Not weed.

Going to attempt my 1st brisket in the smoker and need some tips. Read for a few hours last night and everyone's opinion is different. Inject, dry rub, only salt/pepper, finish in oven, wrap it in foil, rest two hours in a cooler

Some general guidelines would be useful. Thanks

#1 rule to a good brisket is low (225-250 degrees) and slow (2 hours per pound). And I personally do a foil wrap for past about the 3-4 hour mark to keep it from drying out.

Everything else (rubs, marinades, injections, sauces) is personal preference, and really doesn't affect the end product as much as people think. Quality of the meat probably has the most bearing on a good brisket.

If you pick anyone's brain on this forum.. start with Tritonman. He be the guru.

Salt/pepper is a good place to start on seasonings. I like a little garlic on mine as well.

I also like to start open and finish covered. Picking a good brisket is part of it, trimming may help to eliminate huge fat spots. I like to keep my solid fat to a 1/2 inch or less thick.

I cook fat side up, point(thick end towards heat). 225-250 is what I try for, but if you want to speed things along you can increase the heat as long as your not burning it and usually the more you raise the cook temp the more time you will want covered. I also have nothing wrong with finishing in the oven. I prefer to cook all on the pit, but after the first few hours your not getting anymore smoke anyway.

Have fun with it, I love bbq'ing

What dkershen said...don't make it difficult. Hardest part about brisket is picking a good one and having patience for it to hit internal temp then letting it rest.

Agree! Put your rub on a couple of days before you smoke it, then put it in the fridge until you're ready to cook it. Let it sit out to where it is barely cool before you put it on the smoker that way it absorbs more smoke and cooks more evenly

There is no correct "hours per lb" time for a brisket or any other meat that cooks slowly. If you really want to do it right, you need to monitor the internal temperature of the meat. It's done when it reaches the temperature and every brisket will vary slightly in the time required as thickness, fat content, etc effect the stall, rate of internal heating, etc.

I pull it when it hits 195 internally. Some prefer slightly lower or higher, but that's my sweet spot.

I have never measured temp on a brisket, just by feel or poke it with a meat fork.

Do you guys that go by temp measure temp on the flat or point?

Well, I was 14 and wanted to look "cool" for the ladies.......

(Uh oh - nevermind.)

I agree with Cameron each brisket is different so cooking times can vary. The list I got below for starting out was awesome, almost makes smoking brisket fool proof. As you get more comfortable you can make other tweaks.


1. Keep the rub simple Salt, Pepper and garlic if you wish

2. Let the brisket come to room temp before putting it on the smoker

3. Smoke for 6 hours then wrap in foil.

4. Check hourly for tenderness. If you have a meat thermometer 195 to 200 is ideal. If you don't have one you can use an ice pick or knife, when it slides into the thickest portion of the flat like a hot knife in butter you are good.

5. Remove from foil or vent and let rest for at least 30-60 minutes

#1 in my limited experience has been getting the fire right. Bad smoke=bad meat

Need a good bed of coals to start. Still learning my new smoker.

Electric smoker, follow the directions and serve beer liberally to the pit master. As long as you have a good brisket, they are 99 percent idiot proof.

Ive eaten way to much shi*&y brisket for that to be true! Even people who have cooked several.

Good point

Make sure you have good dry/seasoned wood, you Do Not want to use green wood for it puts out a darker smoke that has more creosote in it which will make your meat taste funky and it is bad to ingest

Heck if for some reason it comes out a bit dry you can always just turn it into chop beef, add pico to it, and turn it into a fine quesadilla.

I use a meat thermometer at the junction of the flat and point to check internal temp. I want it somewhere between 190 and 200 depending on the brisket. But I use the probe to more check for tenderness than temp. If the probe slides in like warm butter you know you are at the right spot.

I was told this by someone else so don't know if it's true but it seems to work for me. When picking out a brisket choose one that you can almost fold in half. The easier it is to fold the more tender and better quality the meat is. I will literally pick up every brisket in the store to try and determine which is the easiest to fold before I pick one out.

Yep gotta fold that brisket in the store!

Guess I'll get some wood chips (oak or pecan) and a digital probe. Any local grocery stores in the Houston area carry quality briskets? HEB or Krogers maybe?

Have always bought my briskets at HEB or Costco, never had a complaint with either.

pretty much what others have said ... fold test usually works, low and slow, simple rub

simple rub to whatever flavors you prefer ... I generally use simple salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder ... but occasionally will toss in white pepper, smoked paprika, ground mustard seed, cumin, etc.

I tend to go a bit lower on heat for the smoking part, 190-200 range for about 45 minutes per pound as a general rule of thumb, but it does vary depending on size of brisket, outside temp, humidity, barometric pressure, etc. ... that normally gets a good smoke flavor and brings temperature up to around the stall point (155-165). I then wrap in doubled heavy aluminum foil, and move to hotter area of the pit running 225-250 to where it actually is cooking. I too go by feel/poke but also have a meat thermometer that I will double check myself ... I shoot to get the internal temperature to 190+ and hold for an hour to hour and a half ... internal temp will continue to rise but 200-202 is what I shoot for. During the 1-1.5 hour at/above 190, I open the foil back up to crisp the bark back up.

If rushed for time, I will pull after the smoking period ... wrap in double heavy aluminum foil, place on a large cookie sheet and put into the oven at 225-230. This is where I usually use the thermometer to keep from opening the oven door ... bring it to 190+ and turn the oven down to 200, set timer at 1 hour, and forget about it for a few hours.

about the only wrong thing I can think of, is cooking to hot for too long (burned/dry) ... or the opposite, cooking too low for too short (raw)

the thermometer will help you until you get the hang of things, even one of the cheap-o type you can carry in your shirt pocket, < $10, merely insert into thick portion and leave to see where you are on temperature. poke with your index finger to get the feel all the way thru the smoking & cooking process.

have fun and take pictures before during and after.

i keep my heat between 180-200 for 12-14 hours fat side up and wrap with foil when they come off the pit then into a styrofoam cooler until i'm ready to slice...juicy and perfect every time. doing 4 tomorrow night for my sons graduation party saturday. i'll post up pics

I appreciate all the info. Gonna give her a go this weekend

Go get some hickory chunks from academy, and kroger has usda prime briskets on sale for $1.77/lb. I bought 2 yesterday, one being 17.5 lbs...thats gonna be fun.

That's not as bad as I thought. I'll be on that price like a pit bull on a poodle

What size you looking at? How many people. I like mine around 10 pounds, or I buy a 20 pound and cut in half.

Salt/Pepper I used smoked salt. This takes some experimenting with your own rub.

Electric Smoker. 225 for 14, 15, 16 hours. I use Oak 75/Mesquite 25 percent.

I will go heavy smoke for half the time then wrap the rest.

I will take it off and put it in a ice chest,couple hours, to let it rest and cool down.

After cooling I will separate the brisket.

I need an electric knife for better cutting.

Exactly!