What Temperature Do You Smoke a Brisket?

Cullum · February 2012

I smoked a 6.5 lb brisket yesterday at 225 with a juice pan under it. This was my first one on the BGE. It cooked for 14 hours and only reached 174 degrees. I could have waited longer for it to reach 190 but everybody was hungry and it was getting late at night. That seems like a long time to me. I was told about 1.5 hours per pound. This went way over that and was still not done enough for me. Any suggestions? If I would have left it on to reach 190 it may have taken 16 hours. Does that seem a little long?

Chubbs · February 2012

Cullum, as I have learned on this forum, cook to temp not time. Briskets can be a bear. It all depends on the one you got and the amount of fat in it. My first suggestion would be to kick up the temp to 250 or 275. If 225 was your dome temp, then you were likely cooking at around 200 at the grate level for a majority of the cook until grate temp caught up to dome which is usually does for me on low and slows. I always start early to allow for longer than expected cook times. If it finishes 4 hours early, then foil and towel it and throw in cooler. If you want to speed up the cook, then wrap in foil and throw back on there at a higher temp and it will speed it up. Patience, patience. You will get it right next time!!!

ChokeOnSmoke · February 2012

If you're measuring 225 on the dome thermometer, the temp at meat level was only 200 or so for at least the first portion of the cook. I'd go 250 at grid/meat level and they take closer to 1.25 lbs an hour (usually 11-12 hours for a 7-9 lb'er). I've never taken a brisket off before an internal temp of 195.
EDIT: looks like Chubbs & I are on the same page...

lousubcap · February 2012

What Chubbs and ChokeOnSmoke say-and go til a probe meets no resistance in the flat-"kind like butta". I generally see about 1.7-2.1 hrs/# for flats with the dome at 250*F +/-.

Cullum · February 2012

Thanks. I used a BBQ guru and had the temperature at the grate steady at 225. I went by the 1.5 hours per pound and started the brisket at 7:00 AM. I figured I could have it at 190 around 5 PM and then wrap it, cooler it for a couple of hours. But at 9:00 PM it was hanging slowly around 174. This was my first time to use the guru so I wanted to do it during the day so I could watch it. Next time I will do it during the night and have it ready for lunch or dinner. I wanted to see if 225 wasn't too low. Just need to be patient and time it better.

daveyray72 · February 2012

Brisket can be finicky with cooking times. 2 briskets of the exact same weight can take vastly different times to get to 190deg. I use the 1.5/# as a bench mark and then build in 3-4 hours of buffer time when cooking for an event. Otherwise I just cook to temp and eat when done. If cooking for an event, once the brisket is done, you can wrap in foil and towels and place in a cooler to rest. It will hold temp wrapped in a cooler for hours...slice when ready to serve.

JMSetzler · February 2012

I cooked a 14.5lb packer this weekend. I put it on my smoker at about 1230am Saturday morning and it reached probe tenderness at an internal temp of 198 degrees in the flat after 12 hours. I started mine out low at 235 degrees (I use the DigiQ DX) and then ramped it up to 275 degrees at about 630am. The 1.5 hours per pound is just a rough guideline on briskets and butts at low temps. Don't be afraid to cook those guys a little hotter.

Cullum · February 2012

Do any of you use a water/juice pan underneath?

fishlessman · February 2012

Do any of you use a water/juice pan underneath?

i dont, but if you do you need a higher dome temp, the area over the liquid was probable a lower temp than what you were measuring on the grid to the outside of the brisket

JMSetzler · February 2012

Do any of you use a water/juice pan underneath?

I do. I also put some onions and garlic in that pan and let them ride out the entire cook. I also add a little beef broth to the pan occasionally. When the brisket is done, I separate the point and flat and then cube the point for burnt ends. I use some of the drippings on the burnt ends and it's delicious.

Flamethrower · February 2012

Does a brisket hit a plateau like a butt?

yellowdogbbq · February 2012

I use a drip pan with water in it because I don't want the drippings to burn and impart a bad taste to the meat and it adds extra moister in the dome. With that said it is debatable whether it is necessary or not. I heat the water on the stove to boiling then add it to the pan to speed up the warm up time. The last brisket I cooked was 6.5 lbs and took 11 hours @ 250 dome temp.

Chubbs · February 2012

Does a brisket hit a plateau like a butt?

yeah my last brisket was in plateau for like 5 hours last one I did

Flamethrower · February 2012

WOW!!!!!

Chubbs · February 2012

Yeah, I was shocked at how long it took to come to temp. I ended up having to use the Texas crutch to get her done in time- the wife is not too fond of eating at 9pm!!! First thing I did once egg cooled was calibrate the thermometer and it was right on the temp so I know the gauge was right during the cook. It was a stubborn little thing.

mustgrill · February 2012

Cullum, I cooked a 5.5 pound flat this past weekend that was my first on the BGE, it turned out wonderful. I smoke it at 225 for not quite 12 hours. The it was so tender.

Cullum · February 2012

Cullum, I cooked a 5.5 pound flat this past weekend that was my first on the BGE, it turned out wonderful. I smoke it at 225 for not quite 12 hours. The it was so tender.

What meat temp did you pull it at? Did you use a water/juice pan under the brisket? Also, did you wrap it up after you took it off? Thanks

mustgrill · February 2012

I got up at 06:00 to let the dog out and checked the egg. It was still 225 and the brisket was at 195. I thought it would have taken a little longer but it cooked off faster than I figured. It may have had a temp spike during the night. I don't feel like it did but who knows I was sleeping. I used the plate setter with a drip pan on top. Not liquids in the pan. I have been cooking briskets on other types of smokers for many years. I have had more stinkers than good ones. This one was great. I removed it to a platter wrapped that in foil put it in the fridge and let the dog back in and went back to bed. Sunday PM I removed it, sliced it, placed it in a glass oven pan with my favorite Q sauce, covered that with foil and heated the slices for 25 mins in a 325 degree oven. Served with slaw. I made a vid. We are having it again tonight with Yams and Fresh Green beans.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5ht8vnH6S4

Cullum · February 2012

I got up at 06:00 to let the dog out and checked the egg. It was still 225 and the brisket was at 195. I thought it would have taken a little longer but it cooked off faster than I figured. It may have had a temp spike during the night. I don't feel like it did but who knows I was sleeping. I used the plate setter with a drip pan on top. Not liquids in the pan. I have been cooking briskets on other types of smokers for many years. I have had more stinkers than good ones. This one was great. I removed it to a platter wrapped that in foil put it in the fridge and let the dog back in and went back to bed. Sunday PM I removed it, sliced it, placed it in a glass oven pan with my favorite Q sauce, covered that with foil and heated the slices for 25 mins in a 325 degree oven. Served with slaw. I made a vid. We are having it again tonight with Yams and Fresh Green beans.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5ht8vnH6S4

Thanks for the info!

paulheels · February 2012

Brisket is different than butt. Brisket, the lower and slower the better, 250. Shoulder can be don 275-300 and be awesome. I cOoked my last brisket at 280. Ter RO bull.

Paul

jonessteave · July 2023

We have an 1 1/2" thick 3.2# brisket(kinda looks like a london broil) going at 235 deg for 5 hours and were only at 162 deg internal meat temp....How long is this thing going to take,,,Getting late and hungry

lousubcap · July 2023

@jonessteave - as long as it takes and well played. Rolling 11 years on!

Langner91 · July 2023

It is going to take another five hours, @jonessteave.

Since you like old threads, here's a brisket classic for you!

JohnInCarolina · July 2023

jonessteave said:

We have an 1 1/2" thick 3.2# brisket(kinda looks like a london broil) going at 235 deg for 5 hours and were only at 162 deg internal meat temp....How long is this thing going to take,,,Getting late and hungry

Have you considered putting it in an Instapot?

caliking · July 2023

This is when you fist pump about that Papa Murphy rider in your contract.

Mark_B_Good · July 2023

Cullum said:

I smoked a 6.5 lb brisket yesterday at 225 with a juice pan under it. This was my first one on the BGE. It cooked for 14 hours and only reached 174 degrees. I could have waited longer for it to reach 190 but everybody was hungry and it was getting late at night. That seems like a long time to me. I was told about 1.5 hours per pound. This went way over that and was still not done enough for me. Any suggestions? If I would have left it on to reach 190 it may have taken 16 hours. Does that seem a little long?

Did you wrap it? Obviously had a very long stall ... and the quickest way to get through that is to wrap it in foil (double wrap to get a good seal) ... which makes it act like a pressure cooker ... that will cut your time a lot.

And as others said, important to get the right temp with brisket, otherwise it will remain tough ... min 195F, but prefer over 200F on most cooks.

What Temperature Do You Smoke a Brisket?

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