“How long should I cook a brisket” is the wrong question to ask. When it comes to cooking pretty much any type of meat you should just throw your clock away and rely on temperature measured by a good thermometer and by feel using your hands and a probe (toothpick, skewer, probe thermometer, etc) of some sort.
Why? Each brisket is different. Briskets will vary greatly in shape. Some are wide and somewhat flat, others are narrow and very thick. Some briskets have a ton of fat and others have less. Briskets also have different densities and water content that will affect the cooking time of a brisket. So while you can’t rely on time you can rely on temperature and feel.
Technically you could cook a brisket like a rare steak and just sear the outside and eat it. But it would probably be the worst piece of meat you have ever eaten. Brisket is a very tough cut since it does a lot of work and can’t be treated like a ribeye or filet mignon.
The connective tissue in brisket takes a long time to break down. All the meat fibers are sheathed in connective tissue. That connective tissue is primarily made up of collagen which turns to gelatin at about 180 degrees. And it takes a long time for all that collagen to turn to gelatin. Once the collagen breaks down the gelatin coats all the meat fibres resulting in a tender juicy brisket.
So when is a brisket done? Generally speaking, most people like to cook their brisket to somewhere between 195-205 degrees internal temperature. You will want to measure the temperature at the thickest part of the flat right where the point meets up with the flat with a good probe thermometer. I love my Thermoworks Smoke to keep track of the temperatures but once the brisket gets close to the finished temp I use my Thermopop to spot check different parts of the brisket. I want the probe to go through the meat as easily as it would a stick of soft butter. There should be little to no resistance. And with most briskets this happens somewhere in the 195-205 range. My briskets tend to be done in the 200-203 range.
Most of the time the point of the brisket will be a few degrees hotter than the flat. The point can take a bit more heat due to the fat content so focus on the tenderness and temperature of the flat. If your point is feeling tender and temping at 205 but the flat is still a bit firm and is only at 196 give it a few more degrees.
When going for “feel” you want the probe of your thermometer (or a toothpick or skewer) to go through the meat like it would if you stuck it in a stick of very soft butter. There should be very little resistance. The brisket will also feel a bit jiggly. Put your hand on the point and give it a little shake. It should jiggle quite a bit. The last part of the brisket to finish should be right where the point and flat meet so if you can feel the meat there is tender you can probably assume the rest of the brisket will be done.
For your first few briskets I would suggest relying primarily on your thermometer. Once you start getting to the finished temperature feel around on the brisket to get an idea what “done” feels like.
Of course you need a good thermometer to properly measure the temperature of your brisket. The Thermoworks Thermapen is pretty much the best instant read thermometer you can buy and it will run you $99. The Thermopop is only $34 and is almost as good. And if you want a great probe thermometer to track the temperature of your meat and your cooker I really like the Thermoworks Smoke X4.
But we live in a society with clocks, bedtimes for the kids, dinner parties, and so on. So you do need to have somewhat of an idea of how long it takes to cook a brisket. When planning I usually use a ballpark of 75 to 90 minutes per pound if I am cooking at 225-250. If I am cooking closer to 275 it would be closer to an hour per pound. So after trimming a 10 pound brisket can take anywhere from 10-15 hours depending on what temp you cook it at.
I try to plan on getting the briskets off the cooker at least 2 hours before I want to serve them. Wrapped in butcher paper and a couple heavy towels (pro tip – Don’t use your wife’s good towels for this since they will always smell like brisket and get some dedicated meat wrapping towels) the briskets will stay plenty warm in a cooler for many hours. I have held them for 8+ hours and they were still 145 degrees when I sliced them. Generally speaking though I would shoot for a 2-4 hour rest. I think the quality degraded a bit at 8 hours. If your brisket drops below 140 degrees you start getting into a bacterial danger zone as well so shoot for the 2-4 hour range.
If you have a 15 lb brisket, are cooking at 225, and want to eat at 6 PM I would start your brisket at 9 PM the previous day. That gives you 21 hours and if you want at least a 2 hour rest you could have 19 hours of cooking. If it finishes in 15 hours it will still be plenty hot when it comes time to eat. To be really safe you could even start it at 6 PM and if it is progressing quickly you can always back the temperature down. If you are cooking at 275 you can probably cut a few hours off that cook. Recently I did a couple briskets at 275 and the 19 pound brisket cooked in 11 hours and the 13 pounder cooked in only 8.
One thing to keep in mind though is the stall. You will have your brisket in the cooker and it will get to 160 degrees or so somewhat quickly. Wow, it isn’t even 3 in the morning and you are already well beyond halfway to your finished temperature! But then at 160-180 or so you will hit the stall. If you want the science behind the stall you can read more here: https://amazingribs.com/more-technique-and-science/more-cooking-science/understanding-and-beating-barbecue-stall-bane-all but it basically has to do with the moisture evaporating out of the meat and the cooling effect that has.
When your brisket hits the stall it will stay at the same temperature (or even go down a few degrees) for many hours. It might last 2 hours or it might last 4 or more. Again, every piece of meat is different and will stall differently. There are some ways to fight through the stall (read “Should I wrap my brisket?”) but I like to just ride it out. Some people also experience a second stall at 185-190 but this one is usually quite a bit shorter. If you cook at 275+ the stall will usually be quite a bit shorter too.
Don’t get scared during the stall. Just be patient and you will make it through. And if dinner is approaching and the brisket still isn’t ready? Don’t try and hurry things too much and definitely don’t pull the brisket off the cooker until it is done. Just give your guests a few more drinks and let them know it will be worth the wait.
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?
