat cut, and if it were, it would be dry and lack flavor!) This layer of fat is essential because it keeps the meat moist throughout hours of smoking and roasting, adding a rich depth of flavor that you simply can’t get any other way.

Cook – Smoke Time

Making smoked brisket is a process… It takes time. I smoke the brisket for a minimum of four hours and roast slow and low inside for 12 more. Cooking it on low heat for so long results in a really tender brisket that you can’t get any other way…

It’s definitely worth the time! For best results, give yourself at least 16 hours. If you are going to serve brisket tomorrow, start smoking it today!

The Overnight Smoked Brisket Method: Smoke-and-Finish

This technique is perfect for the home cook because we eliminate the uncertainty of a 16-hour smoker babysitting session. We smoke the brisket for 4 hours to infuse it with deep flavor, and then we wrap it tight and let the oven do the heavy lifting overnight, guaranteeing a perfect internal temperature right before the holiday rush

Instruction Overview

Making smoked brisket is much easier than you may think! There are really only a few steps: season, smoke, wrap and bake low! Here is the entire process:

• Bring your brisket (10-15 pounds) to room temperature. If it’s frozen, defrost it the day before you start cooking it.
• Season entire brisket on all sides.
• Place on a rack in smoker fat side up
• Smoke at 225∘F for 4−8 hours until the exterior has developed a deep, dark crust (the “bark”). The internal temperature will be approximately 150∘F.

Understanding The Stall (The Texas Crutch)

When your brisket’s internal temperature reaches the 150∘F – 170∘F range, you will likely hit “The Stall.” This is where the temperature plateaus and can stay stuck for hours, frustrating many pitmasters. The stall happens because moisture evaporating from the surface of the meat cools the brisket, countering the heat from the smoker.

To push past this phase and continue cooking efficiently, we use the technique known as the Texas Crutch: tightly wrapping the brisket in foil or butcher paper. This seals in the moisture and heat, allowing the temperature to climb quickly toward its final doneness.

• Wrap smoked brisket in aluminum foil or pink butcher paper
• Bake in the 225∘F oven for 9 to 12 hours (or until the internal temp reaches 195−205∘F), depending on the size of your brisket.
• Remove and place brisket on a large carving board.
• Let rest 1 hour
• Slice against the grain, or muscle fibers, & ENJOY!

Smoke Brisket

After seasoning your brisket, it’s time to put it on a smoker rack, fat side up, and add your wood chunks or pellets! Our little “big chief” smoker needs pellets or wood chunks to be replaced every hour or so while smoking. Make sure to keep the smoke on your meat for at least 4 hours.

Your meat will not really cook in the smoker, so don’t freak out when you take a raw beef brisket out of your smoker! In this recipe brisket cooks after smoking. Most of the actual cooking happens in a 225-degree oven. The smoker just gives your brisket the delicious smoke flavor!

I like to smoke our brisket for 4 hours before we go to bed, then wrap it in aluminum foil, or pink butters’ paper, nice and tight (seal 2 pieces together by tightly folding ends together.) And then pop it in the oven when I go to bed.

Meat Thermometer

A meat thermometer is one of the best investments you can make in your kitchen! It’s the only sure way to make sure any type of meat is cooked correctly and is SAFE! I use my meat thermometer for brisket to make sure it’s going to be tender, but I also love to use it for chicken, turkey, and pork to make sure they are SAFE to eat and serve my kids!

If your oven is working right, your brisket should be done after 9-12 hours of roasting. To make sure it’s going to be tender, check the internal temperature! Beef Brisket is done after the internal temperature of the meat reaches 195∘F to 205 degrees F.

After cooking, wrap the brisket in foil and let it rest for 20 to 40 minutes before slicing. When you let your meat rest after cooking, it allows juices to redistribute instead of running out when you cut it! Making meat juicy and more flavorful instead of dry. If you cut right into the brisket, juices run out all over the cutting board instead of staying in the meat.

Let Brisket Rest

After removing from the oven, your brisket is done, but not ready! Let your brisket rest wrapped in foil for at least 1 hour, but ideally 2 to 4 hours. To keep the temperature high for a long rest, place the wrapped brisket in an empty, insulated cooler and close the lid. This allows juices to fully redistribute throughout the meat before cutting! If you cut into it too early, the juices run out and the brisket is drier—it’s worth the wait!

How To Slice Brisket Against the Grain

Using a sharp knife. Slice your brisket against the meat grains. Meat fibers are long, and you do not want them to be long in the slices you cut (or it’s tougher). Brisket fibers go the long way through the brisket, so cut across the short direction.

Serving

Honestly, your brisket will be super flavorful and is excellent all by its self. But you can kick it up a notch by serving with your favorite barbecue sauce! I love to serve smoked brisket with soft sourdough rolls, mashed potatoes and homemade gravy in the winter and The Best Loaded Potato Salad in the summer, or a fruit salad!

Best Wood Chips & Pellets For Smoked Brisket

You can’t really go wrong with applewood, mesquite, and hickory wood for smoking! Our favorite is the hickory flavor, but they all give off a tantalizing smoke flavor and are all delicious smokes!

FAQs