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!
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!
Smoked Brisket
I have NOTHING against Traegers... I'd love one, but don't need it at this point. You see, the little one we've had for years still works great, and I just can't bring myself to spend the money on a Traeger when what we have works so well!
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 Traegers 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 still works great!
Selecting Beef Brisket
I buy a whole brisket in two different ways: I love to buy a half cow from Y-1 Farms (a local rancher). But you only get 1 big brisket when you buy half a cow, (Because a cow has 2 briskets, one on each side of its body.) Y-1v Farms sells the highest quality beef, and theirs is the best brisket I've ever had!
I also like to buy beef brisket at Costco because they have better-quality beef than my local grocery store. When I'm shopping for beef brisket, I look for a large one that has a nice fat cap on one side! (Brisket is not low fat, and if it were it would be dry and lack flavor!) The fat keeps the meat moist through hours and hours of smoking and roasting in the oven, Plus, it adds a ton of flavor that you just 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!
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.
- Remove Wrapping
- Season entire brisket on all sides.
- Place on a rack in smoker
- Smoke for at least 4 hours. (You can smoke up to 8 hours, but you will be surprised at the smoky flavor a 4-hour smoked brisket has!)
- Wrap smoked brisket in aluminum foil
- Bake at 225 for 9
- Make a vent hole in aluminum foil and bake for 3 more hours at 225 for a total of 12 hours.
- Remove and place brisket on a large carving board.
- Let rest 30-40 minutes
- Slice against the grain, or muscle fibers, & ENJOY!
Ingredients
It's time to get your hands dirty! Season the entire brisket (10-15 pounds) on all sides. I like to use a few different dry rubs for beef brisket. Grill Masters makes a good smoky barbecue spice rub. There are a ton of good pre-mixed dry rubs, you can use your favorite or make your own!
We also LOVE to mix our own dry rub! You don't need to add any smoke flavor because it will get plenty in the smoker! This is what we use... In a small bowl combine:
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- One Tablespoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder or chopped garlic
- *Optional 1 tablespoon brown sugar
After mixing seasonings, rub generously all over brisket! Don't be afraid to use it all... This is a BIG piece of beef, and you're seasoning a lot of meat!
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 nice and tight (seal 2 pieces together by tightly folding ends together.) And then pop it in the oven when I go to bed.
Wrap It In Foil
Before you wrap your brisket, preheat your oven to 225 degrees F.
Pull out two - three-foot-long sheets of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Lay them on top of each other shiny sides facing each other. Now fold the top edge of both pieces down about a quarter of an inch creasing well. Then, fold the top side of foil sheets down about a quarter of an inch again to create a sight seal and a sheet of aluminum foil that's twice and wide! Open the two pieces of foil into a wide sheet. Add one more 3-foot long foil sheet on top of half the first (now wide sheet). And repeat the process (fold the top side of the two pieces together two to three times again) to create a 3-foot wide sheet of aluminum foil that will hold liquids inside.
Place your smoked brisket onto the 3 foot wide and 3-foot long foil. Pull sides of foil up and seal foil together on top of brisket.
Place foil-wrapped brisket on a large cookie sheet and place it on the center rack on your oven.
Recipe Card
Tender Smoked Brisket Recipe
Yield: 20 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 16 hours
Additional Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 17 hours 10 minutes
This makes a perfectly flavored smoked beef brisket that’s so tender it just falls apart when you cut into it.
Ingredients
- 1 large beef brisket (10-15 pounds)
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- One Tablespoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder or chopped garlic
- *Optional 1 tablespoon brown sugar
Instructions
- Bring your brisket to room temperature. If it’s frozen, defrost it the day before you start cooking it.
- Remove Wrapping
- Season entire brisket on all sides.
- Place on a rack in the preheated smoker
- Smoke for at least 4 hours or till internal temp reaches 165 degrees F.
- Wrap smoked brisket in butcher paper or aluminum foil. If your brisket is wrapped in aluminum foil, make a small vent hole.
- 2nd smoke (or bake) at 225 till internal temp 200-204 degrees F.
- Remove and place brisket on a large carving board.
- Let rest for an hour
- Slice against the grain, or muscle fibers, & ENJOY!
Notes
HOW TO SERVE SMOKED BEEF BRISKET
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 mashed potatoes andhomemade gravyin the winter andThe Best Loaded Potato Salad – Old Fashioned Recipe (Easy!)in the summer! It’s also great with a green salad to keep things healthy 😉
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Place baking sheet with brisket on it into the preheated 225 degrees F oven, and let it roast for 9 hours or overnight. If you roast overnight, your house will be full of a yummy smoky smell at this point!
After 9 hours at 225 degrees, make a 2-3 inch slit in the foil to vent and continue to roast for 2-3 more hours, and take the temperature with a meat thermometer.
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 210-214 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, let your brisket rest wrapped in foil for 20-45 minutes so that juices can redistribute throughout 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 Carve
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 mashed potatoes and homemade gravy in the winter and The Best Loaded Potato Salad – Old Fashioned Recipe (Easy!) in the summer! It's also great with a green salad to keep things healthy 😉
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!
More Recipes
Prime Rib Roast
Sirloin Tip Roast
Rump Roast Recipe
Boston Butt Pork Roast Recipe
Pot Roast Dinner
Top Round Roast Recipe
Oven roasted Tip Tip
Smoked Chuck Roast Recipe
Perfect Picnic Roast
Smoked Pork Loin
Fresh Ham Roast
Sources
National Cattlemen's Beef Association
FAQs
How long does it take to smoke a brisket? That depends on the size of the brisket and the temperature of your smoker:
If you are smoking at the ideal temperature of 225-250 F:
Small Brisket (4-6 pounds): 6-8 hours
Medium Brisket (7-10 pounds): 10-12 hours
Large Brisket (11-14 pounds or more): 12-16 hours
Rather than relying solely on time, it's best to use a meat thermometer to determine when the brisket is done! The internal temperature of the thickest part of the brisket should reach around 195-205°F (90-96°C) 😉
