Enjoy smoked brisket of beef, cooked on a smoker grill. Cut the brisket in slices to serve, or shred and add BBQ sauce for a great sandwich!
We enjoy using our Traeger grill, especially in the summers when we don’t want to heat up the kitchen, and it’s nice outside. This recipe for smoked brisket of beef is a delicious meal, and any leftovers make great BBQ brisket sandwiches, too! I got the original recipe from Trager grills website, so I knew it would be a good one!
My husband asked me to get a beef brisket at the store, using a free gift certificate we had received. I was wondering how the two of us could eat an entire brisket, but since the certificate got us a free 12 pound brisket, I obliged. I knew any leftover meat could make several meals for us, which meant less cooking! A win-win!
For this smoked brisket of beef, you will need to plan ahead. The beef is well seasoned, and then it needs to be refrigerated overnight before you can put it on the smoker. As long as you can do that step , the rest is smoking it low and slow for best flavor. Here’s how to make this smoked brisket of beef:
Scroll Down For A Printable Recipe Card At The Bottom Of The Page
Make The Seasoning Mix For The Smoked Brisket Of Beef
The seasoning mix is very simple to make, and adds great flavor to the beef brisket. Place sea salt, onion powder, and black pepper in a small bowl, and stir to combine. The next thing you will need to add to the spices is garlic paste.
You can easily make your own garlic paste by chopping fresh garlic (2 T. for this recipe). Take 1 T. of sea salt and put it on a cutting board. Using the FLAT side of a large knife, rub the salt and chopped garlic together over and over. When done, the salt breaks down the garlic a bit and it becomes thick, like paste. Stir the garlic paste into the spices until combined.
Season Then Refrigerate Brisket Overnight
After trimming the fat on the beef brisket to about 1/4″ thick, it is time to season the beef with the spice rub. This fat trimming will reduce the overall weight of the brisket. Place the brisket onto a large baking sheet to do this.
Cover the entire surface of the brisket liberally with the rub, patting it onto the surface of the meat to adhere. Use all the spices to cover top, bottom and sides of the beef. Cover the meat with foil, and refrigerate the brisket overnight (at least 8 hours).
Ready To Smoke The Beef Brisket
Remove the brisket from the refrigerator and let it sit for about 45 minutes to take the chill off before smoking the meat. Once you’re ready to go, fire up your smoker according to manufacturer instructions. Preheat smoker to 225°F. with the lid closed (for about 15 minutes). For this recipe we used mesquite pellets in the hopper- hickory pellets are great for this brisket, also. I also like to add a pan full of water on the top shelf (creates moisture/steam as the brisket cooks-optional)
Put the brisket onto the grate, with the fat side facing down, in the center of the grill. Smoke the brisket of beef for approx. 4½ – 5 hours, or until it reaches an internal temperature of 160°-165°F. Temperatures tend to vary or fluctuate on various smokers, so be sure to check the internal temperature occasionally. By the way… see those smoked chocolate chip cookie skillets? Uh huh. YUM!
Once the meat registers that temperature internally, take the brisket off the smoker. Wrap the entire brisket securely in aluminum foil (or butcher paper). Place it back onto the gill, and let it continue cooking.
The smoked brisket of beef will need to cook for approx. another 4 hours or so, or until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 203°F. The total smoking and cooking time will end up being between 8½-9½ hours. Of course, temperatures fluctuate on smokers as we all know, so your final cooking time may vary.
Let The Smoked Brisket Of Beef REST!
After removing the brisket from the grill, you will need to let the meat rest for 1 hour before slicing. Slicing the meat too soon can result in a lot of the juices running out of the meat. Letting it sit allows time for the juices to redistribute throughout the beef. After all your work cooking the beef, you want it to be nice and juicy, right? Here are two options for this:
OPTION #1: Keep the brisket tightly wrapped in foil and let it sit, undisturbed on the counter, or OPTION #2: Keep meat tightly wrapped in foil and let it rest in a covered cooler. You know, the kind of insulated cooler you take to the beach. It helps insulate and keep the meat nice and warm. Your choice.
Time To EAT!
After the smoked brisket of beef has finished resting, slice it against the grain. Cut each slice about 1/4: thick, place the slices on a platter and serve. The brisket is really good, served with coleslaw and some fresh fruit or baked beans on the side. YUM.
We also enjoy shredding the brisket leftovers, adding a good quality bar-b-que sauce, and serving it on toasted hamburger buns! If I’m going to shred the beef, I put some of the leftover slices in a slow cooker with bbq sauce for a few hours to SUPER tenderize it BEFORE shredding it. That way we can have an entire other meal from the original brisket.
I hope you’ll have he opportunity to try this recipe for smoked brisket of beef, and trust you will enjoy it, too! Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you will come back again soon. Have a wonderful day.
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Original Recipe Source: traegergrills.com/recipes/chef-brisket
Enjoy smoked brisket of beef, cooked on a smoker grill. Cut the brisket in slices to serve, or shred and add BBQ sauce for a great sandwich!
- 12 pound whole packer beef brisket fat trimmed to ¼"
- ⅓ cup sea salt
- 2 Tablespoons garlic paste See Notes Section, below
- 2 Tablespoons onion powder
- ⅓ cup Black pepper
Combine sea salt, onion powder, and black pepper in a small bowl. Add garlic paste; stir until combined. See NOTE below to make your own garlic paste.
Trim fat on brisket to about 1/4" thick. Season beef with spice rub. Place the brisket on large baking sheet to do this. Cover top, bottom, sides of brisket liberally with spice mix, using it all. Pat it onto surface of meat to adhere. Cover meat with foil; refrigerate overnight (or at least 8 hours). After refrigerating, remove brisket from refrigerator. Let it sit for about 45 minutes to take the chill off, before adding it to grill.
Preheat smoker to 225°F. with lid closed (approx. 15 minutes), according to manufacturer instructions. Put brisket directly on grate in center of grill, with the fat side facing down. Smoke (lid down) approx. 4½ - 5 hours, or until it reaches an internal temp. of 160°-165°F. Temperatures tend to vary or fluctuate on various smokers; be sure to monitor internal temperature.
Once internal temp. is at temp., take brisket off smoker. Wrap entire brisket securely in aluminum foil (or butcher paper). Place it back onto grill; continue to cook approx. another 4 hours or so, or until meat reaches an internal temperature of 203°F. The total smoking/cooking time will end up being between 8½-9½ hours. Of course, temperatures fluctuate on smokers, so your final cooking time may vary.
Once done, remove brisket from grill; let meat rest for 1 hour before slicing. Letting it sit allows time for juices to redistribute throughout beef. Here are two options for this: OPTION #1: Let it rest on counter, still covered in foil OR OPTION #2: Keep meat in foil and let it rest in a covered cooler (the kind you'd take to the beach). Sealed cooler helps insulate and keep meat nice and warm.
After the smoked brisket of beef has finished resting, slice it against the grain. Cut each slice about 1/4" thick, place the slices on a platter and serve.
NOTE: Make garlic paste by chopping fresh garlic. Take 1 T. of sea salt; put it on cutting board with garlic. Using FLAT side of large knife, rub salt and garlic together quite a few times, pressing as you go.. When done, salt breaks down the garlic and it becomes thick, like paste.
Here’s one more to pin on your Pinterest boards!