{"id":1949,"date":"2021-01-23T23:19:56","date_gmt":"2021-01-23T15:19:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.meatsmokinghq.com\/?p=1949"},"modified":"2024-03-07T17:00:54","modified_gmt":"2024-03-07T09:00:54","slug":"tips-for-smoking-brisket-a-beginners-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meatsmokinghq.com\/tips-for-smoking-brisket-a-beginners-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Brisket For Beginners: 20 Tips For Smoking The Perfect Brisket"},"content":{"rendered":"
The brisket is the pinnacle of meat smoking and the ultimate cut of meat to master in your pit. The brisket is also the most difficult cut of meat to smoke because it\u2019s such a large, tough hunk of meat that requires all day and half the night to cook. There’s nothing worse than smoking a brisket for 12 hours, only to have it turn out dry. There\u2019s are a few things you can do to make sure you get a tender, juicy brisket every time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Brisket is a large, tough cut of meat and should be smoked low and slow at 225\u00b0F (107\u00b0C). Temperature control will make or break your brisket, but if you’re using a pellet grill an electric or gas smoker, maintaining the target temperature is easy. Holding the temp at the required 225\u00b0F can be a challenge when smoking a brisket in a charcoal smoker. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you’re just starting out, don\u2019t attempt smoking a brisket until you have mastered temperature control in your pit. Once you know your smoker and can control temperature fluctuations, only then should you smoke a brisket. Work your way up to a brisket by smoking a pork butt. Pork butts are a great introduction to the big meats because they\u2019re hard to mess up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vent Control.<\/strong> Learning how to control your smoker is the first rule of meat smoking. Temperature control is easy if you are smoking on a pellet grill or an electric smoker, but charcoal smokers can be difficult to control a steady temperature. Know how to control your vents so you can hold the temperature in a safe range. Also, keep your smoker out of the wind and don’t keep opening the lid of your smoker. These mistakes will cause the temperature to fluctuate, and ruin your brisket. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Low and Slow.<\/strong> Brisket is a tough cut of meat with a lot of connective tissue, so it needs to be cooked low and slow. If the temperature of your smoker is too high, the heat will draw out the moisture in the brisket and it will become dry. Learn to hold the temperature of your smoker in the 220\u00b0F range and keep it there until the internal meat temperature reads 203\u00b0F on your meat thermometer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Meat Thermometers<\/strong>. No matter what type of smoker you’re using, a good thermometer will be your best friend. DO NOT<\/strong> trust the in-built thermometer that comes with your smoker because they can be wildly inaccurate. If you don’t believe me, do a calibration test<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Get yourself a good duel-probe thermometer that will allow you to monitor the ambient temperature of the cook chamber with the first probe and track the internal meat temperature with the second probe. A thermometer is by far your most important tool. Without one, it’s all guesswork. Check out my thermometer guide here.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Adding moisture to your brisket by either basting, mopping or spritzing is an important practice when smoking brisket. Applying moisture to the brisket will do several things:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can mop\/spritz your brisket with apple cider vinegar, apple juice, bone broth, beer or plain water. Apply the liquid by using a spray bottle or a miniature mop and bucket. Don’t mop or spritz for the first 3 or 4 hours of the cook. During the first phase, allow the brisket to absorb smoke and develop a hard bark. If you spritz too soon, the rub will wash off the brisket and leave patches in the bark. After a few hours, begin wetting the meat every hour until the brisket reaches the wrapping stage. Spray underneath and on the sides where the brisket is at risk of charring or drying out. For more information on basting brisket, check out these articles: Basting Brisket While Smoking and How To Spritz Brisket<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Buying the right brisket is probably the most important step that often gets overlooked. You could do everything else right, but if you buy a lean brisket, it’s going to turn out dry. Learn how to choose a good brisket and always buy the best meat you can afford. There are three main beef grades in America:<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Marbling<\/strong>. A decent amount of marbling is the key to the most tender, juicy brisket. The more marbling the better. Marbling is the fatty striations that are found in meat. When cooked low-and-slow, marbling will melt and render into the meat, making it taste tender, juicy and full of flavor. The more marbling, the more expensive. Wagyu, USDA Prime, and USDA Choice have different levels of marbling, whereas USDA Select has little to no marbling at all. You can smoke a Select grade brisket, but you need to pull out all the tricks in the book to get good results. For more information, check out these articles: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Marbling On Brisket<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n What Brisket Should I Buy? Prime, Select or Prime <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Wagyu: The World’s Best Brisket<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Brisket Anatomy<\/strong>. Before visiting your butcher, it also pays to understand some brisket anatomy. Briskets have two parts; a flat and a point. Whole packer briskets are the most commonly sought after briskets for smoking, but you can buy a flat or a point separately. The point is easier to cook, and contains more fat which means it’s less likely to dry out. The flat is more difficult to manage because it has little fat, and it’s a thin, awkward-shaped muscle. Some pitmasters remove the point and the flat and cook them separately. If you want to know how to cook a brisket flat, check out this article: How To Smoke A Brisket Flat.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Fat Cap.<\/strong> Choosing a brisket with the right amount of fat is also important. Avoid briskets with thick fat cap because most of it needs to be trimmed so you will be wasting your money. However, you need some fat otherwise the brisket will dry out and have less flavor. Most pitmasters recommend leaving 1\/4 inch of fat on top. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dry Brining<\/strong>. Brining your brisket prior to smoking is a good way to help retain the moisture during the long cook. Dry brining is the most simple, and best way to brine a brisket. Soaking brisket in a wet brine isn\u2019t suitable because the meat will end up like tasting like corned beef. A dry brine is simply rubbing salt into the brisket the day before smoking. The salt will penetrate the meat retain moisture during the long cook. Salt will also add flavor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Best Salt For Brining Brisket<\/strong>. Kosher salt is the best salt to brine brisket because it has large granules, anti-caking agents and no iodine. Once you\u2019ve rubbed salt into the brisket, place the meat in a large zip-lock bag and leave in the refrigerator for 24 hours before smoking. The bare minimum time to dry brine a brisket is 2-hours prior to smoking. For more on brining, read: Should I Brine Brisket? <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Injecting brisket is also a good way to get extra moisture deep inside the meat for the long cook. Brisket will lose a lot of moisture, so having more fluid in the meat will help replace the moisture that is lost through evaporation. Competition meat smokers inject brisket for extra flavor and helping to get a tender, juicy brisket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Brisket Solutions and Marinades<\/strong>. The best injection fluid is bone broth or a good brisket marinade. Meat injectors are simple to use, inexpensive and easy to buy on Amazon or the barbecue section of your hardware store. It\u2019s best to inject the brisket the day before to allow the marinade to work its way into the meat. For an in-depth look at brisket injection, check out my article: Should I Inject Brisket? <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n This brisket injection marinade<\/a><\/strong> is the secret used in competitions and made by a World Barbecue champion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The resting or holding stage is one of the most important steps in the brisket smoking process. If you slice the meat immediately after taking the brisket out of the smoker, all the meat juices will spill out onto the cutting board and the meat will be dry. Resting allows the meat to reabsorb its juices and makes the brisket tender and juicy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n How Long To Rest Brisket.<\/strong> A brisket can be rested for as long as 4-hours but a minimum of 1-hour. While resting, the meat will continue to cook and will still be hot after 4 hours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Resting Brisket In A Cooler.<\/strong> The most common way to rest a brisket is by wrapping the foiled brisket in a towel and then placed in a dry cooler for between 1-4 hours. Keep the meat in its foil wrapping, otherwise the juices will spill out. For more on resting\/holding, check out these articles: How Long Should I Rest Brisket?<\/a> and Resting Brisket in a Cooler<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Wrapping brisket in foil or butcher paper is an important step in the smoking process if you want tender, juicy meat. Wrapping the brisket in the second half of the cook will prevent moisture from escaping and will create steam inside the meat parcel. Wrap your brisket when the internal meat temperature reaches anywhere between 150\u00b0F and 170\u00b0F, which is usually around 8-10 hours into the cook, depending on the size of the brisket. If you wrap within the 150\u00b0F and 170\u00b0F range, the brisket should have developed a nice bark, be a reddish color and taken on more than enough smoke. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Paper or Foil?<\/strong> You can use aluminium foil or butcher paper to wrap brisket, but if this is your first attempt, keep it simple and use foil. The paper vs foil is one of the most asked questions in barbecue. If you’re smoking your first brisket, it’s okay to just use heavy duty aluminium foil. Then once you know what you\u2019re doing, experiment with butcher paper. Aaron Franklin popularized pink butcher paper and his experiments show you get a better bark. Others say the differences are minimal. The only way to know is to try them yourself. If you\u2019re going to try butcher paper, you need to buy a specific kind. You can\u2019t just use any old butcher paper because they may contain harmful chemicals. Amazon sells large rolls of the correct type of butcher paper here.<\/a> For more information wrapping brisket, read my article: ‘What Should I Wrap My Brisket In?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n2. Spritz Or Mop The Brisket<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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3. Buy The Right Brisket <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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4. Brine The Brisket<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
5. Inject The Brisket<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
6. Rest The Brisket<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
7. Wrap The Brisket<\/h2>\n\n\n\n