For most backyard bbq cooks the brisket is the pinnacle of all cooks. If you can master all the intricacies of a brisket and consistently turn out moist, delicious meat you will probably be able to handle any other cut of meat.
Brisket when cooked properly is a thing of beauty. It is a great amalgam of beefy, fatty, salty, peppery, smoky, rich, moist, tender, and succulent. When you get the meat to the right texture with the right seasoning and the right fat rendering you are left with one of the best bites of food you will ever eat.
Brisket is big, odd shaped combination of two different muscles that are vastly different. Every brisket is shaped different and no two briskets will cook alike. Add to that the fact that you are smoking it with burning wood and charcoal outside in the elements and it is a wonder that a brisket can ever turn out as good as it does.
I have talked to many people that have been intimidated by brisket. They have cooked ribs and pork butts with no problems but when ti comes to brisket they are a bit apprehensive. Don’t be scared! As long as you know the basics of smoking and cooking on a smoker you will be fine.
I have collected 12 commonly asked brisket questions that I have seen asked multiple times. In the future I might add a few more as they pop up but these 12 questions I hear regularly. But first let me give a few big picture thoughts about cooking a brisket.
First, keep things simple. Attention to detail is important but don’t overthink things. Let the flavor of the brisket shine through. Give it some salt and pepper, give it some smoke, and let it cook.
Second, every brisket is different and unless you are cooking dozens a day for a restaurant every brisket will be different. What took 9 hours last weekend might take 14 hours this weekend. Shoot to be as consistent as possible with seasoning, temperature, etc. but don’t stress out if each cook is a bit different. In my answers to the questions you will see a lot of words like “most” or “usually” and very few absolutes because every brisket and every cook can be different.
Third, the small details are what will take your brisket from an 8 out of 10 to a 9 out of 10. Trim it well, season evenly, keep consistent temperatures, wrap (or don’t) at the proper time. But if you don’t? 8 out of 10 is still pretty darn good and it will probably be the best brisket your guests will ever eat.
Fourth, this isn’t the only way to cook a good brisket. There are dozens of different ways to turn out a great brisket. This is the way I do it and is primarily a Texas style brisket. You want to season it different? You want to inject? You want to wrap in foil? Be my guest. I won’t judge you.
12 Commonly Asked Questions About Brisket
- What is a brisket?
- Where can I buy a brisket?
- What should I look for when buying a brisket?
- How big of a brisket should I buy?
- How should I trim a brisket?
- How should I season my brisket?
- What type of wood should I use when smoking brisket?
- What temperature should I cook my brisket at?
- How long should I cook a brisket?
- Should I wrap my brisket?
- How long should I rest my brisket?
- How should I slice my brisket?
If you have any other questions feel free to drop me a note and let me know. There are thousands more words that can be written about brisket but I think I got most of the important information here.
Also, I cook primarily on Weber kettles. You can use whatever type of cooker you have and turn out a good brisket. Pellet smokers, barrel cookers, ugly drum smokers, offsets, electric smokers, charcoal smokers, kamados… they are all valid and can all turn out a great final product.
Disclosure: This post is monetized with affiliate links. If you buy something through them I earn a commission which helps support this site and lets me buy more meat so I can write about it.
If you want to learn more I would highly recommend picking up a copy of Franklin Barbecue – A Meat Smoking Manifesto and spending $90 on Aaron Franklin’s Texas Barbecue Masterclass. The brisket I ate at Franklin Barbecue in Austin is what I shoot for every time I cook a brisket. It was pretty much as perfect as a brisket can be.
Pick up a good brisket, fire up the smoker, and let it cook.
