Easy Smoked Brisket for Beginners

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

[00:02] smoke a brisket for beginners updated

[00:04] with all of my best beginner brisket

[00:06] tips for 2023 so let's get smoking okay

[00:09] it's the night before you're going to

[00:10] smoke your brisket let's call it Friday

[00:12] night so pour yourself a beverage and

[00:14] get ready for step one which is trimming

[00:17] get yourself a 12 to 15 pound whole

[00:20] Packer brisket of the best quality you

[00:22] can afford prime or choice will do just

[00:25] fine the more intramuscular fat the

[00:27] better remove the brisket from the

[00:29] cryovac bag by slicing the bag open any

[00:32] way you'd like use a sharp knife I like

[00:34] to slice into the bag and through the

[00:36] very tip of the flat because we're going

[00:38] to be removing that last few inches of

[00:41] meat anyway to help the brisket cook

[00:42] more evenly then I just pull the brisket

[00:45] out of the cryovac bag I lay it on the

[00:47] cutting board and I begin now you'll

[00:49] notice that one side of the brisket has

[00:51] a lot of fat on it that's what we call

[00:53] the fat cap and it'll have a flap or

[00:55] mohawk on the highest area of the

[00:57] brisket we're going to slice that off on

[00:59] an angle and keep slicing towards the

[01:02] thinner end of the brisket so only a

[01:04] quarter inch of fat remains at the

[01:06] thinner end now starting from the

[01:08] thinner end of the brisket we're going

[01:09] to slice an inch or so strip along the

[01:12] side of the brisket removing most of

[01:13] that large fat deposit that you can see

[01:15] facing the camera we can now clearly see

[01:18] two muscle groups of the brisket which

[01:20] are the point on the left hand side also

[01:22] called the fatty side of the brisket it

[01:24] sits on top of the flat which we see on

[01:27] the right side of the brisket and

[01:28] running underneath the point to the left

[01:30] side it's also called The Lean side of

[01:32] the brisket both muscles are separated

[01:34] by this large seam fat which starts out

[01:37] very thick on the side of the brisket

[01:38] facing the camera and it kind of tapers

[01:40] off and thins out towards the other side

[01:42] we're going to try to carve down as much

[01:44] of that thick seam fat as possible

[01:47] otherwise our brisket slices from the

[01:49] point side of the brisket that you see

[01:50] facing you will have a huge chunk of fat

[01:52] in the middle of them so now we slice

[01:54] down the Mohawk even more on an angle to

[01:57] remove more of that seam fat and give

[01:59] the brisket its round shape now moving

[02:01] on to the tip of the point I'm rounding

[02:03] out any rough edges and slicing down the

[02:05] fat to around a quarter inch thickness

[02:07] then I'm cutting a strip off the other

[02:09] side of the brisket so we can see the

[02:11] meat underneath it moving on to the very

[02:13] top of the fat cap this is where the

[02:14] Precision work kind of comes into play

[02:16] start by slicing it down layer by layer

[02:19] until it's only about a quarter inch

[02:21] thick now you may think it's weird to

[02:22] carve off all of this fat that you paid

[02:24] good money for but a thinner fat cap is

[02:27] a good thing because it's going to

[02:28] render down much more easily and create

[02:30] a thin layer of caramelly gooey bacony

[02:33] fat on each slice if that fat cap is too

[02:37] thick it won't render and you'll get

[02:38] kind of a thick layer of rubbery fat

[02:40] that your guests may actually want to

[02:42] peel off before eating the slice of

[02:44] brisket we definitely don't want that

[02:45] now as you're trimming the fat cap

[02:47] you'll probably cut too deep in some

[02:49] areas and scalp the brisket or expose

[02:52] the meat under the fat cap there may

[02:54] already be several scalps from the

[02:55] butcher that you can't do anything about

[02:57] and you may make some of your own but in

[02:59] general we you want to minimize those

[03:01] scalps because it provides an Avenue and

[03:03] an area for moisture to pool on top of

[03:05] the brisket and mess up the bark on that

[03:08] spot it also results in slices that

[03:10] don't have a continuous layer of

[03:12] rendered fat that being said I've

[03:13] trimmed hundreds of briskets and I still

[03:15] scalp them all the time just go slow

[03:17] make multiple long shallow slices using

[03:20] as much of your knife as possible on

[03:22] each stroke keep that knife sharp and

[03:24] press into the fat as you slice to get

[03:26] an idea of how thick it is in the

[03:28] remaining areas if there's a thick layer

[03:30] that still needs trimming the fat will

[03:32] often be hard when you press into it and

[03:34] if it's a perfect quarter inch thick

[03:36] it'll often be soft and pliable because

[03:38] the meat is right underneath it and

[03:40] often if the fat is super thin you'll be

[03:42] able to actually see a reddish tinge

[03:44] through the fat so that you know it's

[03:46] pretty thin in that area and you want to

[03:47] stop cutting now moving on to the tip of

[03:49] the flat muscle of the brisket we want

[03:51] to slice a few inches off in a crescent

[03:54] moon shape this will shave off the

[03:55] thinnest part of the flat so the brisket

[03:57] Cooks more evenly and it will also

[03:59] prevent the fly flat from curling up and

[04:01] creating an area for moisture to pool

[04:03] and mess up your bark next flip the

[04:05] brisket over and you'll see the other

[04:07] side of the seam fat separating the

[04:08] point and the flat muscles slice that

[04:11] seam fat down as much as possible until

[04:13] it's kind of flush with the meat but

[04:15] don't gouge into it too much now trim

[04:17] off any brown bits on the edges of the

[04:19] brisket and move over to the bottom of

[04:21] the flat where you see a layer of

[04:23] transparent silver skin and fat remove

[04:25] most of that layer being careful to trim

[04:28] off the Silver skin while removing as

[04:30] little meat as possible now you're done

[04:32] trimming and you can Marvel at your

[04:33] beautiful meat sculpture it really is a

[04:35] work of art and you should be proud of

[04:36] yourself now you'll notice that we've

[04:38] trimmed off a lot of fat that again you

[04:40] paid good money for do we just throw it

[04:42] in the garbage no we're going to save

[04:44] that and render it down into beef Tallow

[04:46] so step two is to render down your

[04:48] Tallow the best way I've found to

[04:50] produce the cleanest tasting pure Tallow

[04:52] is to mince up the fat as small as

[04:54] possible or if you have a meat grinder

[04:56] you can grind it in your meat grinder

[04:58] then render it in a pot bought on the

[05:00] stove with eight cups of water added

[05:02] we're going to boil that for at least

[05:04] two hours then we're going to pop it in

[05:06] the fridge until a hard disk of fat

[05:09] solidifies on top of the water will pop

[05:11] that disc out and then melt it down and

[05:13] put it in a jar now we have really pure

[05:15] great tasting beef Tallow we're going to

[05:17] use that later on in our brisket cook to

[05:19] add more juiciness and flavor to our

[05:21] brisket moving on to step three rubbing

[05:23] your brisket I'm spritzing the bottom of

[05:25] the brisket to help the rub stick and

[05:27] then I'm using a shaker bottle to apply

[05:29] the rub to the bottom of the brisket now

[05:31] I'm coating all of the sides and finally

[05:34] I'm flipping the brisket over giving it

[05:36] another Spritz of water and applying the

[05:38] rub to the top I'm using my own blend of

[05:41] brisket rub for this video you can find

[05:42] out where to buy it in the description

[05:44] section below it has a unique blend of

[05:46] pepper sumac different sizes of salt

[05:48] granules and other ingredients to really

[05:50] give your brisket a super dark and

[05:52] amazing flavor but you can also use any

[05:55] brisket rub that you have on hand you

[05:56] can even make your own the one that I

[05:58] like making at home the best is a

[06:00] quarter cup of coarse ground pepper

[06:02] quarter cup of kosher salt and two

[06:04] tablespoons of Lowry's seasoned salt now

[06:07] this brisket is going to sit out for at

[06:09] least 30 minutes before it goes on the

[06:11] smoker to soak up the rub but ideally

[06:12] you would rub it the night before and

[06:14] leave it in the fridge to dry brine

[06:16] overnight that way you just have to wake

[06:18] up in the morning and throw it on the

[06:20] smoker guys before we smoke this brisket

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[08:16] day so it's time for step four smoking

[08:18] your brisket so let's talk about time

[08:20] and temperature this is just a quick

[08:22] overview so you know what you're getting

[08:23] into I'll cover this in more detail

[08:25] later in the video but in general a

[08:27] brisket cook will take around 12 hours

[08:30] of active smoking time plus two hours

[08:32] resting so 14 hours total for that first

[08:35] four hours we're going to run a smoker

[08:37] anywhere from 225 to 250 until the

[08:40] brisket starts sweating out moisture and

[08:42] it's better able to protect itself from

[08:44] the high heat which will ramp up to in

[08:47] the second phase of the brisket cook for

[08:49] the next eight hours after that first

[08:51] four hour mark we're going to ramp up

[08:53] temperatures to between 275 to 300 again

[08:56] the brisket is sweating out a lot of

[08:58] moisture it's better able to protect

[09:00] itself from drying out so we're ramping

[09:02] up the temperatures and that increased

[09:04] temperature is also going to help the

[09:05] brisket cook faster power through the

[09:08] stall and it's going to help the brisket

[09:10] fat render on the top of the fat cap so

[09:12] just so you know what you're getting

[09:13] into it's a 14 hour cook that means

[09:16] getting up at around 4 a.m in the

[09:18] morning which is not ideal but I'd

[09:20] highly recommend it if it's your first

[09:22] brisket to experience this traditional

[09:25] way of cooking brisket getting up in the

[09:27] morning smoking the brisket all day

[09:29] resting it slicing it and then serving

[09:31] it fresh that same day that way you'll

[09:33] get a really good idea of what the basic

[09:36] method for cooking a brisket is and you

[09:38] can get into more advanced methods like

[09:40] hot holding or refrigerating and then

[09:43] reheating your brisket or hot and fast

[09:45] cooking on your next brisket cook I have

[09:47] a lot of videos that I'll link in the

[09:49] description section below if you want to

[09:51] look into any more of those Advanced

[09:53] topics but for your first brisket I

[09:55] really recommend just doing it all on

[09:56] the same day now we're still on step

[09:58] four smoking so I'm putting my brisket

[10:00] on the smoker and maintaining

[10:02] temperatures at 250 for the next four

[10:04] hours of the cook on an Offset Smoker

[10:06] like this one here the thicker Point end

[10:09] of the brisket should be facing the

[10:10] Firebox because it's better able to

[10:12] handle the heat and you should have a

[10:14] large water pan next to the Firebox with

[10:16] a few inches of gap between the water

[10:18] pan and the Firebox opening this will

[10:20] allow the indirect convective hot air up

[10:23] and over the brisket as well as some hot

[10:25] air underneath the brisket to cook it

[10:27] more evenly and the water pan will blunt

[10:29] the radiant heat from the Firebox that

[10:31] tends to dry out and burn meat now in

[10:33] the Firebox I have a small grate on the

[10:36] left side with a steel pan full of water

[10:38] directly over the fire this water pan is

[10:41] going to absorb the radiant heat of the

[10:43] fire it's going to help maintain a lower

[10:45] temperature which is especially

[10:46] important in small offsets that tend to

[10:48] run hot and also as the water boils it's

[10:51] going to add humidity to the Cook

[10:52] chamber now if you're cooking on a

[10:54] pellet grill you'll want to place the

[10:55] brisket on the second upper rack with a

[10:58] very large water pan below it again to

[11:01] block that radiant heat and it's the

[11:03] same concept on pretty much any other

[11:04] kind of smoker whether it's a drum

[11:06] smoker Weber Smoky Mountain kamado or

[11:08] Center box smoker get that water pan

[11:11] between the meat and the heat to prevent

[11:12] your brisket from getting dry burnt and

[11:14] overcooked now every 30 minutes to an

[11:17] hour during the first four hours of the

[11:18] cook I'm opening the smoker lid and I'm

[11:20] spritzing any dry areas of the brisket

[11:23] if the bark looks bone dry in certain

[11:25] areas then Spritz it it shouldn't be

[11:27] soaked but we want the meat to look

[11:28] moist and tacky so that smoke clings to

[11:31] it more easily anecdotally a lot of pit

[11:33] Masters say that spritzing increases the

[11:35] juiciness of the brisket I haven't found

[11:37] any experiments or scientific articles

[11:40] or any other empirical evidence

[11:42] including my own experiments to

[11:44] corroborate that but that's what a lot

[11:46] of people say and it really can't hurt

[11:48] the one thing we do know with a hundred

[11:49] percent empirical certainty is that

[11:51] spritzing the meat does help the smoke

[11:53] attach and adhere to the surface better

[11:55] so we get a darker bark and more smoke

[11:57] flavor that is backed up by science and

[11:59] EXP experiments from multiple different

[12:00] sources also at this point I'm foiling

[12:02] off the thinner edge of the flat as well

[12:04] as the protruding part of the point to

[12:06] help it from drying out this just helps

[12:08] those edges from getting dry and it

[12:10] helps the brisket cook more evenly to

[12:11] some extent now at the four hour mark

[12:13] your brisket should look something like

[12:15] this if you're using an offset smoker or

[12:17] charcoal or wood burning smoker possibly

[12:20] less dark and more reddish in Coloring

[12:22] if you're using a pellet grill and it

[12:24] should be sweating out its own moisture

[12:26] now this is a clear sign of evaporative

[12:28] cooling so we now want to ramp up

[12:30] temperatures otherwise the brisket will

[12:33] just stall out and take forever to cook

[12:34] a higher temperature is also necessary

[12:37] to properly render the fat cap so I'm

[12:39] bumping the temperatures up to between

[12:41] 275 to 300 for the remaining eight hours

[12:44] of the cook now the next step is to

[12:46] endure some sort of hardship that will

[12:48] inevitably happen in the middle of your

[12:49] cook in my case there's a thunderstorm

[12:51] happening and my fire is about to die so

[12:54] I'll have to load it all up but you just

[12:56] got to keep going I hope brisket away

[12:59] oh

[13:16] hopefully you overcame your unexpected

[13:18] hardship that inevitably happens and

[13:20] threatens to ruin your brisket cook and

[13:22] then it's time for step six which is

[13:24] wrapping your brisket at around the 10

[13:26] hour mark your brisket should look very

[13:28] dark less moisture pooling on the

[13:29] brisket and it will be probing at around

[13:32] 180 degrees internal so now I'm removing

[13:35] the brisket from the smoker and I'm

[13:36] placing it down on a sheet of butcher

[13:39] paper I'm placing some chunks of beef

[13:41] Tallow that we made earlier in this

[13:42] video on the butcher paper and I'm also

[13:45] adding some clarified butter also called

[13:46] ghee you can also just use regular

[13:48] butter or skip it entirely and use

[13:50] Tallow it's really up to you the

[13:52] important thing is there's liquid fat in

[13:54] the wrap now I'm wrapping up the brisket

[13:56] and then it's going back on the smoker

[13:58] for the remaining two or so hours of the

[14:00] cook step 7 finishing now it's time to

[14:03] finish our brisket and this is probably

[14:04] the hardest part a perfect brisket is

[14:06] tender enough so that you can pull apart

[14:08] the slices with a little bit of

[14:10] resistance and they're nice and juicy if

[14:12] it's overcooked the brisket will be

[14:14] really dry and the slices will just kind

[14:15] of crumble apart in your hands so to get

[14:18] to that perfect doneness we need to

[14:19] perform three tests on the brisket the

[14:21] first test is the temperature test the

[14:23] brisket should probe between 200 and 205

[14:26] in Turtle usually 203 degrees is a good

[14:28] internal temperature to shoot for second

[14:30] the brisket should be probe tender that

[14:32] means when you probe into it there's

[14:35] very little resistance and it feels

[14:36] buttery and tender the probe shouldn't

[14:39] tug when you pull it out a trick to

[14:40] better knowing when it's probe Tender Is

[14:42] to start checking for probe tenderness

[14:44] about an hour after wrapping and then

[14:47] every 30 minutes after that an hour

[14:49] after wrapping it'll probably still be

[14:51] pretty tough and then you can probe into

[14:53] it every 30 minutes after that and

[14:55] eventually you'll feel when the muscle

[14:56] fibers kind of give up and it gets

[14:59] noticeably more tender that is probe

[15:01] tenderness and the final test is to pick

[15:03] up the brisket with cotton gloves under

[15:05] nitrile gloves and poke your fingers up

[15:07] into the underside of the brisket and

[15:08] kind of squeeze the brisket together it

[15:10] should feel very soft and flexible like

[15:12] jello once it meets all those tests then

[15:14] your brisket is done step 8 is resting

[15:17] your brisket after your brisket is done

[15:19] rest it on the counter for at least two

[15:22] hours until it comes down in temperature

[15:23] to around 140 degrees internal the

[15:27] brisket absolutely needs this resting

[15:29] time to redistribute moisture within the

[15:31] brisket reabsorb moisture that's still

[15:33] within the butcher paper and to finish

[15:35] rendering the intramuscular collagen in

[15:37] the brisket if you're still a long ways

[15:39] from dinner let's say you're four or

[15:40] five hours from dinner you can put it in

[15:42] a cooler just make sure that when you do

[15:44] put it in the cooler you've rested it on

[15:46] the counter for at least an hour to

[15:48] bring it down in temperature a little

[15:49] bit maybe to 170 as high as 180 so that

[15:52] the brisket isn't going to overcook from

[15:55] carryover cooking because it could

[15:56] continue to cook at 200 plus degrees for

[15:59] quite a long time and overcook the

[16:00] brisket step nine is slicing unwrap the

[16:03] brisket and pour the juices and Tallow

[16:05] on top of the brisket and All Over The

[16:07] Cutting Board you can and should do this

[16:09] in front of your family and guess

[16:11] because it's very impressive now slice

[16:13] the brisket in Half Stack the two halves

[16:15] and and squeeze them together while

[16:17] showing your family and guests you got

[16:19] to have a little bit of Showmanship you

[16:21] just spent a long time cooking this

[16:22] brisket so it's worth it to show your

[16:25] family all that work now coat the

[16:27] exposed meat with the board Tallow so

[16:29] the meat doesn't oxidize if any slices

[16:31] are exposed directly to the air without

[16:33] being coated in fat they are going to

[16:35] oxidize and appear dry even though they

[16:37] won't be actually dry there will be this

[16:39] Sheen of what looks like dryness on them

[16:42] that's the oxidization and people will

[16:44] think that they look dry so make sure

[16:46] you're constantly coating any slices or

[16:48] exposed meat with fat either from the

[16:50] board or the fat from your hands and

[16:52] that's going to make your brisket look

[16:54] and taste better and more juicy next

[16:56] take the fatty Point side of the brisket

[16:58] and slice off one side of it then Cube

[17:01] up that Barky slice and leave the chunks

[17:03] to the side those are your burnt ends

[17:05] now continue to make quarter inch slices

[17:07] until you reach the other side of the

[17:09] brisket take the last Barky Edge slice

[17:12] and Cube that into more burnt ends now

[17:15] moving on to the thinner flat or lean

[17:17] side of the brisket start by making

[17:19] quarter inch slices all the way along

[17:21] the brisket until you reach the very tip

[17:23] of the brisket depending on how dry the

[17:25] tip is you may decide to just serve that

[17:27] up to your family but more often than

[17:29] not it's better to just take the very

[17:30] tip of the flat and just hide it away

[17:32] use it for tacos or chili at a later

[17:34] date it's always going to be drier than

[17:36] the rest of the brisket you just can't

[17:37] avoid that now after you've nailed this

[17:39] beginner brisket recipe on your first

[17:41] brisket check out my other videos which

[17:44] have more advanced brisket methods my

[17:46] favorite one is the 190 and hold brisket

[17:49] method which involves taking your

[17:50] brisket to around 190 degrees Fahrenheit

[17:52] and then holding it for 18 hours in your

[17:55] oven or another holding device it just

[17:57] creates an amazing flavor experience

[17:59] it's beefy it's juicy it's just amazing

[18:02] I will see you in the next video guys

[18:03] and until then happy smoking