Brisket has a reputation for being hard, but it mostly takes patience. This recipe keeps things simple: a salt-and-pepper style rub, a steady 250°F smoker, a wrap when the bark sets and a long rest. Plan for a full day and you'll be fine.
The recipe
Ingredients
- 1 whole packer brisket, 12–15 lb (point and flat attached)
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup Texas-style brisket rub (about 1 tbsp per pound of trimmed meat)
- 2 tbsp yellow mustard or olive oil, as a binder (optional)
- 1 cup beef broth or water in a spray bottle, for spritzing (optional)
- Unwaxed pink butcher paper or heavy-duty foil, for wrapping
- 6–8 lb smoking wood: oak, hickory or a mix (chunks, splits or pellets)
Steps
- Trim the brisket while it's cold. Cut the hard fat cap down to about 1/4 inch, remove the thick, hard fat between the point and flat, and round off thin edges so they don't burn.
- Rub the brisket with a thin layer of binder if using, then coat all sides evenly with the Texas-style brisket rub. For the best flavor, refrigerate it uncovered overnight.
- Set up your smoker for 250°F with oak, hickory or a mix. Let the fire settle until the smoke runs thin and blue, not thick and white.
- Place the brisket on the grate, fat side toward the heat: fat side down if the fire is directly below (kamado or bullet smoker), fat side toward the firebox on an offset. On a pellet grill, fat side up works fine. Point the thicker point end toward the hottest part of the cooker.
- Smoke at 250°F without opening the lid for the first 3 hours. After that, spritz any dry-looking spots every hour if you like.
- Watch for the stall. The internal temperature will climb to about 150–170°F and then stop rising for hours. This is normal.
- Wrap when the bark is dark mahogany and doesn't rub off on your finger, usually around 165–175°F internal. Lay the brisket on two overlapping sheets of butcher paper, wrap it tightly and return it to the smoker seam side down.
- Keep cooking at 250°F until the thickest part of the flat reads 200–205°F and a probe slides in with almost no resistance, like going into soft butter. Probe feel matters more than the exact number.
- Rest the wrapped brisket at least 1 hour on the counter, or hold it 2–4 hours in a dry cooler packed with towels. Keep it above 140°F during the hold.
- Unwrap and save the juices. Separate the point from the flat. Slice the flat against the grain about the width of a pencil. Turn the point 90 degrees and slice it against its own grain, or cube it for burnt ends.
Why this works
A whole packer brisket has two muscles: the lean flat and the fatty point. Cooking low and slow gives the tough connective tissue time to melt. Safe temperature for beef is 145°F, but brisket is still chewy there. It needs to reach about 200–205°F to turn tender. The long rest lets the juices settle back into the meat, so slices stay moist instead of running dry on the cutting board.
The rub
Classic Texas brisket is mostly coarse black pepper and kosher salt, with a little garlic. Use our Texas-style brisket rub and plan on about 1 tablespoon per pound of trimmed meat. If you want something with a bit of sugar and paprika, our all-purpose BBQ rub works too, but watch for darker bark.
Best wood
Post oak is the Texas standard. It burns clean and gives a mild, steady smoke. Hickory is stronger. A mix of oak with a little cherry adds color. See the wood pairing chart for more options.
Paper or foil?
Butcher paper lets some steam escape, so the bark stays firmer. Foil holds in more moisture and pushes through the stall faster, but the bark gets softer. Either works. If you're nervous about time, foil is the safer bet.
How to tell it's done
Start checking at 195°F. Push a probe into the flat in several places. When it slides in and out with almost no grip, it's done, even if the number reads 198°F or 207°F. The brisket should also jiggle when you shake it.
Make ahead / storage
Leftover brisket keeps 3–4 days in the fridge or 2–3 months in the freezer. Store it in big pieces with some of the saved juice, then slice after reheating. Reheat wrapped in foil at 300°F until hot, or warm vacuum-sealed pieces in simmering water.
Gear for this recipe
- A leave-in probe thermometer so you can track the stall without opening the lid
- A pellet smoker if you want steady temps on an overnight cook: see our pellet smokers under $1,000
- Heat-resistant BBQ gloves for moving and slicing a hot brisket
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