How to Make Smoked Brisket

4.84 from 18 votes

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OK, so for todays post I am going to talk all about How to Make Smoked Brisket. There’s more to it than just smoking though. We are going to first make a brine, then dry rub and finally smoke the brisket with cheery wood. Feel free to use whatever wood chip flavor you prefer, but I find this works well.

How to Make Smoked Brisket I brine, dry rub and smoke low and slow with cherry wood. The subtle flavors from the fennel, star anise and coriander make this. www.keviniscooking.com


How to Make Smoked Brisket

Some people feel this entire process is a little daunting. Well no more then anything else you haven’t done before, believe me. If anything, it is more time consuming than anything. After you get a few items mixed you can sit back and let things marinate, and smoke. No heavy lifting there, right? And once you get this brining and rub down, you can apply it to all different cuts of meat and poultry.

Half the time I keep a portion of the meat for lunch meat. I allow it to cool, refrigerate to firm up and slice it nice and thin for sandwiches or in chunks for a type of corned beef scramble with onions and potatoes. The possibilities are endless.

3 Steps to Smoke a Brisket

  1. First we need to fortify that beautifully marbled piece of beef with a brine. This ensures it is well hydrated for that long, low and slow smoke.
  2. We also use a dry rub for added flavor and to ensure a delicious crust, or bark.
  3. To finish it off we are using Cherry wood chips for the smoking agent. This imparts a beautiful, subtle flavor of smoke. You can read more about different wood chips for smoking here in a past article post I wrote.

Let’s get started!

Make sure to get a beef brisket with a beautiful fat top. This will melt during the smoking process and continuously keep the meat moist when rendering down.

You can keep it whole or slice into pieces. I slice in two for easy submersion in brining and later eating and slicing.

How to Make Smoked Brisket I brine, dry rub and smoke low and slow with cherry wood. The subtle flavors from the fennel, star anise and coriander make this. www.keviniscooking.com

How to make a brine

In a saucepan over medium heat toast the spices slightly to bring out their essential oils for several minutes. Don’t burn these, continuously shake the pan and the aroma will fill the kitchen.

Next, add the water, salt and sugars and simmer for 10 minutes.

How to Make Smoked Brisket I brine, dry rub and smoke low and slow with cherry wood. The subtle flavors from the fennel, star anise and coriander make this. www.keviniscooking.com

In a tub that can be sealed, add the cold water and ice. Pour the hot brine liquid in and when cool enough add the meat. Make sure it is submerged and feel free to weigh it down if need be.

Cover and refrigerate for 2 or more days. I wouldn’t do more than 5 days.

How to Make Smoked Brisket I brine, dry rub and smoke low and slow with cherry wood. The subtle flavors from the fennel, star anise and coriander make this. www.keviniscooking.com

After the beef brisket has brined for several days remove and rinse under cold water.

Dry, cover all over with dry rub mixture. Rub in the spice mixture in a pan, cover and refrigerate for 2 hours. Start your smoker and remove the meat from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature.

How to Make Smoked Brisket I brine, dry rub and smoke low and slow with cherry wood. The subtle flavors from the fennel, star anise and coriander make this. www.keviniscooking.com

Set your smoking chips up per manufacturer’s instructions. Place in the smoker set at 225°F for an hour and a half per pound.

There are a lot of opinions on keeping the vent open or closed during the smoking process. For me seeing as the smoker has limited smoke, unless you want to keep re-loading with wood chips, I keep it closed the first hour, then open it up for ventilation and constant airflow. I’ve read that with time and temp the ability of meats to retain smoke diminishes past 140°F. So it’s usually a 2 to 4 hour smoke window for optimum smoke absorption.

How to Make Smoked Brisket I brine, dry rub and smoke low and slow with cherry wood. The subtle flavors from the fennel, star anise and coriander make this. www.keviniscooking.com

Look at that deliciousness! Smoked brisket at it’s finest. This is How to Make Smoked Brisket!

How to Make Smoked Brisket I brine, dry rub and smoke low and slow with cherry wood. The subtle flavors from the fennel, star anise and coriander make this. www.keviniscooking.com

Carefully remove the smoked brisket from the smoker and allow to cool down and rest for 10+ minutes.

How to Make Smoked Brisket I brine, dry rub and smoke low and slow with cherry wood. The subtle flavors from the fennel, star anise and coriander make this. www.keviniscooking.com

Feel free to discard whatever fat cap is still there and not rendered down completely. Slice across the grain and serve!

I served this with some fresh Perfect Grilled Corn on the Cob and baked potatoes.

How to Make Smoked Brisket I brine, dry rub and smoke low and slow with cherry wood. The subtle flavors from the fennel, star anise and coriander make this. www.keviniscooking.com

The remaining sliced Smoked Brisket is great for leftovers, lunch or used to make a hash with chopped potatoes and onions.

How to Make Smoked Brisket I brine, dry rub and smoke low and slow with cherry wood. The subtle flavors from the fennel, star anise and coriander make this. www.keviniscooking.com
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Smoked Brisket – Brined, Dry Rubbed and Cherry Wood Smoked

How to Make Smoked Brisket – Brined, Dry Rubbed and Cherry Wood Smoked

4.84 from 18 votes
How to Make Smoked Brisket! I brine, dry rub and smoke low and slow with cherry wood. The subtle flavors from the fennel, star anise and coriander make this.
Servings: 10
Prep: 2 days
Cook: 7 hours 30 minutes
Total: 2 days 7 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients 

  • 5 lbs beef brisket

Brine

Dry Rub:

Instructions 

  • Toast all seeds lightly in a sauté pan to extract essentials oils and toast slightly. Allow to cool.
  • Bring water to a boil and mix all Brine ingredients in a container large enough to allow meat to be covered in brine. Make sure sugar and salt are dissolved.
  • Add the ice to cool brine down and submerge the beef brisket.
  • Brine for two days or more if desired in refrigerator, covered.
  • Mix rub ingredients together in a small bowl.
  • Rinse off brined brisket. Shake off excess water and apply dry rub. Press rub mixture on to meat, allow to rest for two hours, covered and refrigerated.
  • Soak your wood chips. Bring meat to room temperature. Place dry rubbed brisket in the smoker set at 225°F for an hour and a half per pound. Add the smoke chips or pellets per smoker manufacturer instructions. (See Note 1).
  • Let rest 1 hour and slice across the grain and serve!

Notes

  1. I recommend wrapping in foil at 145°-150°F internal temp to lock in the moisture so the rub does not pull it out. Remove at 170°F internal temp vs 180°F as recommended by Masterbuilt Smoker directions. Brisket is hard to get right and can be dry if you aren’t careful.

Nutrition

Calories: 592kcal | Carbohydrates: 59g | Protein: 48g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 140mg | Sodium: 918mg | Potassium: 947mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 53g | Vitamin A: 490IU | Vitamin C: 0.7mg | Calcium: 114mg | Iron: 6.3mg

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Course: Dinner, Lunch, Main
Cuisine: American, Western
Have You Made This Recipe? Let Me Know on InstagramTag @keviniscooking or tag me #keviniscooking!

Kevin

Whether in the kitchen or on the grill, you’ll find me cooking American favorites with a love for BBQ, Mexican and Tex Mex. I’m passionate about making tasty food because life’s too short to be bland!

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84 Comments

  1. I accidentally put in cardamon with the coriander in the rub! Eileen that ruin it?? Should I start over. Wish I had not put 2 Tbsp in but I did after misreading the label!!!

  2. 5 stars
    Great recipe! One note: I started with 1 chimney starter full of briquettes and that put my kettle at 400 degrees once ready. Luckily I had poured them into a couple of Weber char baskets designed to hold the briquettes to either side under the grill for indirect grilling. So I just removed one and the temperature dropped to a near perfect 200 degrees! I was able to maintain 200-225 degrees the rest of the way by adjusting the vents. Maybe I missed it but I’d certainly include starting off with half a chimney starter of charcoal in the instructions. Otherwise my first smoking with a Weber attempt went off without a hitch! And the taste was fabulous! Thank you.

    1. That’s one I have not used yet John. I have used the cherry, apple, pecan, maple, hickory, and mesquite. Need to find some red oak and check it out.

      1. 5 stars
        I have smoked a lot of Brisket using RED OAK and it does a good job I also use it to smoke Ribs beef & Pork

  3. Hey there, if I have a 14 lb brisket should I effectively triple everything? So triple the brine solution or would double be enough to stick it in? Thanks so much! I’m a newbie to the BBQ arena, I cook and bake a lot but I don’t do BBQ. We are testing this out to do for my brother’s rehearsal dinner in May.

    1. Truthfully I feel doubling all would be good enough Megan. Just make sure brine covers all the meat and weigh it down to completely submerge with a plate or something. I also think you’re smart to test first instead of doing that day for a big event. Lots of factors and it’s good to be comfortable first with the process. Let me know how it turns out Megan, please! 🙂

      1. Sorry I’m just now reporting! Our first run was okay, we made note of areas we wanted to improve (brine longer, cook longer), and now I’m gathering the ingredients for the real deal! Wish us luck, we are smoking on Saturday and the rehearsal dinner will be the next Wednesday. It’s not ideal but I hope it will be yummy just the same!

      2. See, it’s always good to do a taste test run prior to doing the real deal for a big event. Wishing you the best of luck on Saturday smoking and the dinner! Excited for you.

        I am waiting on a new smoker to be delivered and this will be a first one to break it in proper. 🙂

  4. I’m kind of late to the game here but I need help!! I have a small catering job for 20 people tomorrow. It’s the city Council of my local city .. Huntington Beach.. in California,

    They requested corn beef and cabbage. Im going to skip the explanation of my neglect and pure stupidity, and jump right to the issues I have created for myself. I have 2- 15 pound prime brisket’s that have been in a brine for only three days. Also I may have put the briskets in the brine while the water was still warm to slightly hot. What am I looking at, and What are my options to save this? Should I be going to the grocery store right now…?

    1. Joseph, sorry I was not able to answer prior to this but had out of town guests over. My concern is the brine was not iced and there lies an issue with the meat possibly cooking. The health and safety issue is to keep a brine 40°F and under so bacteria doesn’t start and the meat will not be tainted. Not sure how hot that liquid was when you started the brine, and I am not a health expert. To be safe I’d hit the store up or go to the market and tell the butcher the situation and get their feedback. Let me know!

  5. My 11# brisket is brining now and is going on the tregger Christmas Eve for a Sunday feast bout 3 pm. I really like the wrap tight in foil to keep moist on the slow cook. Thanks for sharing. Frank P.

    1. Hey Frank thanks for stopping by and the kind words. We’re doing a dry rubbed and smoked turkey for Christmas! All the best, cheers!

  6. 5 stars
    Just made last weekend with a 6 lb brisket. This recipe was awesome. I brined for 48 hours. I made a thai pepper cranberry sauce for some optional flavor. Friends at the tail gate offered many many compliments on the taste….thanks! Tim

  7. Question- I read that the beef brisket should be thick. How many inches thick and average weight when ordering/buying the brisket?

    1. Hello! Well you want the brisket to be as even in thickness as possible. I trim the tapered and less than 1/2 inch parts off. You can grind and use for a burger or whatever else you’d like. I usually pick up a 5 pound brisket, uniform in thickness – around 2 1/2 to 3 inches in thickness. Larger, like 9+ pounds can be 4-5 inches in thickness.

  8. 5 stars
    This is one of the most excellent brisket recipes I have tried. Some next-level BBQ. One note: meat selection is key with this thick and potent rub. Thicker is better. I had a cut that tapered thin on the end and the rub was a bit overpowering. However, the choice part of the cut was the best brisket I have ever tasted. Thus, pick a thick cut of meat that does not taper at the end. Great job Kevin, this is some serious stuff!

    1. Also a couple of notes: The rub and brine are superior, by far. However, I recommend wrapping in foil at 145-150F internal temp to lock in the moisture so the rub does not pull it out. Remove at 170F internal temp vs 180F as recommended by Masterbuilt Smoker directions. Brisket is hard to get right and can be dry if you aren’t careful. Apply these NC BBQ tips to perfect this outstanding recipe!

      1. Will do, thanks again David. I’ve yet to have a dried one, but that would be disappointing after all that salivating waiting. 🙂 Will add to recipe notes. Cheers!

    2. Really appreciate you letting me know David, so glad you enjoyed it and great tip on tapering thickness of meat. Smoke on!