Start by firing up your smoker to 225-250°F, letting it come to temp while you trim and season your brisket. 

TRIM 

To understand the shape and anatomy of the brisket, see our Pitmaster notes below. 

1. Start with a very cold brisket, meat side up. Remove excess fat and silver skin from the flat. 

2. As you trim, reserve the white fat with as little meat on it as possible in a bowl. 

3. Next, focus on the fat cap side. Aim for about 1/8-1/4 inch fat cap. If your brisket has a “mohawk” atop the point on the fat cap side, trim this down for a more even shape. 

4. Once both sides look uniform, shape the brisket. Start meat side up and trim any corners or thin pieces that may become overcooked by the end. 

5. Finally, make sure the thickness is relatively uniform. 

 SEASON 

1. Start fat side up and generously cover the fat cap and all sides with Kinder’s Brisket Rub. 

2. Let the meat sit for 10 minutes or so to absorb the seasoning. If you’re in a rush (which you should never be when it comes to brisket), apply a binder such as regular yellow mustard or hot sauce to allow the coarser particulates of the rub to adhere better. 

3. Once fat cap side is well coated, carefully flip the brisket and apply to the meat side. 

 SMOKE 

1. Place the brisket in your prepped smoker, fat side down with the point angled towards the hottest area. Place a small pan with your reserved fat trimmings in the smoker. Close the lid and don’t open it for 2-3 hours. 

2. After 2-3 hours, you should have a nice mahogany bark building and some liquid tallow in the pan. Give a first light baste with tallow. Shut the lid and don’t open for another 2 hours. 

3. After 4-5 total hours, the bark should be coming along nicely and the brisket should read between 130-150°F. If closer to 130, give another light baste and close the lid for another hour. If closer to 150-160°F with a nice bark, the brisket is ready for the “foil boat.” 

4. At 160°F, the brisket enters a stage called “the stall" (learn more about the stall below). The foil boat method will help your brisket through this cooking zone. 

5. Create a foil boat using large, heavy duty foil to create a small “boat” that the brisket will lay in (it may take more than one sheet of foil). Carefully flip the brisket meat-side down against the foil (fat cap up). Roll and crimp the edges inward until they are almost hugging the brisket on all sides but still allow for a half inch to an inch of space. Note: You can also build your foil boat within a foil pan to make everything easier to handle and ensure the liquid stays contained. 

6. Lower the heat to 200°F and place the boated brisket back on the smoker. Pour just enough tallow over top to wet it, but not too much to allow a heavy collection in the boat. 

7. Once the brisket is cruising in its boat at the lower temp and powering through the stall phase, cook until the flat is probe-tender (about 198-202°F) and the point is probe-tender (slightly higher, about 202-205°F). 

8. If time becomes an issue, wrap the brisket fully in foil (known as a “Texas crutch”) which will speed up the cook. Stay mindful of the internal temps so as not to over shoot. 

9. Lastly, consider “carryover cooking – the continued rise in temp even after being removed from the smoker. If cooking hotter and faster than 225°F the carryover effect will be greater, and if cruising super low and slow at 200°F it is of almost no consideration. 

REST 

Once the meat is off the smoker, it needs time for the cooking process to wind down and the juices to reabsorb into the meat. There are two ways to do this: 

1. Wrap the whole foil pan or brisket in foil so that no juices leak. Then wrap the foiled brisket in a large beach towel and place the brisket in a cooler and close it for 2-3 hours. 

2. Alternatively, rest the wrapped brisket in the oven on its lowest temperature (170°F or lower) for 2 hours. Then, without opening, turn the oven off and rest an additional 30 min to hour. 

SLICE 

1. Start on the leaner, flat side of the brisket with the fat cap on top. Slice in 1/8 inch slices across the grain. If your first few slices are a little on the dry side, don’t worry, it should get juicer as you get into the thicker parts. 

2. Once the slices begin to hit where the point overlaps the flat, use judgement to decide when to begin cutting the other direction, 90° from the flat section cuts. Occasionally the grains are friendly enough to not alter the slicing direction too much, but there are times when separating the two muscles through the deckle makes slicing better without having to cut with either grain. 

PITMASTER NOTES  

Brisket Anatomy 

The brisket is the pectoral muscle of the steer. This muscle is used a lot by the steer, making it a tougher cut. The whole brisket is made up of 2 muscles, the flat, which is the leaner tapered side, and the point, which is the more marbled, thicker end of the brisket. The two overlap and have grains that run in perpendicular directions, which is important to note for the slicing that will take place after the cook. Separating these two muscles is a thick layer of fat called the deckle. One side of the brisket has a fat cap, while the other side shows the exposed meat of the flat, which often has a decent amount of silver skin. 

The Trim 

Brisket, more so than any other bbq meat varies in shape and size, and as such, trimming can be a new adventure almost every time for beginners, so rather than hard rules, it’s good to understand the “why’s” and theory to adapt to each new brisket. 

• Meat is easiest to trim at colder temperatures, so I like to start with a very cold brisket and a very sharp knife. My preferred trimming knife is a curved 6 inch boning knife. It is nimble, light, and flexible to work any angle, and easy to sharpen. 

• I usually start with the meat side up, and take off excess fat and silver skin from the flat, taking care not to gouge too deep. A deep gouge can form a little crater or depression that can collect juices and slow the cook in that localized area, creating a more difficult cook. 

• Once the flat is cleaned up and uniform, I tend to focus on the fat cap side. The fat cap acts as a protective shield for the brisket and has great flavor, but too much fat cap can make for an unappetizing bite. I aim for about 1/8-1/4 inch fat cap. 

• Some briskets will have larger “mohawks” that sit atop the point on the fat cap side, and are usually cut off to give a more even shape and uniformity to the meat. This is amazing meat for grinding into burgers. 

• Once both sides look uniform, I begin to shape the brisket, meat side up. Air and smoke will be flowing over and around the brisket, so I like to make an aerodynamic, oval shape when looking at the brisket from above. Any corners or thin pieces will be over cooked by the end, so rounding helps to get rid of pieces that would end up becoming overly dry beef jerky. 

• Now that our brisket is cleaned up, nicely shaped, and has an even fat cap, we want to make sure the thickness is relatively uniform. The point side will always be a little bit thicker, but depending on the thickness of the deckle the difference could be drastic. When working with a thick deckle, I prefer to cut out some of it working a bit at a time until the brisket is more even. This, in conjunction with the Mohawk trimming, will give the uniformity needed to cook these two different muscles with different marbling compositions more evenly, and THAT is one of the biggest advantages in cooking a great brisket. 

The Stall 

At 160°F, the brisket enters a stage called “the stall.” This is when evaporative cooling takes place, and the juices the meat is “sweating out” actually cool and slow the cook. The stall phase can last anywhere from an hour, to four+ hours, where the internal temp won’t change or will rise agonizingly slowly.