Slow-Smoked Brisket Recipe (2024)

I do a lot of smoking, and have done over the years, picking up different styles while living in the US, Belize (where we owned a restaurant) and Australia.
I've experimented with different woods, dry and wet. Trust me, soaking the wood produces much better results.

To fully melt the collagen/connective tissue, take the meat temp to 200-205. 180 will result in tough meat, relative to the best available around where I'm from. Wrapping the meat to finish helps accelerate the cook time and lowers the risk of drying, but it also softens the bark. To correct for this one can unwrap the final product and toss it on a hot grill or run it under a broiler for a brief time.

It's Scientifically proven that there is no need to 'soak the wood' when smoking...it's an old wives tail folks. Good luck!!

With a whole brisket, I it cut in half and used the flat cut for this recipe. This was smoked in a Bradley Digital Smoker with oak wood and smoked for six hours until it reached temperature. Following the recipe, the brisket was wrapped in parchment and foil and transferred to a 225-deree oven for two additional hours. The result was heavenly!

Our Costco carries 'prime' whole (also called 'packer cut') brisket. You have to trim it yourself but the end result is much better than choice or select grade brisket and usually not more than $1 more per lb.

For a South Texas alternative: chop some brisket, make tacos with soft corn tortillas. Complete the taco with finely chopped onion and cilantro, squeeze some lime, tomatillo salsa, a thin slice of avocado. Enjoy.

Used the wrapped and cooler method to hold the meat at temperature which resulted in the accumulation of a significant amount of "juice" in the bundle. Take care to save as much of the juice as possible - found it helpful to rewarm the sliced brisket for sandwiches. BTW the potato rolls (with mayo) and sliced onion made wonderful sandwiches.

Just wanted to confirm that they're suggesting to lay the brisket on the grate away from the coals for indirect cooking. I've often put a pan of water in the grill as well to add steam to the kettle to keep the brisket from drying out.

OK, this was the first time I ever prepared brisket. Followed the prep directions but did not feel good about putting the meat right on the grates. So I enclosed the meat with foil. When i went back to move the meat to parchment, it was already cooked and soft. The crust def set the taste. Very please with my first smoking of a brisket.

We used your recipe to smoke a brisket flat and had amazing results (https://www.plattertalk.com/smoked-brisket-flat/). It was finished in the oven and then kept warm in a cooler for about 3 hours, just like you described. It was phenomenal and I wouldn't change a thing.

1/2 cup salt1/2 cup pepper3 tbsp paprika3 tbsp cumin3 tbsp brown sugarCook until thermometer reads >195° F. Wrap in foil or butcher's paper at >165° F.

Amazing! My first time smoking a brisket. Wrapped it in foil before putting on the grill. 4.2 lb brisket smoked for 4.5 hours on our Weber grill, then 1.5 hours in the oven. Rested for an hour before slicing. It lost almost no moisture the last 2 steps.

This was my first attempt at smoking meat. I was not able to keep the temperature of the grill/smoker even. At 3am after 3 hours in the oven at 255 F, it was a bit softer. Later in the morning it was like a brick and extremely salty. Some would say it was ruined. Well, I put it in the pressure cooker with about 3 cups of plain water on high pressure for 35 minutes. SAVE!! It is not perfect, BUT it is recognizable as brisket and still very salty they way it should be.

I cooked a 10lb brisket, bark was too salty and needed a lot more time to cook than suggested. Brisket was not done at 185, but I had to take the meat out at 195 as I started at 5 am for a 7 pm dinner, and was at 195 by 6:30pm. I think 200-205 would be better as suggested. Was still pretty fatty with plenty of collagen but overall a great success, and will do it again.

Ingredients2 cup apple cider vinegar2 tablespoons ketchup2 tablespoons brown sugar1 teaspoon red pepper flakes1 teaspoon black pepper1/2 teaspoon salt

I followed this recipe to the letter using a gas grill and I'd rate it a 6 out of 10. I wasn't certain if the meat should be placed over direct or indirect heat, choosing the latter added 2 more hours to the initial cooking time. I also found the rub WAY TOO SALTY. We also never got a bark on the meat. For the effort, this was a disappointment. The meat tasted good if you removed the rub but it was just okay.

Though a smaller cut (mine was 3.7lb), will reach the target temperature more quickly than a 10-14 lb. cut, it still requires nearly as long to fully break everything down. Once it was well smoked, I finished it, without wrapping, in 4 hours at low pressure an instant Pot electric pressure cooker, on a steamer rack with a small amount of liquid, and had excellent melt in your mouth results, and still with a nice crust from the smoke and rubbed spices. Shorter time might have done as well.

OK, this was the first time I ever prepared brisket. Followed the prep directions but did not feel good about putting the meat right on the grates. So I enclosed the meat with foil. When i went back to move the meat to parchment, it was already cooked and soft. The crust def set the taste. Very please with my first smoking of a brisket.

Is this temperature Fahrenheit or Celsius?

To get the smoked flavor,I adapted a method suggested in a barbecue ribs recipe I had. After preparing the brisket as suggested in Julia's recipe, I placed it on a rack on a sheet pan with 1/2" sides. below the rack, I sprinkle about 1/2 cup of lapsang souchong tea leaves. I covered the brisket with foil and sealed tightly around the pan. I roasted for 4 hours at 225 in convection roast mode, removed the tea leaves and continued for another 5 hours. It was delicious and smoky.

anyone try this on a gas grill? sacrilege?

Just wanted to confirm that they're suggesting to lay the brisket on the grate away from the coals for indirect cooking. I've often put a pan of water in the grill as well to add steam to the kettle to keep the brisket from drying out.