Smoked Brisket Recipe

4.73 from 40 votes

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!

Prep Time1 30

Cook Time10

Chill Time8

Total Time19 30

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: how long to smoke a brisket, smoked beef brisket, smoked brisket, smoked brisket recipe

Servings:

Calories: 718kcal

Author: Isabel Laessig

Equipment

Aluminum foil
Meat thermometer
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

See our Beef Temperature Chart for helpful tips on cooking any cut of beef!

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!

Video

Notes

Tips:

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.

Nutrition