Smoked beef brisket is an old standby in the barbeque world but it’s not necessarily the easiest to pull off. If you’re planning on smoking a brisket and you don’t have a lot of experience with them there are a couple of things to remember that will better your chances for success. Start by selecting a brisket that has a nice fat cap. Some you’ll find at the meat counter have been trimmed down too much. Try to find one that the fat cap, covers most of the side that it’s on. You can trim the fat cap if you wish but don’t get carried away with it. The fat cap will “baste” the meat as it cooks. You will smoke / cook the brisket with the fat cap side up. You may want to apply a dry rub to your meat. There are endless possibilities here. I would recommend starting simple and using some Montreal Steak Seasoning from the grocery store. It should be available in the spice aisle. It may not sound exotic at first but it makes a great rub to start with. You may want to grab 2 containers of it. Now let’s get started cooking this thing. Start by applying your dry rub of choice. If you find that the rub is not adhering to the meat, rub the brisket with a thin layer of yellow mustard then apply the rub. The mustard helps the rub stick and won’t change the flavor of the brisket. Ideally though, if you rinse the brisket and pat it dry, your rub should stick. Let the brisket sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes before you smoke it. Cold meat doesn’t absorb smoke very well. Now, the smoker you use makes all the difference in the world. You can smoke meat in any style of smoker, wood burner, gas, or electric. I find that my Cookshack, electric smoker works great. It traps moisture in and helps the brisket stay moist. This is what I have experience with so this is how I do brisket. I use hickory wood for smoking beef products. For a 5 pound brisket I’ll usually go with about 5 ounces of wood, by weight. This is really a personal preference, some might prefer more or less. 4 or 5 ounces is a good starting point. So now your brisket is coated with rub, you have your smoker set up and ready to go. Another very important accessory to have here is a digital thermometer. It’s important that you know the internal temperature of the meat since this is how you will know when it’s done. Get an inexpensive remote thermometer so that you can monitor the temp from outside the smoking chamber. You don’t want to be opening the door every hour, losing all your heat and smoke. So, now let’s put the brisket in the smoker and insert the thermometer probe. Close ‘er up and set your temperature to 200 degrees. You’re looking for your meats internal temperature to reach between 190 and 200 degrees. If you are planning on serving your brisket sliced you should take it out at 190 or 195. If you want to just chop it up, let it go to 200. I can’t tell you exactly how long this is going to take but you can plan for anywhere between 12-14 hours. Again, you’re shooting for a temperature not a time. There are no hard a fast recipes when it come to smoking meats. When you reach your desired temperature, double check for doneness by probing the meat with a skewer or other pointed item. The skewer should easily pass through the meat. Remove the meat from the smoker and allow it to rest for 30 minutes before you cut into it. I’m a big fan of chopping the brisket so I like to chop it up and sprinkle in some of the unused dry rub and a little apple juice. This really kicks up the flavor!
Smoked beef brisket is an old standby in the barbeque world but it’s not necessarily the easiest to pull off. If you’re planning on smoking a brisket and you don’t have a lot of experience with them there are a couple of things to remember that will better your chances for success. Start by selecting a brisket that has a nice fat cap. Some you’ll find at the meat counter have been trimmed down too much. Try to find one that the fat cap, covers most of the side that it’s on. You can trim the fat cap if you wish but don’t get carried away with it. The fat cap will “baste” the meat as it cooks. You will smoke / cook the brisket with the fat cap side up. You may want to apply a dry rub to your meat. There are endless possibilities here. I would recommend starting simple and using some Montreal Steak Seasoning from the grocery store. It should be available in the spice aisle. It may not sound exotic at first but it makes a great rub to start with. You may want to grab 2 containers of it. Now let’s get started cooking this thing. Start by applying your dry rub of choice. If you find that the rub is not adhering to the meat, rub the brisket with a thin layer of yellow mustard then apply the rub. The mustard helps the rub stick and won’t change the flavor of the brisket. Ideally though, if you rinse the brisket and pat it dry, your rub should stick. Let the brisket sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes before you smoke it. Cold meat doesn’t absorb smoke very well. Now, the smoker you use makes all the difference in the world. You can smoke meat in any style of smoker, wood burner, gas, or electric. I find that my Cookshack, electric smoker works great. It traps moisture in and helps the brisket stay moist. This is what I have experience with so this is how I do brisket. I use hickory wood for smoking beef products. For a 5 pound brisket I’ll usually go with about 5 ounces of wood, by weight. This is really a personal preference, some might prefer more or less. 4 or 5 ounces is a good starting point. So now your brisket is coated with rub, you have your smoker set up and ready to go. Another very important accessory to have here is a digital thermometer. It’s important that you know the internal temperature of the meat since this is how you will know when it’s done. Get an inexpensive remote thermometer so that you can monitor the temp from outside the smoking chamber. You don’t want to be opening the door every hour, losing all your heat and smoke. So, now let’s put the brisket in the smoker and insert the thermometer probe. Close ‘er up and set your temperature to 200 degrees. You’re looking for your meats internal temperature to reach between 190 and 200 degrees. If you are planning on serving your brisket sliced you should take it out at 190 or 195. If you want to just chop it up, let it go to 200. I can’t tell you exactly how long this is going to take but you can plan for anywhere between 12-14 hours. Again, you’re shooting for a temperature not a time. There are no hard a fast recipes when it come to smoking meats. When you reach your desired temperature, double check for doneness by probing the meat with a skewer or other pointed item. The skewer should easily pass through the meat. Remove the meat from the smoker and allow it to rest for 30 minutes before you cut into it. I’m a big fan of chopping the brisket so I like to chop it up and sprinkle in some of the unused dry rub and a little apple juice. This really kicks up the flavor!