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My Smoked Brisket Recipe is melt-in-your-mouth juicy and delicious. Using a simple but flavorful rub, smoking a beef brisket has never been so easy and so rewarding! Your whole neighborhood will be jealous of the smell!
Jump to:
- Best Brisket Recipe
- Brisket Recipe Ingredients
- How to Smoke a Brisket
- What is tallow?
- Brisket Smoking Temperature
- Internal Temp for Beef Brisket
- How to Reheat Smoked Brisket
- Brisket Recipes FAQs
- How to Cook Brisket in the Oven
- Smoking Beef Brisket Tools
- What to do with Leftover Brisket
- Voted Best Brisket Recipe by our Readers
- Smoked Beef Recipes
- 📋 Recipe
- 💬 Reviews
Best Brisket Recipe
Smoking brisket can be intimidating but our easy recipe is so easy to follow! It guarantees amazing results. Here is what one of our readers had to say. Don't listen if someone tells you it's too hard to try.
It was my first time smoking brisket and was told not to try. I used your recipe and it came out magnificently!!! Thank you!!
Xina on Pinterest
I cannot overstate how much I love BBQ beef brisket. There is nothing like the smell and taste you get from smoking brisket - it is incomparable! My family gets so excited when I come home with brisket and fire up the smoker.
You might think smoking a beef brisket is a challenge to get right, but I'm here to tell you it's much more simple than it seems. I'll show you how to cook a brisket so it's fall-apart tender, delicious, and most importantly, juicy! No dry brisket here!
My other favorite smoked beef recipes are smoked short ribs, smoked roast beef, and smoked prime rib. When you have a chance, try all three. I promise you will not be disappointed.
Brisket Recipe Ingredients
- beef brisket
- wagyu tallow* (or olive oil or mustard)
- black pepper
- coarse salt
- paprika
- garlic powder
- apple cider vinegar
I love using beef tallow or wagyu tallow because of its flavor when smoking a beef brisket. It's delicious and keeps the beef nice and moist! However, you don't have to use wagyu or beef tallow. In its place, you can use olive oil or mustard. These are simply binders for the rub!
Check out our Step-by-Step on how to make this amazing brisket rub.
How to Smoke a Brisket
- If needed, trim excess fat off the brisket. Some briskets come with more fat than others, so you may or may not need to do this, depending on your brisket cut.
- Sprinkle the entire brisket with the salt and place it on a cooling rack.
- Place the meat in the fridge, uncovered, overnight (8-12 hours).
- Once chilled overnight, before you begin coating the brisket, begin preheating your pellet smoker to 225°F.
- Then, spread the tallow around the entire brisket and rub it in well.
- Combine the pepper, remaining salt, paprika, and garlic powder, in a large bowl and whisk well. Pour the rub over the entire brisket and rub it on until every outer portion of the brisket is covered.
- Place some apple cider vinegar in a spray bottle and have it near the smoker throughout the cooking process.
- Place the brisket in the smoker and smoke for 4-6 hours or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees, spritzing the entire brisket with the apple cider vinegar every hour.
- Once it reaches 165 degrees, remove the brisket and tightly wrap it in tin foil.
- Place it back in the smoker for another 4-6 hours or until the internal temperature reaches 205 degrees.
- Allow the brisket to rest for at least 10 minutes and no more than 2 hours. Slice against the grain, serve, and enjoy!
What is tallow?
Wagyu tallow is beef tallow, or lard, and can be found at the grocery store. We have tried this recipe with tallow and with olive oil, and can tell you both ingredients work perfectly!
Brisket Smoking Temperature
We smoke brisket at 225°F. Cooking it low and slow gives you the juiciest, most delicious BBQ brisket you will ever eat.
Internal Temp for Beef Brisket
Smoke unwrapped until your brisket temperature reaches 165°F. Then, wrap it in foil. Once your smoked brisket internal temp reaches 205°F, it's ready. Use a meat thermometer for best results! Follow my Brisket Temp Chart.
How to Reheat Smoked Brisket
- Preheat your oven to 325°F.
- Let your leftover beef brisket reach room temperature on a baking sheet, about 30 minutes.
- Pour leftover juices from smoking or beef broth over the smoked beef brisket so it will absorb the moisture when reheating and stay juicy.
- Cover the entire pan of brisket with two layers of foil and tightly seal it around the edges. For cut brisket, reheat about 20 minutes. For a whole brisket, reheat for about 1 hour.
Brisket Recipes FAQs
It takes about 10 hours to smoke an 11-pound cut like the one we use in our smoked beef brisket recipe.
Yes. Wrap your brisket tightly in foil and add to an airtight container. Label with the freezing date and store for up to 6 to 12 months. Allow to thaw, then reheat following our reheating instructions.
Our smoked beef brisket recipe will keep for 3 to 5 days in the refrigerator kept in an airtight container.
The average person will eat about ½ pounds of brisket, so our 11-pound recipe serves 10-12! Perfect for a backyard party or for plenty of tasty, tasty leftovers!
It is 100% beef!
How to Cook Brisket in the Oven
To cook beef brisket in the oven, you will want to use a smaller cut of beef, as brisket needs plenty of time to cook. I recommend using a 4 to 5-pound cut instead of the 11 pounds used in this recipe.
- Follow the recipe steps as instructed to chill the brisket overnight and to season it for cooking. Let it come to room temperature once ready to cook.
- Preheat your oven to 300°F. Cover a rack, resting in a roasting pan, with two sheets of foil long enough to wrap around the brisket. Place the brisket, fat side up, in the foil and loosely wrap. You want a little space between the foil and the brisket.
- Roast brisket for about 1 hour and 15 minutes per pound. That's approximately 4 hours and 36 minutes for a 4 pound brisket. Once it reaches an internal temperature of 185°F, uncover it from the foil and roast for another hour.
It is truly a match made in heaven! My other favorite way to cook a brisket is in the instant pot! This recipe for Instant Pot Beef Brisket can also be prepared in the slow cooker. It's super easy and so delicious! My favorite way to serve this recipe is with Elote!
Smoking Beef Brisket Tools
What to do with Leftover Brisket
What to do when you have leftover brisket? The possibilities are endless but here are some of my favorites.
- I love using leftover brisket to make Birria Tacos or use it in my Carne Picada recipe!
- Brisket Sandwich - use brisket instead of roast beef in our cheesesteak sliders
- Brisket Quesadilla
- Brisket Mac and Cheese
- Substitute brisket in this prime rib pasta... it is amazing!
Voted Best Brisket Recipe by our Readers
Fantastic and super moist!
Becky on Pinterest
Yum!!! It was delicious!
@tishstump
I made this tonight and it was truly amazing so tender and juicy. Will definitely be making it again.
@bz4u22003
Fantastic and Super Moist!
@supplee2
Did you try this recipe? Leave a comment and a rating below to let us know what you think! We love to hear from you!
Smoked Beef Recipes
Try more of the best beef cuts according to your needs and budget by following my guide on the Best Cuts of Beef and our Popular Beef Dishes!
📋 Recipe
Juicy Smoked Beef Brisket
Equipment
- Aluminum foil
- Spray bottle
- Cooling rack/baking sheet
Ingredients
- 11 pound beef brisket
- ¼ cup Wagyu Tallow or 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil or mustard, for binding
- ½ cup coarse black pepper
- ¼ cup coarse salt plus 3 tablespoons
- ¼ cup paprika
- 2 tablespoons garlic powder
- apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- If needed, trim excess fat off the brisket. Some briskets come with more fat than others, so you may or may not need to do this, depending on your brisket cut. Sprinkle the entire brisket with the 3 Tablespoons of salt and place it on a cooling rack. Place the meat in the fridge, uncovered, overnight (8-12 hours). Once chilled overnight, before you begin coating the brisket, begin preheating your pellet smoker to 225°F.Then, spread the tallow around the entire brisket and rub it in well.
- Combine the pepper, remaining salt, paprika, and garlic powder, in a large bowl and whisk well. Pour the rub over the entire brisket and rub it on until every outer portion of the brisket is covered.
- Place some apple cider vinegar in a spray bottle and have it near the smoker throughout the cooking process. Place the brisket in the smoker and smoke for 4-6 hours or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees, spritzing the entire brisket with the apple cider vinegar every hour.
- Once it reaches 165 degrees, remove the brisket and tightly wrap it in tin foil. Place it back in the smoker for another 4-6 hours or until the internal temperature reaches 205 degrees.Allow the brisket to rest for at least 10 minutes and no more than 2 hours. Slice against the grain, serve, and enjoy!
Notes
- You don’t have to use wagyu tallow. You can replace it with 3-4 Tablespoons of olive oil or mustard. These are simply binders for the rub.
- Some cuts of briskets will have a lot of fat on the outside, which you’ll want to cut away since there’s plenty of fat on the inside. This creates a much better setup for cooking the brisket.
- The brisket has to sit so it can reabsorb the juices. If not, you could end up with a slightly dry brisket or a juicy mess.
- If desired, once you wrap the brisket, you can preheat your oven to 225 degrees and let it finish the cooking process that way. The final steps are still the same.
Matt Snyder says
Dude, bro. . Like, yum!
Robert says
Can you do this in a Green Egg & if so, what's the process?
Em Beitel says
Hi Robert! We're not Big Green Egg experts, but you should be able to smoke brisket in the Big Green Egg by using the smoker settings and following the directions in the post. We hope you enjoy! Thank you for your question!
Chris says
205F is bit high, would recommend slightly lower at 203F pull. Minimum 1 hour rest covered, not ten minutes (meat is too thick to settle internal temperatures at 10 minute rest). Can be held in an insulated cooler covering wrapped meat with towels for 3 hours, sometimes more. Also butcher paper is a great alternative to foil. 225F is much lower cooking temperature than needed. Can "hot smoke" a brisket up to 285F, which decreases cooking time considerably. 225F for 10 hours can be quite short (several hours short) for the larger brisket too. Wagyu tallow isn't any better than regular beef tallow in most cases. What makes Wagyu special is the fat marbling, not the fat itself.
Mostly Aaron Franklin tips by the way.
Em Beitel says
Hi Chris! These are great tips! Thank you for sharing them with us and with our readers.
Johnny says
Sorry, cannot rate yet… Have “Pre” smoke question… I have a 20lb beef brisket. How will that affect cooking/resting time..? Or should this be considered more (or solely) by internal meat temperature..?? Please advise. Thank you in advance!
Em Beitel says
Hi Johnny! I would personally let a 20 lb. beef brisket smoke for at least 12 hours up to 16 hours, and let it rest for 1 hour off the smoker. Definitely use a meat thermometer to check the temperature at the 12 hour mark if you aren't certain. Thank you for your question!
Johnny says
Thanks! Smoking it for Sunday afternoon party. Will let you know how it turns out..!!
Brenda says
We have a Grill Master electric charcoal smoker. Will this method work as well to smoke the brisket? I love the charcoal flavor in my brisket.
Em Beitel says
Hi Brenda! As long as you're able to maintain the correct temperature for the brisket, this will work perfectly. Thank you so much for your question!