How to Smoke a Brisket

Posted on October 25th, 2009 by Carmelia

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A brisket is the toughest meat from a cow, and needs proper preparation and smoking to make it tender and juicy. You may need to do this several times to get the real hang of it, so don’t be impatient. Just make sure to follow all the steps carefully. Here’s how to smoke a brisket.

Ingredients

Beef brisket, eight to 11 pounds
Dry rub
100% apple juice

Tools

Grill with drip pan
Handheld sprayer, clean
Charcoal
Lighter
Saran wrap
Two 10″ x 12″ inch pans
Paper towels
Hickory chips
Meat thermometer

Choosing a Brisket

Choosing a good slab of brisket is an important part in the process. If you’re just starting, it would be a good idea to limit your brisket to around eight pounds a slab.

When choosing a brisket, look for one that’s not hard as a rock. Frozen briskets are likely to be less fresh, so go for one that’s firm but flexible at the same time.

Color and marbling are two more factors you should consider when choosing a brisket. The color of the brisket should be a rich, deep red. Avoid anything that’s dull or gray-colored. Marbling refers to the fat veins interspersed with the leaner parts in the meat. One side should have at most, four inches of fat, a part which brisket lovers call “the fat cap”. Having the right amount of fat helps with retaining the moisture in your brisket after smoking.

Procedure

Clean your hands thoroughly before handling the meat to prevent contamination.

smoked brisket

Rinse the brisket thoroughly under running water. Pat dry using paper towels.
Get your dry rub of choice (a dry rub is a powder of mixed herbs) and rub it thoroughly into the meat.
Smoke the brisket in an indirect heat. Light up the charcoal using the lighter and push to one side, or smoke the brisket on the side opposite where the charcoal is.
Once the charcoal is ready, put the soaked hickory chips over the hot charcoal fire. The hickory chips will give a more smoky, savory flavor to the meat.
Put the drip pan directly under the meat for the drippings. Put some water in it to infuse moisture into the meat.
Heat up the grill to 200 degrees Celsius before putting the meat on the grill.
Put the brisket on the grill, fat cap facing up. Maintain a heat between 200 to 250 degrees Celsius throughout the whole cooking process.
Put the cover on. Give it an hour to smoke for every pound of brisket. So for an eight pound brisket, give it eight hours to smoke.
Add charcoals and hickory chips on the fire every hour.
Spray apple juice all throughout the brisket three times throughout the whole cooking time.
Rotate the meat 180 degrees around halfway through the cooking process.
Test if the brisket is fully cooked by inserting the meat thermometer in the middle of the brisket. If it reads 180 degrees Celsius, that means the brisket is cooked.
Take the brisket off the fire and let it cool down to room temperature. Don’t be bothered by the dark color, that’s only the dry rub after it’s grilled.
Once cooled, wrap the brisket in Saran wrap and put it in the refrigerator. Don’t put the brisket in the freezer. When you want to barbecue the brisket, simply slice it up against the grain, and barbecue the way you want it.