How to make a “competition style” delicious smoked brisket that will have your neighbors lining up for. Be sure to check out my list of favorite tools and resources to use here. Please also check out my backyard style recipe too (here)

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Smoked Beef Brisket

Smoked Brisket made in a competition style, but simplified for you.

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Course Dinner, Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine American, BBQ

Equipment

Smoker
Wood
Digital Thermometer Preferably one with at least two probes to measure the meat's internal temperature and the ambient smoker temperature
Meat Injector
Butcher's Paper non-coated. I like Pink Kraft Butcher Paper
Baking Pan Disposable aluminum pans are great
Large bath towel used to wrap the meat while the meat rests
Ice Chest

Ingredients

1 Beef Brisket I like to use Prime or Wagyu, but a Choice or Select will cost much less and still be tasty
2 cups Brisket Rub. In Texas, many swear by a 1:1 ratio of Salt and Pepper. I have provided a link to my rub.
1 quart Beef Stock Buy at the store or make your own.

Instructions

Prepare the Brisket

Trim the Brisket
Place the brisket into a suitably sized baking/roasting pan
Load the Beef Stock into an injector and inject the stock into the brisket every 1-1½ inches. Use approximately 75% of the stock for injection and pour the rest over the brisket
Let the Brisket sit overnight (at least 6 hours) in the refrigerator

Smoke the Brisket

Preheat your smoker to 275 degrees and prepare your smoker to smoke meat
Remove the brisket from the refrigerator and discard any juices in the pan
Pat the brisket dry. Be sure to get both sides.
Apply the Brisket rub all over the brisket by rubbing the seasonings with your hands
Transfer the brisket to the smoker to smoke the meat
Monitor both the temperature of the smoking chamber and the meat. It is important you keep the temperature of the smoking chamber relatively constant. After the brisket has been in the smoker for approximately 2 hours, start spritzing (use water or vinegar) the meat every hour.
When the brisket reaches approximately 160° F the brisket will enter the stall. continue to monitor the meat and as the brisket leaves the stall, pull the brisket and wrap it tightly with butcher paper and return to the smoker
Continue to smoke the brisket until it reaches 203°F and wrap the brisket with towel and set aside 2-4 hours in an ice chest

Serve the Brisket

After the brisket has rested for a sufficient amount of time,
Slice the brisket against the grain in your desired thickness and serve right away.
Take in the compliments

Notes

You must rest the meat after the smoking process is complete or it will dry out
The brisket must be trimmed. The thick hard fats are not like marbling. They will not add any flavor to the meat and will both increase the smoking time, decrease the smoke/rub penetration of the meat. Fat is a barrier.
You can experiment with temperatures of the smoking chamber. In the BBQ world, there is much disagreement with the proper temperature. I have settled with 275 as a nice compromise between speed and flavor.
I leave the thermometer in the meat when smoking the brisket as I like to monitor the progress. Many others only spot check the meat. It is important you do use a high-quality digital thermometer if you do choose to use one.
If this is your first brisket, please be aware the meat will stall at approximately 160ºF. It will stay at approximately 160ºF for a couple of hours. This is normal and do not overreact by messing with the ambient smoking chamber temperature. You can read our tip about handling the stall on our site at the following link.

Why Does Brisket Stall, and how to expertly manage it?

Keyword beef brisket, brisket, smoked beef brisket, smoked brisket

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