EASY smoked brisket recipe to nail it your first time

[00:00] it's a step-by-step video on how to

[00:01] smoke brisket for beginners so let's get

[00:04] smoking okay it's the night before

[00:06] you're going to smoke your brisket let's

[00:07] call it friday so grab your favorite

[00:09] beer open it and have it on standby

[00:11] because trimming is step one get

[00:13] yourself a full packers cut brisket

[00:16] between 10 and 15 pounds the best

[00:19] quality you can afford you'll notice one

[00:21] side has a lot of fat on it that's

[00:23] called the fat cap start by slicing it

[00:26] down layer by layer until it's only

[00:28] about a quarter inch thick you'll need a

[00:30] sharp knife for this now you may think

[00:32] it's strange to carve off all that fat

[00:35] you just paid good money for but there's

[00:36] a good reason for it first we want the

[00:39] fat cap thin so it properly renders and

[00:42] it's nice and soft and juicy when you

[00:44] bite into it

[00:45] second most people don't like a huge

[00:47] strip of fat on their brisket slices and

[00:50] they end up peeling it off if it's too

[00:52] thick so we don't want our guests or our

[00:54] family to have to make that decision now

[00:56] while i'm trimming this fat cap down let

[00:58] me tell you why i'm smoking this brisket

[01:00] because i'm not making it for myself

[01:02] i've been thinking about asking to

[01:04] borrow my neighbor's weber smoky

[01:05] mountain for a long time now i've never

[01:08] used one before and i've heard it's

[01:09] great for set and forget smoking which

[01:12] i'm all about right now because as a new

[01:13] dad i just don't have a lot of time and

[01:16] i finally got the perfect opportunity to

[01:18] ask him because he just asked me to

[01:20] smoke this brisket for him so the plan

[01:23] is to smoke this awesome brisket for him

[01:25] and then i'll ask him to borrow his

[01:27] weber smoky mountain the perfect plan

[01:30] now moving on slice the hard fat off one

[01:32] side of the brisket this stuff doesn't

[01:34] render down at all so you won't want to

[01:37] eat it but make sure you save it because

[01:39] we're going to use it in the next step

[01:42] now i slice the corners off the flat

[01:44] side of the brisket if i don't they'll

[01:46] get really crunchy and dry and we don't

[01:48] want that we want everything to be

[01:50] tender and juicy

[01:52] when you're done with that flip the

[01:54] brisket over and slice off the hard fat

[01:57] on the other side of the brisket again

[01:59] you won't want to eat this stuff so get

[02:01] rid of as much as you can while still

[02:03] retaining the general shape of the

[02:04] brisket you don't need to carve so deep

[02:07] that there's a big crevasse in the

[02:09] brisket if there's a little hard fat

[02:10] left over that's fine you can just carve

[02:13] it off when the brisket's done and you

[02:14] slice it to serve it now moving on to

[02:17] the back side of the flat you'll notice

[02:18] there's fat and a translucent bluish

[02:21] film called silver skin that stuff

[02:24] doesn't render off so we want to slice

[02:26] it off just poke your knife under the

[02:28] silver skin and try to slice it off

[02:30] without taking too much of the

[02:31] underlying meat with it you don't have

[02:33] to get it all off just most of it now

[02:35] you're done trimming and you're left

[02:36] over with a bunch of fat do you throw it

[02:38] out no way we're gonna keep it and we're

[02:40] gonna render it down into tallow so step

[02:42] two is to render down your tallow place

[02:45] your fat trimmings in a slow cooker and

[02:47] just let it slow cook for the whole day

[02:49] stirring it occasionally eventually

[02:52] it'll render down into liquid fat that

[02:54] you can strain into a container we're

[02:56] going to use the tallow when we wrap

[02:58] this brisket later on and it'll make it

[03:00] super tasty and juicy now while that

[03:01] tallow is rendering we're moving on to

[03:03] step three

[03:04] rubbing your brisket i like to just use

[03:06] a really simple rub of 5050 kosher salt

[03:09] and coarse grain black pepper i shake it

[03:11] onto the back side of the brisket then i

[03:13] flip it over and i do the top sides and

[03:15] the edges then i flip it over again and

[03:18] i give it another coating and then a

[03:20] final coating on the top side now i'm

[03:23] going to let it sit for at least 30

[03:25] minutes so that salt can penetrate and

[03:27] season the brisket you can even do this

[03:29] the night before so all you have to do

[03:31] the next day is wake up and throw the

[03:32] brisket on the smoker okay it's saturday

[03:34] and it's time to get excited because

[03:36] it's time to smoke the brisket that's

[03:38] why we're all here now prepare to drink

[03:40] from the fire hose of knowledge because

[03:41] we're going to talk about time and

[03:42] temperature now but don't think you have

[03:44] to retain it all i'm still gonna cover

[03:46] everything later in this video step by

[03:48] step now you can set your smoker

[03:49] temperature between 225 degrees

[03:51] fahrenheit and 300 degrees fahrenheit it

[03:53] doesn't matter as long as you're in that

[03:55] zone you're fine there are two

[03:57] exceptions the first one is if you're

[03:59] smoking on a pellet smoker you always

[04:01] want to go fat side down to protect the

[04:03] rest of the brisket from the radiant

[04:05] heat coming off of that deflector plate

[04:07] and the burn pot and you want to be

[04:09] below or at 225 degrees fahrenheit you

[04:12] don't want to go much higher than that

[04:14] because again that deflector plate can

[04:16] get really hot gives off radiant heat

[04:18] and it can actually cook the brisket

[04:20] really fast and it can burn it if you're

[04:22] not careful and two if you're cooking on

[04:24] an electric smoker then make sure every

[04:25] few hours you're cracking the door open

[04:28] to let that steam out because if too

[04:29] much steam builds up then it can ruin

[04:31] the bark and cook your brisket way too

[04:33] quickly now whatever temperature you

[04:35] choose the cook is gonna take about 14

[04:37] hours to complete that means six to ten

[04:40] hours of smoking it about two hours

[04:42] after you wrap it and up to two hours of

[04:44] resting so if you wanna serve your

[04:46] brisket for dinner on saturday then that

[04:48] means you're getting up at around four

[04:50] a.m on saturday morning if you're not

[04:53] into that i definitely am not into that

[04:55] i wake up around 8am on saturday so i

[04:57] have a decent sleep i get up i casually

[05:00] cook my brisket all day have a couple

[05:02] beers enjoy it and then i finish

[05:04] sometime late at night before midnight

[05:07] usually and then i just pop it in the

[05:09] fridge i take it out the next day on

[05:10] sunday reheat it for a couple hours and

[05:13] then i just have it for sunday lunch or

[05:15] dinner that's pretty much how i cook all

[05:17] my briskets these days okay make sense

[05:19] probably not but we're gonna cover

[05:20] everything step by step later in this

[05:22] video so don't worry about it i'll cover

[05:24] it all now we're still on step four

[05:26] smoking so i'm putting my brisket on the

[05:28] smoker and i'm maintaining temperatures

[05:30] between 250 and 300. every few hours i'm

[05:34] opening the smoker and spritzing the

[05:36] edges of the brisket to keep them from

[05:38] drying out you'll probably run into

[05:40] issues during this portion of the cook

[05:42] in my case i had to look after my son

[05:44] for most of the day so it was

[05:46] challenging to run to the smoker every

[05:47] 15 minutes to add a split of wood and

[05:49] also look after my son

[05:51] luckily i had an extra baby monitor in

[05:53] the nursery so i installed that next to

[05:55] the smoker that way i could wash the

[05:57] smoker while i was looking after my son

[06:00] and watch my son while i was looking

[06:01] after the smoker

[06:03] now i'm going to keep smoking the

[06:05] brisket like this for six to ten hours

[06:07] until i see four things one the brisket

[06:11] has reached a temperature of 165 to 180

[06:14] internal two there was a bunch of

[06:16] moisture pooling on top of the brisket

[06:18] but now there's not so much anymore that

[06:20] means it's dumped its excess moisture

[06:23] and coming out of what's called the

[06:24] stall

[06:25] three the brisket has a nice dark bark

[06:28] if you're burning charcoal or wood it

[06:30] would be really dark like this if you're

[06:32] using a pellet smoker it might just be a

[06:34] kind of mahogany red because pellet

[06:37] smokers burn really clean without a ton

[06:38] of smoke and that's fine and finally

[06:40] when you scrape your finger along the

[06:42] bark of the brisket it shouldn't come

[06:44] off easily that means the bark is set

[06:46] and you're ready to move to the next

[06:48] step step five is to pull your family

[06:50] into the backyard and mansplain about

[06:52] everything you're doing be sure to make

[06:54] it all really complicated and let a

[06:56] family member do something like spritz

[06:58] the brisket or throw a split on the fire

[07:00] so they feel like they're doing

[07:01] something this will elevate you in the

[07:03] eyes of your family and give them the

[07:05] impression that what you're doing is

[07:06] quasi-magical and they could never

[07:08] replicate it now once everyone is

[07:10] gathered around the smoker you want to

[07:12] take it off the smoker and tell them

[07:14] you're getting ready to wrap it and then

[07:16] pray to barbecue jesus because we're

[07:18] about to wrap our brisket and this is a

[07:20] super important part of the cooking

[07:22] process now for step six we're wrapping

[07:24] our brisket place the brisket on a sheet

[07:27] of butcher's paper now take that tallow

[07:30] you prepared and spread it over the

[07:31] paper so it soaks in and then pour some

[07:34] on top of the brisket as well the tallow

[07:37] is doing a couple things it's soaking

[07:39] the butcher paper in fat so it seals in

[07:42] the moisture it's adding flavor fat is

[07:45] flavor and it's adding moisture without

[07:47] dissolving the bark you can also skip

[07:50] the tallow if you want to you can even

[07:51] wrap it in foil but then you won't get

[07:54] that really crispy sugar cookie bark

[07:56] once the bark is wrapped up tight put it

[07:58] in an aluminum pan or on a deep tray

[08:01] with some foil to hold the drippings in

[08:03] then we're moving on to the next step

[08:04] for step seven the brisket goes into the

[08:07] oven on the middle rack that's right

[08:09] we're using the oven the brisket isn't

[08:11] gonna absorb any more smoke being on the

[08:13] smoker so you don't have to waste your

[08:14] charcoal or your wood splits on your

[08:16] smoker anymore just pop it in the oven

[08:19] and that's how we're gonna finish it off

[08:20] i'm setting my oven to 300 degrees

[08:22] fahrenheit it's in non-convection mode

[08:25] the brisket can take a higher heat at

[08:27] this point because it's protected by

[08:29] that butcher's paper so don't worry too

[08:31] much about burning it or overcooking it

[08:33] this step is going to take between about

[08:36] an hour and a half to three hours so

[08:38] after about an hour and a half we'll

[08:40] move on to step eight step eight is the

[08:43] most important step because we need to

[08:45] do our tests to make sure that the

[08:47] brisket is finished properly a perfect

[08:49] brisket is cooked enough so that it's

[08:52] tender and pulls apart easily but not so

[08:54] cooked that it's dry and crumbly so how

[08:57] do we know when we get it to exactly

[08:59] that point well there's three tests you

[09:02] start doing these tests around an hour

[09:04] and a half after the brisket is wrapped

[09:06] and you keep doing them every 30 minutes

[09:08] until you pass all of the tests

[09:10] test one the brisket should be at least

[09:13] 203 degrees fahrenheit internally you

[09:16] can use an instant read or probe

[09:18] thermometer to monitor this we want that

[09:20] temperature high enough so it can render

[09:22] the connective tissue in the meat

[09:24] otherwise it's going to be tough test

[09:26] two the probe test just because it's 203

[09:29] degrees fahrenheit doesn't mean it's

[09:30] done you need to probe into the thickest

[09:32] part of the flat in the middle of the

[09:34] brisket and make sure it probes tender

[09:36] like butter if you pull your probe out

[09:39] and it gets a lot of resistance and by

[09:41] that i mean it drags the brisket with it

[09:43] as you pull it out then it's not done it

[09:45] should slide in easily and slide out

[09:47] easily as if you were probing a stick of

[09:50] room temperature butter test three is

[09:52] the feel test you'll need cotton gloves

[09:54] underneath waterproof rubber or nitrile

[09:56] gloves for this you should be able to

[09:58] pick up the brisket and it should bend

[10:00] in on itself easily and it feels really

[10:03] floppy like jello if it's stiff keep on

[10:05] cooking once your brisket passes all

[10:07] three finishing tests remove it from the

[10:09] oven and place it on the counter for two

[10:11] hours to rest it needs this time to come

[10:13] down in temperature and reabsorb some of

[10:15] the moisture before you slice into it i

[10:17] like to wait until it comes down to

[10:19] about 150 internal before slicing now if

[10:22] you're three to five hours away from

[10:24] dinner time when you need to serve your

[10:26] brisket and the brisket is done you can

[10:28] put it into a cooler and that will keep

[10:30] warm and food safe for up to five hours

[10:34] just make sure before you put it in the

[10:36] cooler after you take it out of the oven

[10:37] you open up the butcher's paper or the

[10:40] foil whatever you wrapped it in and you

[10:42] let the steam vent out for about 15

[10:45] minutes otherwise

[10:46] when you put that brisket into the

[10:48] cooler right after you take it out of

[10:49] the oven it could continue to cook and

[10:51] it will overcook and if you're like me

[10:53] and you don't eat your brisket until the

[10:55] next day then just pop it right in the

[10:57] fridge i don't even leave it out on the

[10:59] counter or anything i just take it right

[11:01] out of the oven and i put it right into

[11:03] the fridge in the aluminum tray with the

[11:05] butcher's paper i don't touch it at all

[11:07] and then the next day i take it out of

[11:09] the fridge pop it in the oven at about

[11:12] 250 300 degrees fahrenheit leave it in

[11:14] there for about four hours until the

[11:16] internal temperature comes up to

[11:18] around 165 degrees fahrenheit and

[11:21] finally step 10 slice your brisket

[11:23] against the grain in quarter inch slices

[11:26] and serve it up to your family or in my

[11:28] case my neighbor

[11:35] [Music]

[11:42] [Music]

[11:44] so in this case i got to serve up my

[11:46] brisket to my neighbor and he loved it

[11:48] his family loved it and i actually got

[11:50] the opportunity to ask him if i could

[11:52] borrow his weber smokey mountain and he

[11:54] let me so i was really happy

[11:56] because i'm going to be able to do a

[11:58] video on uh the weber smoky mountain now

[12:01] and i'll be posting that in the next few

[12:03] months for you guys and if you end up

[12:05] screwing up your brisket then watch this

[12:06] video on a hundred brisket mistakes that

[12:09] you probably made and also join my

[12:12] patreon i'll link that in the

[12:13] description section below you can ask me

[12:15] any questions you want get access to a

[12:16] private discord channel and i'll give

[12:18] you all the tips you need to nail your

[12:20] next brisket all right guys happy

[12:22] smoking