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Gravel & Dine

Smoked Brisket

Our personal favorite method for cooking a succulent, smoky brisket. It’s a long process when you count salting it the night before so plan to start 2 days before you plan to cook. You can find the Rub Recipe on AmazingRibs.com. Be patient and flexible with your plans, good barbecue is done when it’s done. The time it takes to cook can be influenced not only by the size of the meat but also the outside temperature, wind and how steady you can keep the temp in your smoker. The good news is you can hold it in a faux Cambro for several hours before eating (and you should plan to hold for at least 2 hours). We use a pellet cooker, specifically a Traeger, which gives us the ability to cook almost with smoke only and very low heat in the beginning. If you have a different type of smoker, start right at 225. Plan ½ lb of raw untrimmed brisket per person, which will yield about ¼ lb cooked meat per person.
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Prep Time 1 day
Cook Time 8 hours
Total Time 1 day 8 hours
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 1 whole packer cut brisket
  • ½ t kosher salt per pound of meat
  • Approx. ½ c Big Bad Beef Rub

Method
 

  1. Trim the fat cap off the brisket, leaving about a ¼ inch (or a little less).
  2. Rub with kosher salt. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap or vacuum seal. Put in the fridge for approximately 24 hours.
  3. Rub brisket with Big Bad Beef Rub
  4. Place meat on a cold smoker, fat cap down. If you have one place a probe thermometer into the meat. Make a water bath by pouring water into a foil pan and placing next to the meat.
  5. Turn the smoker on to smoke and leave it there for about an hour. Turn the temperature up to 180 degrees for about another hour. Finally turn the temperature up to 225 degrees where it will stay.
  6. When the temperature of the brisket starts to plateau or stall, somewhere between 150 and 170, remove the brisket from the smoker. Wrap in a double layer of heavy duty aluminum foil. Reinsert the thermometer probe from the top of the foil.
  7. Place the meat back on the smoker and continue cooking until the meat reaches 203 degrees.
  8. Wrap the meat in a towel and place in a cooker. Allow to remain in the cooker for at least 2 hours.
  9. Heat a grill on high heat. Unwrap the brisket and cook on the grill for 5 minutes to crisp the bark.
  10. Remove from grill and allow to rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
  11. Slice across the grain.