Smoked Brisket

4.97 from 31 votes

Beef brisket and a backyard smoker. We're talking everyone's favorite smoked brisket recipe. This beef brisket is coated with a brown sugar based rub and smoked low and slow. And I'm even going to tell you how to get past the stall.

Prep Time30

Cook Time12

Total Time12 30

Course: dinner

Cuisine: American

Servings: people

Calories: 365kcal

Author: Amanda Mason

Equipment

Smoker

Ingredients

For The Brisket

10 lb brisket

For The Brisket Rub

¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 Tablespoon garlic powder
1 Tablespoon smoked paprika
1 Tablespoon seasoning salt
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon cumin

Instructions

Place the brisket in a large glass dish.
Combine all the rub ingredients in a small bowl.
Cover the brisket with the spice rub ensuring you firmly press the rub into the brisket. Expert Tip: You want to ensure you are pressing the rub into the meat with a little bit of force so the rub can start to seep into the meat. Cover the Pyrex dish with either aluminum foil or saran wrap and let it sit in the refrigerator for 12 to 24 hours.
Soak the wood chunks for at least 1 hour before smoking. Wrap the wood chunks in aluminum foil. Once the wood chunks are wrapped, place them in the tray in the smoker. Expert Tip: For the reasoning behind why I use this method, check out the details in the post.
Prepare the water tray by wrapping it with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Expert Tip: Drop in about 2-3 Tablespoons of liquid smoke into the water tray for an added smoke flavor.
Prepare the smoker and preheat it to 225°F. Once preheated, put the brisket on the smoker racks, placing it fat side down.
Insert an electric meat thermometer in the side of the thickest part of the center of the meat and close the smoker.
Let it smoke low and slow, never letting the internal smoker temperature get above 250°F.
When you get to the point where your meat has about 2 to 3 hours left to smoke (it should be somewhere around 165°F) what you want to do is pull the brisket out of the smoker and double wrap it with heavy duty aluminum foil.
This will help maintain the internal heat and help get past the stall. Wrap it tight. The tighter the better.
Insert the meat thermometer back into the brisket, place it back in the smoker, and continue to let it smoke until your meat reaches an internal temperature of 185°F.
From there, remove the meat from the smoker leaving it wrapped in the aluminum foil.
Take the meat still wrapped in aluminum foil and wrap it again in a large beach towel.
Place the wrapped brisket in a large empty cooler, close the lid, and let it rest for 2 hours. This process really helps make the brisket juicy and more tender.
After the 2 hours have passed, you are ready to cut into your brisket. Ensure you slice against the grain and then serve.

Video

Notes

I recommend buying your meat from a local butcher because I know where they get their meat and their quality is great and way better than at your local grocery store. I recommend buying a prime grade cut of meat because it has the highest fat content with amazing marbling. It's pricey, but so worth it.

Brisket will either come with the fat already trimmed or with a lot of fat. If you're trimming off the fat yourself, leave about a ¼ of an inch of fat on. The slim and fatty layer really helps add moisture and flavor to your brisket.

When using a propane gas smoker to smoke a brisket, I prefer to use wood chunks instead of wood chips. Mainly because the chunks produce more smoke and tend to last longer than wood chips. My favorite wood chunks to use for smoking a brisket are a combination of hickory and apple wood.

For tips on whether or not to soak the wood and wrapping the wood, see the details in my article.

Sometimes, I opt to baste the brisket with a little bit of BBQ sauce before placing it on the smoker. This is optional. Smoking it in just the rub is just as delicious.

Nutrition