Low and slow Smoked Brisket that tastes like a million dollars! It’s moist, tender, and buttery from the inside with a beautiful pink smoke ring, and crusty beautiful bark from the outside. This perfect Texas-style smoked brisket easily passes the pull test as it melts and cuts just like butter!
Serve this for the holidays, summer barbecue, or smoke a brisket and serve it for your family for dinner and then enjoy the leftovers for a few more days!
What Cut of Meat is Brisket
Brisket is the cut of meat from the breast or lower chest of the beef. It’s a primal cut and sometimes referred to as a “flat”. A cheaper alternative to brisket is the chuck, I even have a smoked chuck roast recipe for you!
Brisket Flat Vs Point
The brisket is made from two different muscles, a flat and a point. The point is smaller than the flat, it’s the fatty part of the muscle and the flat is the leaner one.
The point is more marbled than the flat and contains more connective tissue. If you’re smoking a brisket for the first time I recommend that you start with just the flat, as it’s easier.
Best Brisket Dry Rub
My favorite and probably the best rub that you can use is equal parts of kosher salt, and ground black pepper. It’s the simplest rub and highlights the flavor of the smoked brisket. The key here is to liberally season the brisket which will help the perfect bark develop.
If you’re looking for something that’s more fun, you can add spices such as paprika, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, and of course, salt and pepper. Adding brown sugar to form the crust is also a popular option. And this is exactly what I’m showing you in this recipe here.
Best Wood for Smoking Brisket
Always start with hardwood and never with softwood. If you’re just starting out, then I recommend going for pure hardwoods and then exploring all the flavor options. We typically use either oak or hickory, but pecan and maple are also great options!
Ingredients Needed to Smoke a Brisket
- Brisket: Either a full brisket with a flat and a point muscles, or just a flat (as shown in the image below). Trim off any excess fat, but not all of it.
- Dry rub: What flavors you want to use is totally up to you, you can either do a simple rub with salt and black pepper, or add more flavor with garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, cumin, cayenne, etc.
Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Supplies Needed for Making Smoked Brisket
In addition to needing the right ingredients, you will also need a few supplies before beginning this recipe. Here’s what you need:
- Carving knife. This is the set that I have!
- Smoker, you don’t need a roasting pan.
- Large cutting board, I use it to prep the brisket (trim and season), then I wash it and carve the brisket on it as well.
- Butcher paper, to wrap the brisket.
- Wood Chips
How to Smoke a Brisket
- Prep the brisket. Start by trimming excess fat from both sides leaving about fourth an inch of fat since it will render and crisp as you smoke the brisket.
- Round the brisket. Trim any thin meat that is usually hanging from the end of the flat, this meat can’t handle long BBQ hours and will burn so get rid of it.
- Make the Dry Rub. In a small bowl, combine your seasonings.
- Smoke. Preheat your smoker to 225-275°F, and place the brisket on the smoker fat side up with the point side facing the heat source. Leave the brisket untouched in the smoker for 3 hours, then start spray it with a 50/50 mix of water and apple cider vinegar every 45 miutes, this will help the bark from getting too crusty and keep it moist.
- Wrap the Brisket. When the internal temperature of the brisket reaches 180°F at the point, and 170°F at the flat, spray the brisket and wrap it with butcher paper or foil to protect it. Turn the meat so that the flat side is facing the heat source (fat side up), this will help tenderize it evenly.
Tip!
Use butcher paper or foil to tightly cover the brisket. The reason why it needs to be TIGHTLY covered is because air bubbles will cause steam, and we don’t want that.
- Cook. Let the brisket cook until it reaches 200°F, always check using a kitchen thermometer. Do not unwrap the brisket at this stage. When the brisket reaches 200-205°F, pull it off the smoker.
Tip!
To check the temperature of the brisket, insert a kitchen thermometer right through the foil or butcher paper right in the center of the point (or in the thickest part of the flat if there’s no point in your brisket).
- Stick in a Dry Cooler. Leave the brisket wrapped, and stick it in a dry cooler to rest for 45-60 minutes or up to two hours.
- Slice. Now start by cutting of the tip of the flat side that you can come back to later and cut it into cubes. Then start slicing against the grain at the flat side (about fourth an inch – not too thin and not too thick) and when you’re halfway you should get the point where the point side starts and you can see the two muscles. Now rotate the brisket 90 degrees so you cut against point side grains. cut off the tip (this part is called burnt ends and cut them into cubes) and then start slicing the two muscles together. This part is typically jucier and moister than the flat side for all the fat it contains. Serve and enjoy!
How Long To Smoke a Brisket
The general rule of thumb is 30-45 minutes per pound, so for a 16-pound brisket, it will take you around 10-12 hours in total. But for a 6-pound brisket, it should take you around 3-4.5 hours.
How to Store Smoked Brisket
This brisket is so moist and delicious that you may not even have any leftovers. But, if you do, you can store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Fat side up is the way to go if your heat source is coming from the top (the case with most smokers). The fat acts as a protective shield to your meat, so it stays nice and moist.
You don’t need to flip it when smoking, but it’s important to rotate the brisket at least once during the smoking process.
Yes! It’s very important to tightly wrap the brisket after it reaches 170°F internal temperature. I personally prefer to wrap it in butcher paper, but foil would also do.
Other Smoked Recipes to Try
If you loved this smoked brisket recipe as much as I do, check out some of my other favorite smoked recipes, below:
- Smoked Whole Chicken
- Texas Style Smoked Beef Chuck Roast
- Smoked Turkey
- Smoked Meatloaf
- Smoked Bologna
You will love how moist and tender the meat will turn out. It’s an easy recipe that just requires a bit of time, but it’s totally worth it! If you try it, please share your experience with me, and don’t forget to pin this recipe to Pinterest for others to enjoy!
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Texas Style Smoked Brisket Recipe
Ingredients
- 16 pound beef brisket excess fat trimmed
For The Dry Rub:
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
Instructions
- Start by trimming excess fat from both sides leaving about fourth an inch of fat since it will render and crisp as you smoke the brisket.
- Trim any thin meat that is usually hanging from the end of the flat, this meat can’t handle long BBQ hours and will burn so get rid of it.
- Make the Dry Rub. In a small bowl, combine your seasonings.
- Preheat your smoker to 225-275°F, and place the brisket on the smoker fat side up with the point side facing the heat source. Leave the brisket untouched in the smoker for 3 hours, then start spray it with a 50/50 mix of water and apple cider vinegar every 45 miutes, this will help the bark from getting too crusty and keep it moist.
- When the internal temperature of the brisket reaches 180°F at the point, and 170°F at the flat, spray the brisket and wrap it with butcher paper or foil to protect it. Turn the meat so that the flat side is facing the heat source, this will help tenderize it evenly.
- Let the brisket cook until it reaches 200°F, always check using a kitchen thermometer. Do not unwrap the brisket at this stage. When the brisket reaches 200-205°F, pull it off the smoker.
- Leave the brisket wrapped, and stick it in a dry cooler to rest for 45-60 minutes or up to two hours.
- Now start by cutting of the tip of the flat side that you can come back to later and cut it into cubes. Then start slicing against the grain at the flat side (about fourth an inch – not too thin and not too thick) and when you’re halfway you should get the point where the point side starts and you can see the two muscles. Now rotate the brisket 90 degrees so you cut against point side grains. cut off the tip (this part is called burnt ends and cut them into cubes) and then start slicing the two muscles together. This part is typically jucier and moister than the flat side for all the fat it contains. Serve and enjoy!
Notes:
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
© Little Sunny Kitchen
Russ says
Tastes ok
Diana says
Thanks for giving it a try, Russ! Let me know if there’s anything you’d tweak next time.
Gene Paine says
I smoked a 4.5# brisket and was surprised it took 5 hours and 15 minutes, considerably longer than the recipe’s estimate of 45 minutes x 4.5 = 3 hours and 20 minutes. (It took 3 hours to get to 170F with smoker set at 250F.) Then another 2 hours and 15 minutes to get to 200F with smoker temp increased to 275F. The end product was very tasty; however, it was not nearly as tender as I expected. Any suggestions as to what I could have done to make it tender? (PS: I am a newbie to smoking.)
Little Sunny Kitchen says
Hi Gene! I’m sorry that the recipe didn’t work out perfectly for you. Sometimes smoking meats isn’t as much of a science as I’d like it to be, and for a newbie, there can be some trial and error with your equipment to get things just right. Assuming you wrapped the meat well and allowed it to rest long enough, it’s hard to say what might have gone wrong. I have better results smoking a larger cut of meat. since the cooking time is so much longer, the meat is super tender. This recipe was tested with a 16-pound brisket.
Geaton says
NEVER use tin foil to wrap and cook brisket. The foil can react with acidic ingredients, contaminating the taste and the meat itself. You shouldn’t store your meat in tinfoil either; use plastic wrap or a container.